Customer Reviews

Greatest Hits

5 star:		(78)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

It's hard to argue with the tracks included on this single disc collection, and it's really pointless to kvetch about which of your favorite Neil Young tracks got left off. Odds are you have them all anyway. I know I do. My only question is who was this CD compiled for? Obvioulsy his fans already have these songs. And with the most recent song on this disc dating from 1992 ("Harvest Moon"), it's unlikely that the casual fan was waiting twelve years for this to get released.

Longtime fans who bought 1977's DECADE already have all but five of these songs. You know what I'm waiting for? Where's DECADE II and III? [In fact, Young is only three years away from being able to release DECADE IV.]

And shouldn't this have been titled BEST OF instead of GREATEST HITS? Sure, it includes all three of his early-seventies top 40 hits, but it omits other singles that charted in the hot 100 like "When You Dance I Can Really Love," "Walk On" and "Four Strong Winds," among others.

Bottom line, this is a terrific collection of songs with some of Young's most powerful anthems. Five stars for the music, but I would think this is going to have limited appeal for anyone but the neophyte fan.

It is amazing to me how many times record companies and/or the artists themselves manage to screw up a "greatest hits" compilation. Too often are such compilations done to represent the entire career of the artist, regardless whether the artist's biggest hits stem from throughout that career. The "Elton John Greatest Hits 1970-2002" is a good example of that: too many latter day non-greatest hits take up space instead of overlooked real greatest hits.

Neil Young's "Greatest Hits" (16 tracks, 77 min.) thankfully is just that: his truly greatest hits, regardless of how recent or not so recent they are. This results then in a compilation on which only the last 2 songs are are post-1979 (1989's "Rockin' in the Free Workd" and 1992's "Harvest Moon"). In other words, 14 of the 16 songs on here are from 1969-1979. Although one can always argue whether this or that song should've been on here (I'd say that "Comes a Time" belongs on here), the truth is that, for the CASUAL Neil Young fan (if there is such a thing), this "Greatest Hits" CD truly represents his best known songs.

For the not-so-casual Neil Young fan, beware: there is significant overlap between this "Greatest Hits" and the 1977 "Decade" compilation: 10 of the 16 songs on "Greatest Hits" are also found on "Decade". That said, kudos for the audio quality of this CD, which sounds remarkedly better than the "Decade" compilation. "Neil Young Greatest Hits" is an essential CD for any music fan.

Actually, I'd give this CD four and a half stars. The only thing that prevents a five-star review is that any greatest hits of someone as important as Neil Young needs to have 2 CDs to cover all the material the man has produced over the years. Sound quality excellent, and the versions are full-length, as much as ten minutes in the case of 'Cowgirl in the Sand'. Neil Young was one of the seminal singer/songwriters of the sixties and early seventies, and his works capture the era of protest and baby-boomers coming of age. The song selection is good for a single CD. As someone who has most of Young's work on vinyl, I realize that this retrospective is only about half what deserves to be included, but it is a good start, and highly recommended.

Some of these reviewers are just totally missing the point of this release. Yes, these are the same songs we've all heard before and maybe there's no need to go out and buy them again. Well guess what? YOU DON'T HAVE TO BUY IT! Nobody's putting a gun to your head. If you feel that this exercise in career overview cheapens Young's musical achievements, shut yourself in a room and listen to your treasured vinyl copies of "Tonight's The Night" or "On The Beach" or whatever. This release is not for you. It's for casual fans or people who haven't heard any of this music and are curious about checking out some of Neil's songs without having to immediately delve into his extensive back catalogue. I know it's hard for you people to believe that such listeners exist but they are out there. Of course it's better to listen to the albums but a lot of people just don't care enough to bother. This is all they need and want. But what about Decade?? Isn't that a better buy because it is a double CD? Not necessarily. This release has two advantages over Decade:

1) If you are a casual fan, maybe you don't want a whole double CD of songs. Maybe you just want a single disc with most of the major songs covered.

2) The songs on here have been digitally remastered. This is the reason I bought this CD, despite the fact that I own a lot of Neil's albums already. Because, if you haven't noticed, Young's catalogue (along with the Beatles) is one of the most neglected in popular music. We now have SACD's for Dylan and the Stones but you still can't get a basic remastered copy of, say, Tonight's the Night and After the Goldrush. So until Neil or his label get their acts together and get some reissues happening (On the Beach was a good start but we want the lot thanks), this is the best that these songs are going to sound on CD.

Cries of "sell-out" or accusations that Neil is somehow ripping off his fans or degrading his mighty catalogue by releasing this are ridiculous and totally unwarranted. Every great artist should have a single-disc career overview - it is after all, the best way to give people a taste and maybe convert new fans. I think it's great that people might buy this, hear the greatness of songs like "Cinnamon Girl" and "The Needle and The Damage Done" and then be inspired to check out the actual albums.

Apart from all this, this has been very well compiled. Sure, everyone will have favourites missing - hell, I'd love to hear Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown on here, but we all know it was never going to happen! All of the major high points of Neil's career are covered here - while the disc is playing, it really doesn't feel like anything is missing, and that is a testament to the compilers. All in all, it's a perfect introduction for new listeners and a nice summary for fans (and don't forget it's remastered!)

Ok, let's face it. To get a true, die-hard fan's compendium of the career of Neil Young, you'd probably need to make it a 5-disc set. But that's not what this is. It's a great collection of some great tunes. No, it's not complete, but if you're not really familiar to the music of Neil Young, then it's perfect for you. If you already know his catalog back-to-front, then you've probably got this music already anyways, so it's all good.

One more thing: If you've got a turntable, I highly recommend the vinyl LP edition. It's printed on 200g vinyl, very high quality, and comes with a bonus 7" featuring "Sugar Mountain" and "The Loner." The sound quality of the vinyl just blows the CD out of the water.

While I cannot profess to be an expert on all things Neil Young, perhaps I am the kind of "casual fan" that Reprise was aiming at when they released this compilation. For me, this CD perfectly captures so many amazing Neil Young performances and memorable songs...songs that are monumental in the great modern music soundscape.

Neil Young is something of an enigma...all at once a bit of a cranky prophet and also a tender hearted romantic. He is the angry young man that never mellowed, but never lost his idealistic streak either. In other words, a man and musician of great integrity. His voice is a little creaky, and his guitar playing is definitely unique, sort of like Jimi Hendrix meeting Willie Nelson. There's something very plaintive about Neil Young's sound...but it's great pathos swathed in steely resolve.

Some reviewers here simply need to get over the fact that only so many songs will fit on one disc. And, for a great bargain, the listener here can get, on one disc, 16 landmark songs. You want more songs? You're going to need more discs. Does Neil Young deserve a sprawling, comprehensive, exhaustive box set to compile all of his great tunes? Sure. But that's not what this disc is for.

And, I've got to say, the track selection and ordering here is impeccable. From the languid groovy jams of "Down By River" and "Cowgirl in the Sand," to the feedback drenched epics "Hurricane" and "Rockin' in the Free World" to the heartbrakingly gorgeous "Harvest Moon" and "Comes a Time" to the breathtaking "Needle and the Damage Done," this is Hall of Fame stuff here.

Frankly, this disc will cause me to go back and invest more in Neil's catalog (solo and with CSN&Y and Buffalo Springfield). Who knows? Maybe I'll check out his work with the Mynah Birds (with Rick James, of all people). At any rate, this compilation has done it's work on me...I love it.

I admit I am not yet a huge fan of Neil Young. In a way, though, that makes me among the most qualified to review a CD like this.

There is absolutely no way a Neil Young best of/greatest hits compilation can be anything less than two CDs. I know that, and I'm not even all that familiar with him. Where's "Mr. Soul?" "This Note's for You?" "Cortez the Killer?" "Sample and Hold?" Something from the Shocking Pink album? Something that's less than a decade-and-a-half old?

This CD is just a hair under 80 minutes, and worthy material left off could easily fill the bulk of a second. This is one of the most disappointing compilations of recent years.

Yet in the end, this makes a decent gift for a younger person who needs a lesson on what good music is. Every single track on Neil Young's Greatest Hits is pure genius. And I was pleased to find stuff like the brilliant "Like a Hurricane" and "Comes a Time." Even songs played endlessly on the radio like "Hey Hey My My," "Cinnamon Girl" and "Ohio " never get old (actually, "Ohio" doesn't get much airplay here in its titular state, quite understandably).

So yes, there needs to be much more to this, but I can't imagine a Neil Young neophyte listening to this and not want to go out and get all of his albums. I certainly do.

I think this is a great compilation for a Neil Young fan, which I am. People are complaining "this just isn't enough" and "just buy Decade", well I didn't want to pay a rediculous $29.99 for Decade, so this is great for me!!! I've wanted a Neil Young compilation for some time but couldn't bring myself to purchase Decade simply for the price of the set. I consider myself a Neil Young fan and if you do as well but don't want to go out and buy all the albums or Decade, just for the money factor, this is a compilation for you.

If you have never listened to old Neil, this is a good start. Of course there are quite a few titles missing (albums like Zuma and On the Beach are not represented here, so there are not jewels like "Cortez the killer" or "On the beach"), but some of the best songs are there. Of course, every fan has some favourites, these are just the most popular songs. The question is: in the age of downloadable songs what is the use of a compilation that any NEil fan can make on his own? Clearly the only possible target for this record is people who never heard Neil Young's albums, and to them I say "buy it"!

I've never been a huge Neil Young fan (my father despises him), but I've always enjoyed his music. I needed one Neil Young cd for my collection, but I couldn't find one. Until I received "Neil Young - Greatest Hits" as a Christmas present from my parents yesterday. I listened to it yesterday. How does it hold up? Read on for the practically inevitable positives and negatives.

Positives:

-This collection is perfect for those who only want one Neil Young album in their collection. It has almost all of his best known songs, including "Cowgirl In The Sand", "Cinnamon Girl", "After The Gold Rush", "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" (my personal favorite), "Like A Hurricane", "Hey Hey, My, My" (Into The Black)", "Harvest Moon", "Ohio", "The Needle & The Damge Done", "Heart Of The Gold" and "Rockin' In The Free World".

-Underrated masterpieces have been included as well.

-The remastering job is excellent.

-Affordable and easy to find.

Negatives:

-Some underrated gems have been excluded, such as "Tell Me Why", "When You Dance I Can Really Love," "Walk On", and "Four Strong Winds".

-Nothing from his Buffalo Springfield days, which means "For What It's Worth" is not included.

-Nothing past "Harvest Moon".

-No liner notes, just track information. I expected something a lot better.

So, overall, this is an ideal Neil Young collection for beginners. Highly recommended.