Neil Young Launches Online Archives (1st December 2017)

Disconnecting your speakers should do the trick - glad to help.

 

This version of Ambulance Blues is interesting. It's maybe my favourite Neil song. I do like the regular version better than this one, but this one is quite nice anyway. The way his singing sounds makes me think this was from closer to 1970. Do we have any info on recording date yet?

 

No it is not a revelation and nor is it better than the released version.But it is of course worthy of a release proper along with other alternate versions.What else has been kept back? There is no reason this set had to be limited to 10cds.If it is good enough put it out.I thought this was the purpose of the whole set.I don't know what is depressing me more-the delivery debacle or the withholding of takes such as this.After decades and decades of waiting for exactly this type of take and it is not even on there.This day is really taking its toll.

 

I'm sure there are hundreds of hours of unreleased stuff. The Archives set is necessarily a curation, whittled down to something listenable.

 

I agree with this - but there's a fine line between "whittled down" and "watered down".

 

Some discs have 40-50 mins of recorded music.

 

Fine I get that but we are talking about the masterpiece that is OTB.And we are talking not of 20 different takes but just a handfull.Not of partial takes or abandoned takes but a full version that he deems fit to release just not on the very boxset I would expect it to be on.

 

I always thought it was supposed to be a warts and all kinda thing. Shouldn't be surprised by Neil though. If a mind can change it would be his.

 

Looks like all 10 discs will be streaming at 9am pacific time.

 

For sure. I was just being literal, answering the question that was essentially "why doesn't he release everything?"

I'd certainly be happy with more!

 

And why the hell is that? Utterly ridiculous.Ever since the advent of cds both Dylan and Young seem to have lost any ability to edit.So much so that these days a 7 minute song is deemed a short song.Ragged Glory goes on for an hour for no particular reason and yet on this box he can cut some of the cd length down to vinyl length and not take up the space that I would think are absolutely suited to more and worthwhile additional takes.

 

And a revised article on the launch in Subscribers News just published

Neil Young Archives

 

404. I swear neither app or the website work for me on my iPhone. It’s frustrating.

 

Just because a CD has capacity, doesn't mean it has to be filled.

That said, I agree with many of you that any set covering Neil's most prolific period with just 3 full CDs worth (or less) of new material is going to feel a bit sparse.

Anyway.

Bob Dylan once said "are you going to compare Neil Young to Neil Young? Compare it to someone else!".

So that's what I am going to do.

Dylan's Trouble No More (among others) is a great example of an archival set done well.

10 CDs and a DVD covering just 3 years of music. Live shows, studio outtakes, unreleased songs, demos, rehearsals, unique soundchecks. Hardly any previously-released material, hardly any repetition or identical multiple takes.

Plush packaging, modestly high price (at launch). Thoughtfully sequenced for an entertaining listening experience.

Yes, Dylan's sets are carefully curated, too (as well as in-depth and rewarding).

But they also feel like they are packed to bursting point with hidden treasures. Whereas the selection process for Neil's sets seems a little more watered down in comparison.

 

AAaaaaaaaannnnddd. It's gone LOL

 

I'll believe it when I see the e-mail, with a working link. So far, nothing.

 

Loving those vocal inflections.

 

I think that an artist like Neil is traditionally paid by his recording label according to the number of unreleased songs published on his new releases. Probably 10-12 songs for a single release and 60 or more for a boxset of this dimension. These artists are generally paid one dollar, more or less, for each song. In some releases like The Blue Note Cafe Recordings it's highly probable that the parts involved have agreed for a lesser price. For his baby as the NYA website, Neil can be generous with his fans.

 

In my opinion the new Ambulance Blues outtake is just a different mix.

 

No way. That's an entirely different performance.

 

NYA VOL II is up!!!!!

 

I have an account but not a subscription so I can't listen but wanted to say enjoy those of you who have waited so long! Good tunes ahead.

 

this is too much. i can’t function right now.

 

But I still have 3 concerts to listen to!

 

Dare I talk about anything not ARCHIVES II? I Dare.

Just watched the MOUNTAINTOP clip of "Rainbow of Colors" in the Hearse Theatre . . . a strong example of why this album is not good ("Colorado"). Neil doesn't even know the songs before he goes into the studio to teach the guys the songs. They're learning them as they record and NO ONE has absorbed them and gotten them and internalized them. When no one, not even the songwriter, has a deep relationship with the material, it sounds like it. I guarantee you none of those guys, Neil included, really remembers how any of these songs go and couldn't play them right now.
This is what happens when a person can't listen to ARCHIVES II yet!