Customer Reviews

Neil Young Archives, Vol. 1: 1963-1972

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

As a huge Neil Young fan I find the CD versions of the archives to be lacking for the following reasons:

1) I already own Massey Hall and the Fillmore (and I had both anyway from earlier tape trading). So this reduces the value for that reason - from eight CDs to six.
2) For a much ballyhooed collection, one talked about and written about for the past twenty years, where's the meat? The CDs are short in many cases, not even full. Some under 50 minutes.
3) An observation that very few "novices" spend $99 on a package for an artist they do not know.
4) Much here is already commercially available.
5) The booklet/documentation is lacking for a purchase cost such as this.
6) With that said - the remastered sound is wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.
7) There are some nuggets here - but they are fewer and farther between then I expected.

So, if you can drop $100 bucks at the drop of a hat and love Neil - a good buy. If you already own Massey and Fillmore - read the contents. If you are strapped for cash, or already own a lot of Neil - you might seriously consider what the value is you expect to receive. If your expectation was more than a beef'ed up "Decade", or CSNY boxed set - you might temper those expectations. Again - I need to emphasize the sound is great!

Like many Neil Young fans I've been waiting for this for a long time. Well, I'm a little disapointed. First the good news. The HDCD sound is a great improvement over the albums from Warner/Reprise. It's probably worth $70 just for the improved sound quality. The bad news is I, like most fans, already own most of this material. There isn't much new here. Neil even inexplicably contained "Live at Massey Hall" and "Live at the Fillmore East" which I assume most fans like me already have. So now your talking 6 discs, not 8. One disc pretty much has all of "After the Goldrush" on it. There are some great songs I hadn't heard before, most notably "Everybody's Alone". It's not that the music isn't stellar it's just that there's not much new here. The liner notes aren't very informative either. It would be nice to have some more information on the tracks. Overall if you're a fan I'd still recommend buying this for the improved sound quality alone, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a little disapointed.

This is a review of the cd,music only,release. And by novice,I mean those listeners who have heard OF Neil Young more than actually heard his music. If you like BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD,CSN&Y,or some of Young's other recordings,but don't own a lot of them-this would be a good purchase,especially considering the prices of the other formats,even if they do have more music/extras.

Eight discs 79,68,56,45,43,47,67,57 minutes each approximately. The sound is uniformly fine,with the earliest tracks a bit muffled and flat,but still okay. All the time,effort and expense Young put into this mammoth release is evident throughout. The discs are packaged in individual fold-out sleeves,complete with different graphics for each holder. The booklet lists the tracks and the personnel who played on them. Nothing else in the way of notes or information on the tracks. This lack of information sets the tone for this release.

The box itself,which folds out in the middle to expose the cd holders, holds all eight discs,the booklet and a fold-out archive poster,which lists the tracks and the year they were recorded-which is nothing all that great or important. I had the feeling that this poster is an attempt to give listeners "something" for their money in the way of an "extra". The graphics on the outer box are reproductions of articles about Young and his music.
Finally it's here,and it's loaded with great (but not with a lot of new) music,especially the unreleased tracks,that will have new and old Neil Young fans ecstatic,and will be an eye-opener for someone unfamiliar with Young's music. Long time listeners should look at the track listing to see just how many of these tracks they already own-it's your choice if you want music you already own,just to get the unreleased music. One nice thing to consider is that a lot of Young's best music is contained in one neat package. The star rating is for the overall quality of the music-not because there is a great deal of new music here,which is to bad,for Young may have missed a good chance to release some rare tracks-several discs are not even an hour in length. There is certainly enough unreleased material that would have fit into his idea of an archive. This seems to have the feel of a rip-off as far as long time listeners are concerned.

From Young's surf-band (the SQUIRES) and "folkie" beginnings in 1963,to his time in BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD,to CROSBY,STILLS,NASH and YOUNG,and,finally,to his individualistic solo/group albums with CRAZY HORSE and the STRAY GATORS,his two more well known later groups through 1972,it's all here,as far as it goes,and then some. The dozens (over 40) of unreleased tracks are well worthwhile. A combination of familiar tracks or albums (two discs are the already released "Crazy Horse at the Fillmore 1970"and "Massey Hall 1971") alongside unreleased songs,versions,mixes,or rare tracks gives this collection a real depth,and gives a keen insight into Young's music. Actually,this isn't a collection,as such,more of a partial autobiography of Neil Young,through his music. With that in mind,the long time Young fan will notice that many of the tracks are indeed familiar. One gem in this package is the "Live at the Riverboat (Toronto 1969)" set,which is a great acoustic live concert with good sound.

Forgetting for a moment the quantity of music-the quality of the music should make virtually anyone new to this music a rabid follower of Young's music,if they're not already. It would have been nice to have much more unreleased music,but this is an archive,not a collection of unreleased tracks,which the long time Young listener would probably prefer.

This archive,in the end,proves one thing. Whatever reason(s) and whatever direction he chooses to go,Young has found it essential to make music for many years,and listeners have a lot of good music to listen to. New listeners will be glad that Young has finally released this remarkable cache of music for them to not only listen to,but to marvel at it's scope and depth,keeping in mind the already released material they may own. Someone new to Neil Young will be able to hear what all the excitement is about by listening to any of these discs. For those new to Young's music this set is worth delaying purchase of other music,or not having that one thing you treat yourself to,in order to purchase this monumental set,assuming you don't already own a lot of this. It's that good. For those who are already familiar with a lot of this music,there's still good unreleased music here,but maybe not what most were hoping for. Listeners,no doubt,understand Young's desire to have an aural (and visual) record (no pun intended) of his vast repertoire of music at this stage of his life. At the same time what listeners really want is to hear more unreleased music-unfortunately this isn't it. Maybe Young will release some more unreleased tracks/albums in the future. We'll just have to wait and see.

Okay, so I will add to the very appropriate grumbles: I already own Massey Hall/Fillmore, not enough treasures, short discs, and appallingly lame booklet (Neil and production team: the poster went out with LP's ages ago)... So, I guess the question is, should any of us be surprised? No. We knew that the CD release was absolutely a compromise of Neil's ultimate dream and in a sense this package reflects his shrugging, saying "fine, whatever" to the record company and out pops this set.

I was deadset against buying it. Walked into my local music store with a stack of CD's to trade (including my old Beatles, in anticipation of their upcoming "new and improved"). I was given $60 in store credit and picked up Archives for $20. Now if I had just thought to bring Massey Hall, Fillmore and Decade, I might have gotten the whole shooting match for free.

Let's hope that when Archive Volume 2 gets released in 2050, my Blue Ray machine won't be outdated and/or Neil doesn't sell it as a brain implant...

I also agree with everyone who has said the remastering is fabulous. It was very much worth $20... Now off to read the Blueray and DVD reviews.

Perhaps the best way to describe this set is by describing what it is *not.* It is not a "greatest hits" package. Nor is it a "data dump" of all the false starts and outtakes one might see in a collection such as Verve's huge Charlie Parker box. It is also not even "the canon" of his output, as there are tracks on the currently available remastered CD's from this set's period which are *not* here.

It seems to be a subset of his releases, plus extra tracks, and recently released live albums from the period. Considerable remastering has been done, improving the sound quality. But don't believe that you're going to now have "the complete" Neil Young once you've bought this box and the follow-ups.

There are people who are happy with a Greatest Hits collection and want no more. There are people who are happy with his original CD's, as they represent the releases as he approved them. There are people who want to track down every available recording ("completists"). None of these people will be happy with this set: it's too much, or too little, or the "wrong stuff."

I'm not sure who this is for. It's not for me.

Neil Young Archives, Vol. 1: 1963-1972

I'll make it simple... sound quality improvement for early NY solo albums is worth the price of admission. Rare tracks from 68 on are excellent.

WARNING - Potential production problem.... 5 of 8 discs were contaminated with glue from the cardboard sleeves, which would not come off with CD cleaning fluid. This caused skipping. Simple paper sleeves inside the cardboard could have prevented this. Still waiting to see how to replace without getting a whole new set and finding more of the same.

Sorry for going off track here, and I'm also sorry to hear about the glue problem that many purchasers experienced (I'm holding off due to that now), but a reviewer from Canberra, Australia "Unstuck and Unglued," suggested using rubbing alcohol with a soft handkerchief to remove any glue on the CDs in this boxed set. I hope the below will help if not for this set, for future reference at least.

While the soft handkerchief might be okay FOR CDs ONLY, NEVER USE RUBBING ALCOHOL ON A CD (it will leave a residue on the CD and make things worse.) Don't use it on glue on plastic CD cases or boxed set cases or CD inserts either (especially considering the cost of a boxed set), as that will only damage them further. FOR THE CD ITSELF, use ONLY 91% Isopropyl Alcohol (it leaves no residue, and can be inexpensively purchased at your local pharmacy), with a VERY soft, lint-free cloth or handkerchief.

For glue stuck on your plastic CD case (or any paper or cardboard CD insert), or any other part of your boxed set OTHER THAN THE CD ITSELF, a simple, effective and inexpensive way to remove it is to buy a small jar of good rubber cement with an applicator brush, brush it on the glue where needed (and a little around the edges), WAIT UNTIL IT'S COMPLETELY DRY. Then, starting from the edge(s) with your fingers, gently roll/slide the glue off. This will ALWAYS work and leave your plastic AND paper (as in the case of a boxed set), completely unharmed and unmarked. I'm amazed that Neil didn't oversee the production quality of this through as many people seemed to have problems with the CDs AND sleeves. I know all of the above sounds a little uh... "detailed," but it DOES work. Hope the above helped and good luck!

4 of the 8 discs had glue adhered to them . Another had a deep pin hole scratch! Horrible quality control for a $100 dollar item! I returned for a second box with another 5 discs out of 8 in set displaying glue problems. I returned the second box as well and settled for Neils's remastered CD's instead. Obviously, no unreleased material in the remastered (Harvest, Goldrush, Nowhere) CDs but at least it was high quality music that actually played when inserted in CD player.

As stated in previous reviews, the packaging is ill-conceived. I had to return one set due to scratched discs. Also, Amazon's original product description listed a 168 page book. It's not here, just a small track by track booklet with recording info and no photos. Also, the poster is just a picture of a filing cabinet. No big deal.
No problem with the music, however. Aside from including the previously available Massey Hall and Fillmore East discs (?) the collection is incredible. I had put off buying Neil Young's early catalog because of rumors of this box, and I am glad I waited. Sounds great, and it's such an amazing body of work. It certainly improves on the early promise of Decade, though it cuts off at 1972.
I hope the next box will be more carefully considered. Perhaps a Ditch Trilogy box is in the works?
I love you Neil, please remember how much your fans appreciate you before you allow such shoddy packaging to mar your considerable achievements.

This is a must have for every Neil Young Fan. Remastered music from more than 35 years ago mostly sounds as if it was made in the present era. The studio work sounds better than on the older cd's and there are about 40 new versions (live registrations, other mixes and rarities) added to the studio tracks. The original albums are not completely found on the CD's. For instance from the 1969 "Neil Young - Neil Young" album are the next tracks omitted on the CD's: "The Emperor of Wyoming", "If I Could Have Her Tonight" and "String Quartet From Whiskey Boot Hill". So don't expect a complete remaster from the complete Neil Young work in that era. In general 70% of the original work is there with extra's added.

A point of criticism is that "Live at Fillmore East" and "Live At Massey Hall" have been sold a year or so in advance so I (and probably many other fans) now have doublures in the Neil Young collection.

Another technical problem rises with the glue of the paper sleeves, this was stuck to 2 (of 8) albums of my copy. This could damage your CD player and affects playing quality (hicks and clicks). Inspect the CD's before use and if there is any glue on the CD clean it carefully with a soft cotton cloth and some benzine (the Dutch word is wasbenzine). Watch out: No open fire ore smoking cigarettes when you use the benzine; this is a highly flammable liquid!!! After this cleaning job there is not a scratch on the CD's and they play properly. Don't use any other solvents (for instance thinner) because these can affect the smooth playing surface of the CD and make it unplayable.

It seems that I'm not happy with the archives; in the contrary it is a beautiful collection with great sound and it can give you a lot of time to enjoy!