Customer Reviews

Decade [Vinyl]

5 star:		(87)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I first bought Neil Young-Decade Circa 1978 or should I say I begged my mom to buy it for me. First I had the 8-track and when that got snagged and ruined I got the LP. A few year's later in college I bought the double Cassette. This past spring 2001, almost a quarter century later, I bought the CD and Wow!!!what a treasure chest of music history. I always knew Neil Young is a great songwriter and performer, but at age 38 I realize his musical genius.

Decade covers a wide range of musical styles, from heavy duty distortion ballads ( Cowgirl In The Sand and Like A Hurricane), to clean country rock (Cinnamon Girl, Heart of Gold, I Am a Child)....Political statements are obvious on "Ohio" and "Campaigner". A good example of Young's haunting vocals are best demonstrated on the love song "I Believe In You". "Winterlong" reminds me of love in a honky tonk saloon somewhere far away from the stress of urban life.

My favorite part of the collection are the first 5 songs (Down to the Wire, Burned, Mr. Soul, Broken Arrow, and Waiting to Fly) it is soaked in psychedelia and the essence of another time. It reminds me of my youth when Jimmy Carter was President and we were all happy.

Decade is fun to get stoned to on your day off or when you want to play hooky from work.

P.S. the only other recording I've owned in record, 8-track, Cassette and CD is Led Zep's Physical Graffitti

Ordinarily, I'm not much of a believer in greatest hits packages. Yeah, they're good for the car or for slapping on the stereo at parties. But I tend to feel they're bad mojo, particularly when you're talking about an artist as talented and multi-faceted as Neil Young. In a world where, say, The Rolling Stones have created perfect, self-contained units like "Beggar's Banquet," "Let it Bleed," "Sticky Fingers," "Between the Buttons" and others, why would anyone want to mainline their music with something like "Hot Rocks." It's like watching ONLY the shoot 'em up scenes in "The Wild Bunch" without the color and exposition of the less-well-known but equally satisfying scenes.

Neil Young's "Decade," however, is one place where I make a serious exception to my music-geek inflexibility. And I think it's because Young has covered so much ground and gone in so many directions that this collection kind of gives the new listener a good road map.

Since all of the various aspects of Young's career are fairly complicated and completely engrossing in their own right, "Decade" allows you to focus on just the touchstones. With "Decade" you get a sampling of Buffalo Springfield, solo work, CSN&Y tunes, his forays into symphonic walls of sound as well those made from guitar workouts with Crazy Horse.

And, also, I just simply can't begrudge a collection of music with 34 great frickin' songs on it (yes, I know this has 35 songs -- I've never, ever been able to stomach "A Man Needs A Maid" but that's my problem and I can handle it).

...that is, Neil Young's career can't be represented just by two CDs. Hopefully, the upcoming boxed set will do him justice because, even if he has clear ups (Buffalo Springfield, Deja Vu-era CSNY, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Zuma, Tonight's the Night, After the Gold Rush, Freedom...) and downs (Trans, Re-actor, '80s CSNY) in his career, an overview is absolutely essential for him at this point.

But the music itself on Decade? What can you say to these songs? "Down to the Wire", "Mr. Soul", "Expecting to Fly", "Southern Man", "Down by the River", "I Am a Child", "Ohio", "Helpless", "Old Man", "Heart of Gold", "Like a Hurricane", "The Needle and the Damage Done", "After the Gold Rush", "Tonight's the Night", "Cortez the Killer", "Winterlong", "Soldier", "Long May You Run", "Cinnamon Girl"...

This set belongs on any collection. Even if you own the whole Young catalogue already, it's still amusing to read his liner notes. Besides, greatest-hits sets provide for great utility listens, when you don't feel like going through all 50 or so releases that Young was instrumental in creating (including Buffalo Springfield, CSNY, solo, with Crazy Horse). Dig in.

As far as the musical content goes, let me just reiterate what everyone else has said: this is one of the most intelligent compilation albums ever done, and a perfect introduction to (and summation of) Young's earliest and best work. And so, for musical content, I'd give Decade five stars.

From a CD reissue standpoint, however, this set--like the rest of Young's catalog--merits one star at best. The sound quality is abominable (ironic, given the audiophile inclinations of the artist himself). The artwork is a mockery of the original LP set. And, though the track-by-track notes from Young himself are most enjoyable, nobody today would even think of doing a "definitive" retrospective without a decent historical/critical essay of some kind.

What is long overdue is for Reprise (perhaps in conjunction with the Rhino label) to give this set, like the rest of Young's catalog, a thorough overhaul. Remaster the tracks using the best available technology. Upgrade the artwork and packaging elements. Flesh out the discs with bonus tracks if it's deemed appropriate. And yes, by all means, do a follow-up compilation (Decade 2?) of Neil's '80s and '90s output.

Decade was first released in 1977 and it represented the first ten years of Neil Young's career. The album spans from Buffalo Springfield to his work with Stephen Stills on 1976's Long May You Run. The two-disk set (originally released as a triple album) shows the amazing quality and diversity of his music. From the quiet acoustic songs like the brilliant "Sugar Mountain" to the buzzsaw guitars on "Cinnamon Girl" to the steel guitars of "Heart Of Gold", Neil Young is never defined by one sound. His topics are far ranging from the redneck views of the South in "Southern Man" to the tragic deaths of four Kent State students in the powerful and conscious raising "Ohio" to the drug related deaths of friends in "Tonight's The Night" to Richard Nixon in "The Campaigner" to his old car in "Long May You Run". Neil Young has released so many great songs and albums that just a two disk set doesn't do him justice, but the song selections on Decade were made personally by Mr. Young and they are a great overview of the man's early career.

OK, in the interests of full disclosure, let me state right up front I am a HUGE Neil Young fan and would give most anything by him 5 stars. So, it should come as no surprise that I love this album.

However, that being said, I think a vast number of people will get a lot out of this work whether they are Young's fans or not. Whether you follow Neil or not, there's something special in this compilation for you.

For those who aren't Young fans, they will end up being truly surprised at how much of this music they know. They might not have recognized it as Neil Young, but they know the music. It never fails when I have this on when friends and acquaintances are over how people will hear something and go something like "Wow, I remember that!-who is this?" What makes the phenomenon so interesting is that, for the most part, this is not just a "Greatest Hits" compilation. Young himself put this together to represent the body of his early work as he wanted it to be seen/heard. Neil has been around a long time and has a huge body of quality work and all of us have had major parts of our lives "soundtracked" by one of his songs.

For the fan, Neil has included some of the rare and obscure work he personally liked but which wasn't a major part of his album work-songs like Love is a Rose, Deep Forbidden Lake and Campaigner, works that obviously mean a lot to him personally.

In the end what you are left with is Young power as a songwriter and his versatility-this album includes work with Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young , Crazy Horse, the Stray Gators as well as solo stuff.

So, buy it, sit back, and listen to the sounds of your life. It's a great trip.

Neil Young is perhaps the most versatile and prolific singer-songwriter in existence. Country (Neil Young and the Stray Gators), psychedelia (Buffalo Springfield), proto-grunge (Neil Young and Crazy Horse), and folk rock (Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young) are just some of the styles he's dabbled with. And inexplicably, a lot of his best stuff almost never sees radio airplay.

Which is what makes Decade remarkable. Unlike most compilations, Decade's tracks were selected by the artist himself, not by corporations who want only the radio hits on there. So along with heavily played classics (Cinnamon Girl, Southern Man, Ohio, Old Man, Long May You Run, Heart Of Gold), you get plenty of rarities and underrated cuts (Down To The Wire, Mr. Soul, Sugar Mountain, The Loner, Winterlong, Tonight's The Night, For The Turnstiles and so on) all on one album. Pretty impressive. Especially so when one realizes that this was all recorded from 1966-76.

While all the material is well-chosen and great, I have to say that my favorite Neil is the proto-grunge guitarist with Crazy Horse as his backing band. Down By The River, Cowgirl In The Sand, Like A Hurricane, and Cortez The Killer are in my eyes the best cuts, full of edgy and sharp guitar jams. Neil's lyrics are always introspective, emotional, intelligent, and occasionally controversial (Southern Man with its condemnation of the Deep South comes to mind). While his voice is a little thin and somewhat of an acquired taste, it is unique and imitated today by many vocalists.

If you're looking for a great intro to Neil Young, you can't go wrong with Decade. Once you find your favorite Neil style, go into the individual albums of your choosing--On The Beach, Harvest, Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere, etc. If you want a GREAT live release, go buy Rust Never Sleeps as well.

Note: The only problem with this album that keeps me from giving it a five-star rating is an apparent quality control problem on part of Reprise. Two brand-new copies of Decade I purchased had flaws that keep me from playing certain tracks using either Musicmatch or Media Player. Now, while it is not uncommon to run into one badly printed copy, finding TWO of them (at different stores no less) suggests that there is something amiss. It's extremely frustrating to have to drop a lot of money on a 2-disc set only to find flaws.

This could be said as the best collection released thus far. A great snapshot of Neil Young's music in the 70's. The highlight of the collection are the unreleased songs, DEEP FORBIDDEN LAKE, LOVE IS A ROSE, from the unreleased "HOMEGROWN".

Also included are songs Walk On, FOR THE TURNSTILES from the out of print "On The Beach".

Can't wait for a similar collection of Neil Young's music from the 90's

If you are unfamiliar with Neil, this is the album to get. It is mostly earlier works, but it is the Neil 101 album. He is terrific, but you need to ease into him. Once you get it, you get it. He's the best.

Anyone looking to familiarize themselves with Neil should have this album. I've been listening to it for over 20 years and I'm still not tired of it.

The best of..

Decade was originally a 3 LP retrospective album, compiled by Neil Young himself. It covers his first 10 recording years, offering tracks from 1966 Buffalo Springfield till previously unreleased recordings from 1976.

The long playing time leaves good space for long recordings like "Cowgirl in the Sand", "Down By the River" and "Like a Hurricane" and so a good insight in Young`s very personal guitar-playing style.

Still, first of all, Young is a songwriter and of course a great singer. This extensive compilation offers a lot of the best songs from his early records, as well as many previously unreleased songs, some of which are really great. "Deep Fobidden Lake", "Helpless" and "Long May You Run" are all-time favourites of mine. A special treat is the great unreleased Buffalo Springfield recording "Down to the Wire"; it was recorded for their "great lost" 2nd album "Stampede"

Well known classics like "Cinnamon Girl", "After The Gold Rush", "Harvest", "Heart of Gold" and "Walk On" are there as well. I wonder why Young left out "See The Sky About to Rain" from "On the Beach"! Go the for the original album for that one!

A minor complaint : I find it very hard to read Youngs handwitten notes !!