The Ragged Glory/Weld tour is one of the greatest of his entire career. The lead guitar playing in particular is very hard to beat, in a league of its own. The difference between Ragged Glory and Weld? The Gulf War.
" thinking is deadly for the Horse" p.s. Here's my policy regarding any current and upcoming spats over the implications and meaning of this music's purported 16/44 source recordings:
Frequencies above 22khz are only audible to males over the age of 65, so depending on your sex and age you may well be fine regardless.
Although I think Ragged Glory is a fantastic sounding record, with a great guitar-centric mix, I agree with those who feel the bass could do with a just a little more "oomph". Perhaps this re-release is a good opportunity to amp it up a little. And yes, as the Neil Young Survival Guide states: "all projected release dates should be completely ignored until you can hear the music coming out of your speakers".
Of the trilogy of late 80's/early 90's albums where he returned to his level of greatness from '69 to '79, "Ragged Glory" is my absolute favorite (big love to "Freedom" & "Harvest Moon" too). I was at one of the shows (Buffalo) that was mined for the "Weld"/"Arc" live album & it was all it's been cracked up to be over the years by those who were there. 5 songs & 40 minutes more!! Another full album's worth!! I'm sure the band will be smokin', performance wise. During that first decade of peaking there was never any shortage of great leftover/outtake songs... one hopes that during that particular burst/period of sustained creative fire, that the leftovers might be, once again, as delucious as the main course was! If so, it will be fascinating to view the album in terms of being a double now!!
I assume/guess that the additional tracks include the jam-tastic "Spook the Horse," which to my uncertain knowledge is the only non-Ragged Glory performance from these sessions that's been released (as an extra track on the "Mansion On the Hill" CD).
Add me to the list. This was one of the most played albums of the 90's and it came out in a time I was going through a very tough time in my life. This album helped get me through it. It's one of my favorite and it's deeply personal. Can't wait to hear this. I caught the Ragged Glory Tour at the Cap Center in Landover, MD. Social Distortion and Sonic Youth opened. My ears rang for days. This was right around the time of the 1st Gulf War and Neil's cover of Dylan's Blowin' In The Wind seemed like a direct statement to those over in Washington, DC that night. It was a great show. He used parts of that show as part of Weld release. The Welfare Mothers was also a standout that night. A complete sonic attack! Security was super tight at the Cap Center that night. I had an aisle seat and had just taken a big hit off of a pipe I had smuggled in. Right as I inhaled a security guard came up the stairs and stood right next to me looking for whoever it was who had lit up in my isle. He stood there for what seemed like an eternity as I held in a lung full of pot smoke. I just stat there and tried to act normal. He eventually went away and I was able to exhale and catch a breath. Close call!! We didn't light up again for the rest of the show.
I share your concern. I mean, look at that last line of the announcement for the revamped Ragged Glory--- possibly delaying the release of other announced projects. This sure sounds ominous for those of us looking forward to Archives II. That aside, this should be great. Ragged Glory is a masterpiece. And correct me if I'm wrong, but won't this be the first time Neil will release an expanded edition of one of his studio albums? So maybe this won't fall under the "Archives" rubric anyway,
HOLY CRAP ! I was this close to buying a vinyl copy for $75 last night, and hopeful posts here stopped me. Thank you @Graham !!!!!! And I was only offline for 90 minutes ?!?
Personally I doubt it will come out as a double/expanded/deluxe edition, since as you say he's never done it before. Plus why would they call it "Ragged Glory II" if it came out as an expanded 2CD Ragged Glory? It makes no sense. If they actually do call it 'Ragged Glory II'' then logic dictates that it will be released as a separate companion volume to the original.
there's a song called 'born to run' that's out there. the recording sessions are mentioned in shakey, but a release like this has never been mentioned. we just knew a new reissue of ragged glory was in the pipeline.
And I was just reading on Thrasher’s about the newly discovered Tuscaloosa 1973 and the 1976 Odeon/Budokan. What a time!
Harvest Moon is part of the great run, but stylistically it’s so different that I tend to think of it as a bit of a “stand alone” album. I tend to think of El Dorado/Freedom/Ragged Glory as being the trilogy (or maybe El Dorado is the prologue?). Anyway, I am in for an expanded release. More noise please.
"El Dorado" should really have been mentioned, I agree... and good evidence for a bounty of great songs from that era too!! I do, however, personally feel "Harvest Moon" does belong in there... in his '69 to '79 peak he went from "Harvest" to The Ditch Trilogy... from "Comes A Time" to "Rust Never Sleeps"... crazy eclectic & can turn stylistically (up to 180 degrees) on a dime & in a flash...
