I buy everything Neil puts out although I am finding a bit of Archive overload at the moment - Barn came as a relief and I am still really enjoying it. I really don't see the point of releasing Chrome Dreams now though. This continual re-ordering of the same songs as new albums is starting to wear just a little thin for me. It's like he is basically creating a playlist but then releasing it as a long lost album. How many more times can the same set of of songs be re-ordered and released? I know CD is seen as one of the great unreleased albums and I know we are lucky to get all this stuff. I also know I don't have to buy it but I'm sure a lot of people here will know how that goes.
This is true not just for yourself, but also for most fans. It is less true, however, for the sub-group of fans most easily parted with their money. So while I firmly agree with you from my own perspective, I can respect (but not admire) the allure of repeatedly selling the exact same stuff to the fans willing to receive this punishment as a blessing.
For some—a sub-group of the total fanbase—the satisfaction that comes from knowing that they have an official copy of Chrome Dreams sitting on their living room shelf will itself justify a purchase. (The music itself might not be irrelevant... but as a buying impulse, it's secondary.) My own opinion is the same as @JackOfAllTrades — the existent of playlists essentially makes a lot of the re-hashing redundant (and—in many cases—exposes it as a sales gimmick). But that is not to forget that physical music releases are objects that are valued beyond the music they contain.
One would think the 50th version of Harvest is the next release? My take on 2022 releases: -Harvest 50th -The Bootleg Releases -NYA Volume III -Barn Counterfeit Version Or New Album From 2022 Recording
i don't think it's anything. maybe neil's demos or solo version. the barn movie made it appear that they only recorded once and moved on.
Different overdubs/rough mixes, perhaps? Who knows. (I originally imagined that Billy Talbot, in the time-honoured style, had given somebody a rough mix of the album which had then escaped onto the internet, pre-release. This was a nice idea, I thought. But presumably one with no basis in fact.)
Boy, I’d take stand-alone releases of Dume and some iteration of a Homefires album that Neil has mentioned before Chrome Dreams. Especially a Dume double LP. What a cool package that would be.
Continual? What other releases does this apply to? agree that Chrome Dreams seems pointless but Homegrown had 9 of 12 tracks unreleased.
Most of Archives Vol 2 works better as an NYA playlist than it does as a CD box that has a total of about 2 CDs' worth of new stuff. It felt like a release that was neither here nor there — Not a comprehensive set, nor a trimmed-down "best of" compilation, nor a collection of pure rarities. (Contrast with Dylan's Trouble No More — 10CDs, almost all previously unreleased. And if you want to put together a playlist with previously-released material from the same period, then that's easily do-able).
right, yeah, the mixing of tons of previously released material in with all of the unreleased stuff is absolutely terrible. you mention the playlist thing and it's exactly like Biograph, which was a huge hit and great idea in 1985 but doesn't work now because big boxes of ENTIRELY unreleased material are fashionable and welcomed by fans. 1) anyone buying the box set already has that material (probably in remastered form) already. 2) i know Volume 1 (not sure about Volume 2) included almost all of the material from the albums from the time period, but not all, therefore forcing anyone who wanted it to buy the remastered album separately. this could be solved by simply, you know, releasing the remasters in a timely fashion and releasing the purely unreleased material separately or in proper deluxe editions of albums (not ATGR 50) or whatever, like everyone else does, for the most part 3) the discs are getting shorted from material like "Barefoor Floors," etc. that will likely never see release on physical format or even in a purchasable, downloadable, lossless format 4) having remastered albums and massive box sets of entirely unreleased material wouldn't preclude them from releasing all of the non-music archival material (newspaper clippings or whatever the f) in books and blu-ray cabinets, website, etc. the way he insists on doing this in such a clunky, non-intuitive way is more than a little frustrating
I get you. But the way Neil works is… the way Neil works. It leads to the great, idiosyncratic music he has been making for decades. It’s part of the package. The Archives will continue to appear in a very chaotic, odd, Neil kind of way. But look at what we have gotten. There is a great career’s worth of music, previously unheard, that has been released as part of this Archives project. All lovingly presented in great sound. As long as he keeps it coming, I’m along for the ride.
I'm fine with how the archives are presented. It's a shame stuff like Barefoot Floors wasn't included, but it's on his website anyway and we'll get a better version on vol III according to Neil. Does anyone know what he is on about in the latest letters to the editor when he discusses a tape of a broadcast of Like a Hurricane? Isn't that just the recording at Hammersmith Odeon that was broadcast on Midnight Special and was also included on the DVD-a of Stars n Bars?
when you say better version, do you mean an alternate? or just that it would be presented in lossless?
It's also the fact that the NYA website is Neil's baby and the CD box set was a concession to the record company. (Something that Neil confirmed in an interview around the time Hitchhiker was released.) So the splintered effect might partly be because it's a project that's serving two different masters.
The inclusion of previously-released material on the Archives sets makes them like Super-uber-extremely-expanded Greatest Hits collections. If you view it in that light, it's fine. Any way you slice it, NYAII (for example) is 10 discs of amazing music. I like hearing it is a whole, with the previously-released sitting aside the previously-unreleased. And to save anyone else the trouble, I do acknowledge that I am rationalizing what could very justifiably be viewed as a money grab. Maybe it's just so that I don't feel like I've been ripped off.
Neil's original description: "The order was completely different from the album we made. It had edits not on the original and different lyrics in one of the songs." So possibly the same songs resequenced (alternate running orders are pictured on the album info card in NYA), with some different edits and an alternate take or two?
Keep an eye on @Harm1985's thread, here: Neil Young Archives - Timeline Concerts (For all timeline concert related stuff).
I'm fine with the mixing of released and unreleased material. I enjoy the chronological programming of the material. There's just not enough of the unreleased stuff - I agree with you re Barefoot Floors. Vol. 1 is a great listen with the Topanga-themed discs, they just could be longer. Same for Vol. 2. (Tonight's the Night and Walk On discs).
Yep, I downloaded about two discs worth of unreleased material from Vol. II. It's a great listen and is all I need.
