Customer Reviews

Greatest Hits (CD/DVD)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It is not worth springing for the CD+DVD version. The CD is already a HDCD and playing the DVD side to side (A-B testing) to the CD in a HDCD-able player, shows that:

A) The so-called master mixes are the same for both.

B) The HDCD beats the DVD easily in fidelity and bass response (I know it should'nt be like this). I used a Denon HDCD compatible player and a SONY SE DVD/SACD player (their top of the line), so both were played in good players.

C) The 2 videos are pretty easy to ignore (buyer beware: the TV ad makes it look that the "Rocking in the Free World" video is the live Crazy Horse version from "Weld". It isn't. It is a lip-synch video to the "Freedom" version).

Mind you, the DVD version IS NOT a DVD-Audio version, just a Dolby Digital version (there is a difference), but it should have sounded better than the HDCD (properly decoded).

As for the song selection, ho-hum. Maybe the DVD could have had alternate or live versions to make it worthwhile.

The only reason that I am writeing this review is to correct a couple of mistakes in a couple of other reviews. One of the other reviewers mentioned that this is available as an SACD. This is not true, Neil Young does not support the SACD format. Another reviewer mentioned that the DVD only has a Dolby Digital track of the music. This is not true. The DVD disc has a very high resolution 24 bit 96 khz version of the music. This super high resolution version of the music is far superior to any HDCD version simply because HDCD is a 16 bit 44.1 khz soundtrack. This set is worth getting simply for the super high resolution of the music. Most DVD-Audio discs cost $20 by themselfs and here you are able to get one for just a couple of dollars. Buy this set, you will love it.

Neil Young - Greatest Hits

Most of the reviewers feel the same way that I do, great choices, but some truly great songs missing. So much for the first one-disc compilation of this astonishingly prolific musician. As any fan of Neil Young knows, the only constant in Young's work is to expect sudden shifts in current and a sharp turn of the rudder. Still though, I think that there are reasons to buy this disk. First of all, Greatest Hits might be ideal for the fan who doesn't know where to start. But, even then I'd probably steer them toward "Decade", which makes both musical and chronological sense and offers a more cohesive flow, even if it ends much earlier then this CD. There isn't much on the DVD-Video in terms of content. There are only two tracks with videos, "Rockin' in the Free World" and "Harvest Moon". Each track has the option for viewing the lyrics, a still photo, & the orginal album track listing or title, but not a whole lot more! So don't buy the DVD version if you are expecting a lot of different content.

There is another reason for even the most ardent fan to consider buying this collection. Sound. The sound quality of this CD easily surpasses every version of these songs that you have ever heard. Painstakingly remastered, for both conventional Audio CD, and available with a companion DVD-Video version of each track, this set hints at what is to be a complete remastering of the entire Young catalog. For notes on the precise equipment used for the process, just visit Young's (www.neilyoung.com) website, which will force you to figure out how to find the proper link.. hint, think license plate.

What is interesting about this remastering is what they didn't do. Namely they didn't try too hard to clean up noise and other artifacts. This isn't Pro-Tools on parade. While these versions offer that sense of sitting in the studio without anything between you and the musicians, this isn't a sterile, or overly noise-reduced remastering. The first several tracks have a ton of noise, some of which I imagine to be old-fashioned, pre-Dolby tape noise, and some of the noise seems to be just the noise of the amplifiers, pickups, and other bits. So.. this is a really accurate restoration, not a scrubbed clean and modernized version. So, while I might have enjoyed a version with a bit less noise, and a bit of extra punch added to the dynamic range, it is a damn wonderful job, even if a bit odd in the modern climate of making 30 year old recordings sound like they were recorded yesterday. But on this, it's as if someone pulled the cotton out of your ears. The audio stage is beautiful, warm, and transparent. The bass is solid and the guitar solos cut through the air with tact sharp precision.

The DVD-Video version is another thing altogether. From reading various reviews on Amazon, it seems that most folks don't seem to understand exactly what DVD-Audio (or SACD for that matter!) is, and what type of equipment is required to play it back. Simply put, those two formats are an attempt to create an "audiophile" digital music format, utilizing different technologies and approaches, for pretty much the same aural experience, which is a recording and mastering at a much higher bit rate, and resolution. In order to actually hear this, you need a player that is equipped for DVD-Audio playback, which only a handful of players can actually do. Although there are some low cost models that are surprisingly good, starting with the Pioneer DV-578-A, which is the lowest cost "universal" player that I know of. "Universal" players are capable of playing all the normal formats, but also DVD-Audio and SACD. However, all high bit players require you to use their 6 analog outputs to your "Multi-Channel" inputs on your receiver, and every model I've seen use varying, and mostly lousy approaches to how the Bass signal is managed, hence the term "bass management" used in their specs.

Ok, so is it worth it spend the extra bucks for the DVD-Video version? If you have a DVD compatible player, I think it is. The difference is subtle, and you must have some seriously good equipment to really hear the difference, but if you do, then the sense of time-travel these tracks offer is wonderful and enlightening. And of course there are the visuals. However, for a real Neil Young fan, at least for this one, the track selections are a bit maddening. And I think that to really experience Young's work in high-resolution sound, try out the amazing 5.1 DVD-Audio and Surround Sound version of "Harvest", which is simply breathtaking. And the interview with Young on the disc is great. It will play on any DVD player, and with a player capable of DVD-A, you can hear the high-resolution version. Even though this unfortunately isn't a DVD-Audio release, which in itself is a strange decision, at least on my system it has a different sound quality then the CD version. Probably due in part to the difference in using the analog Multi-Channel outputs vs. the digital coax output on my player.

As for me, I'm looking forward to "Decade" and some of the earlier catalog releases to be reissued with the new remastering. Ironically, one thing that the new releases point out, is that the original CD releases of Young's work were very respectably mastered in the first place! Remember that the choices made here, are incredibly cognizant. Just as Young's recent Greendale movie was low tech in feel and technology (8mm movie film!) to get it's story across, the soundtrack was recorded with among the highest audio resolution quality technology available anywhere on the planet! So, even the decision to release this CD, with it's somewhat strange track listing, it's painstakingly remastered audio, and a normal DVD-Video is as much a technological choice, as it is an artistic choice. Young, obviously, is in control, and letting us know it. So, until the rest of his catalog is released, pick this up, make sure you have something decent to listen to it on, and crank it up!

To Faulkner's Ghost: I should have been clearer, my Denon HDCD player is also a DVD-A/DVD-V player. Remember the CD is a HDCD, and the DVD is a DVD-V.

The DVD disc included here is just that: a DVD, or more specifically a DVD-V (V for video, the most common type of DVD).

Most DVD-A releases are actually hybrids, part DVD-A and part DVD-V. Manufacturers use the DVD-V part to be able to include extras like interviews and music videos. Also by duplicating the DVD-A musical programming in the DVD-V portion (as in the DVD-A of HARVEST), the disc can be bought and played by anybody with any DVD player (albeit at a lower resolution than true DVD-A). The resolution breakdown for stereo playback is as follows for the different mediums:
CD: 16 bits x 44.1 khz
HDCD: 20 bits x 44.1 khz (if played in a HDCD player)
DVD-V: 24 bits x 96 khz (this is what this DVD plays at)
DVD-A: 24 bits x 192 khz

With material as old as this, it probably won't make much audible difference, but I still got a better, punchier bass response with the HDCD (maybe because it is more compressed).

Another way to tell DVD-A from DVD-V playback: If you are playing a true DVD-A track, during playback, the video output can only be still pictures, not moving action video. As you probably know by now, when you play this DVD, you get the full motion video of the LPs playing, ergo, again no DVD-A.

To be fair, this DVD does not claim to be a DVD-A. The opening video shot says that it is a "DVD Stereo" disc, which is their coy way of not saying that it is not a DVD-A, unlike other NY releases which are true DVD-A.

It's this simple...

1) If you are unfamiliar with the works of Neil Young and want a decent sampling of his music and don't care about higher quality recordings, skip this package and just get the standard one disc release

2) If you are unfamiliar with the works of Neil Young, want a decent sampling of his music and like higher quality sound recordings, get this package.

3) If you are a fan of Neil's, it boils down to this--If you like higher quality sound in your CD music, get this version. If you could care less about the higher quality, skip it...unless you are totally fanatical and are willing to pay $20+ for two videos.

That's about it in a nutshell.

This is the first compilation of his hits since Decade in 1977. As it is though, there isn't a huge difference between Decade and Greatest Hits, in that all but two songs on the new album are from the 70's. Certainly his hay day though. Still, this is Neil Young stuff, and all are great songs. The DVD feature is pretty simple, with cheesy early 90's era videos of Harvest Moon and Rockin' In the Free World, info on each song's original album, a picture from the time, and the lyrics.
The opening tracks are the long beautiful Down By The River and Cowgirl in the Sand, then Cinammon Girl, all from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere-a greatest hits album unto itself. This is a great album, all terrific, special tunes by a giant.
An interesting note: On the back is a sentence regarding how the songs were picked, saying that based on chart numbers, sales, radio play and downloading amounts these songs were deemed the "greatest." Interesting that nothing from On the Beach or Tonight's the Night, two awesome albums released back to back in 74-75, is on here. In that way this album could have more.

Here is a further clarification on format which, though probably irrelevant to all but "golden ears" types, is worth mentioning. HDCD is effectively 20 bit encoding, not 16 bit, which is the CD standard. DVD-A is true 24 bit. DVD-A seems to add a touch of depth over HDCD, but frankly, I can hardly tell the difference between the HDCD and DVD-A layers of this set. Both are a welcome improvement over the origial CD versions, in part because of the advanced technology, but also because the tracks were impeccably remastered thanks to Neil Young's commitment to getting as close to true analog sound as possible with a digital medium. Neil Young is apparently a supporter of HDCD and DVD-A, and has personally supervised the remastering of the Buffalo Springfield recordings in HDCD. The beauty of HDCD is that it is fully compatible with all CD and all DVD players; DVD-A will play satisfactorily in almost all DVD players, but will play in full 24-bit hi-res only on DVD-A enabled players. Because the Pacific Microsonics chip used to master in HDCD is so good, almost everything recorded in HDCD sounds better. However, technically, to get the extra bits that HDCD offers you need a player with an HDCD encoder. Denon makes one for about $299 (DCM 380). SACD is Sony's one-bit approach to high def mastering and is equal in quality to DVD-A. However, all of Sony's affordable players are SACD/CD only, apparently because it doesn't want to support the competing DVD-A technology. Since there is still so little hi-def stuff out there in any format, my advice is don't saddle yourself with an SACD only machine. Toshiba and Pioneer both make inexpensive machines <$150 that play both SACD and DVD-A (but alas, do not include and HDCD decoder). I wonder if the commenter who claims to have compared the HDCD sound with the DVD-A sound using a Sony player was really listening to the DVD-A layer. The reason I wonder is that, as I said above, Sony does not support DVD-A. However, it's possible that high-end Sony's might have both. I know the low-end ones that I can afford do not.

All i can say is i am listening to him now, this is a long, long play. This cd will take you back to the day when you first heard Mr. Young, wherever you were. Nice selection of his best cuts. Not only for old fogies like me, even my kid knows that he is the father of grunge. Remastered sound puts the vocals in the room with ya. Definitely worth it.

First I'll review the cd portion, then the dvd. First off this is a HDCD, which on my system You'll hear a difference. I use an A/V system which includes a Denon AVR 4310 & Denon DBP4010 with the denon link cable for all audio. The speaker system is PSB Image T6 with a PSB Subsonic 8. For how old this recording is, the sound is quite good. Down by the river, Cinnamon Girl, Only Love Can Break your Heart, OHIO & Heart of Gold are my favs. At higher volumes I do hear alittle hiss, but only when the music fades out. The Guitar comes at you from the sides of the soundstage on Down by The river, as well as the back up singers. The bass is somewhat muddy sounding, but seems intentional. After The Goldrush has a great soundstage. Neil's voice has a strong front presence, with the piano coming from the surrounds. On Only Love Can Break your Heart, the sound quality jumps up a notch. With a strong surround presence. Overall this one has a nice flat response with just a hint of bass. I aslo didn't notice a big difference from the DVD to the HDCD. Also the DVD is just an Audio DVD with the song title on the screen and a record player. (If you're under 20 don't ask what a record player is.) The insert is a fold out poster of the cover. Since we can't get Neil on SACD, because he doesn't support it. We have to settle on HDCD's and a few DVD-AUDIO's. Thank you.

Ok you all can write volumes, but all I can say is this DVD played on my Panasonic portable DVD with a good set of headphones is sonic bliss. Turn it way up and let er rip. (Oh, and long live the horse)