Neil Young - Greatest Hits
|
List Price: Our Price: $6.25 You Save: $12.73 (67%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $5.99 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Greatest Hits
Free Music Review: The Best Fit under 1 Hour and 20 Minutes
Hit: 5 Stars
So why would a die-hard Neil Young fan bother buying a Greatest Hits CD? Easy answer folks. If you are like me you might have a budget to consider. I have 19 record albums by Neil Young, a couple of them are hard to find "collectors" items that if they even saw the light of day as a CD, they quickly went out of print. I have a Stills Young Band record. I have 3 Crosby Stills Nash & Young record albums, and I have the original three Buffalo Springfield record albums. So what is the easiest way to get the best of these without breaking the bank? You got it! Of course I miss the Country Girl suite from Déjà Vu, Cortez The Killer from Zuma, the title track from On The Beach, Goin' Back and darn near every track from Comes A Time and yes every track from Harvest. But hey, If you want to rebuild a Neil Young collection you miss, why not start here and pick up the separate CD's from your record collection, say one or two, that you REALLY want to hear in their entirety? Greatest Hits never please everybody. The CSN Greatest Hits package missed the mark by leaving off Déjà Vu, an essential and keeping 49 Bye Byes, to me a marginal track, but somebody out there feels completely different about that! What irks me is that you can darn near fit all three Buffalo Springfield albums on one CD and no one has done that yet! Okay chop a couple songs if you have to, and someone will complain. Still this compilation is rarified air! I hardly expected to see full length versions of Down By The River and Cowgirl but there they are! Oh and unless you (like me) bought Decade just for Ohio and Love Is A Rose, well at least this GH collection has the studio version of Ohio! The remastering of these songs is stupendous and from some of the other reviews here, I take it that the Decade CD fell short on that front. Of course no matter what you do, Harvest is going to come out seriously lacking, so I'll just shimmy on down to Walmart or hit a button on Amazon here and pick it up for $10 bucks or so. Star Of Bethlehem from Stars N Bars would have been nice but it's a pleasure to see the full shot 8 and almost a half minutes of Like A Hurricane from that one. I've seen some pretty shoddy GH packages where they trim every second they can from beloved songs. At least Neil keeps his integrity intact, or the producers of this package might have been mobbed! Harvest (the song) could have definitely have been preserved as a keepsake to go along with the sequel Harvest Moon, but ah well. If you are new to Neil Young this is the perfect little gem for getting acquainted with the first punk rocker, the man who was ridiculed for playing one-note leads (this note's for you!), and whose voice gives many people a headache. Neil isn't for everyone and even some of his fans need to be "in the mood". One thing is for certain, rock would not be what it is today without Neil Young. He was as essential to the music movement of the last 4 decades as were The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Carole King and James Taylor, Donovan, The Mamas & The Papas, The Beach Boys, Elton John, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, The Doors, The Who, Pink Floyd, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and about a hundred other footprints in the sand. Oh and if you are sore about the exclusion of Neil's art between Rust and his return to Reprise (The Geffen period) go pick up Lucky 13 for his "alternate" Greatest Hits, you'll find Sample and Hold there, as well This Note's For You and other little gems. The best way to sum up Neil Young to a new audience is with a little story:
After Lynyrd Skynyrd released their comments about Neil Young in the song Sweet Home Alabama, Rolling Stone magazine was quick to interview Neil (with whom they kept up a close romance for many years) and ask him what he thought of the song. By way of reply, Neil told the interviewer he was nothing short of "proud to be named in such a fine song."
Free Music Review: Near perfect disc for the casual Neil Young fan
Hit: 5 Stars
THE BAND: Neil Young (vocals, acoustic & electric guitar, piano) and an assortment of musicians (too many to mention here) over the past 4 decades.
THE DISC: (2004) 16 tracks clocking in at just under 77 minutes. Included with the disc is a 6-page foldout containing song titles/credits, musicians on each track, which songs came from what albums, and the year released. Digitally remastered sound. Label - Reprise Records.
ALBUM REPRESENTATION: "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" (3 songs), "Déjà Vu (1), "After The Gold Rush" (3), CSNY "Atlantic Records Single" (1), "Harvest" (3), "American Stars & Bars" (1), "Comes A Time" (1), "Rust Never Sleeps" (1), "Freedom" (1), "Harvest Moon" (1).
COMMENTS: First let me state that I've never been a hardcore Neil Young fan. I was a casual fan in the 70's and 80's... and still consider myself just that. I had very few of his vinyl albums back in the day (okay... I only had 2 of them - "After The Gold Rush" and "Harvest"). But listening to the radio fixed on classic rock, you can't help but get an earful of Young's songs from time to time. Sure, I think he tries to make a few too many political statements, and sure, he's no ladies man... but the man can write a song. I put him on the same lofty perch as the master story-teller Bob Dylan in that respect. Young has certainly stood the test of time... and he's still kicking albums out into his 60's. With that being said, a 2nd Neil Young compilation has been a long time coming since "Decade" in 1977. While "Decade" was a 35 track 2-disc set, it only spanned the years from 1969-77. This (2004) "Greatest Hits" package follows his music from 1969-91. It covers his solo career, days with CSNY, and Crazy Horse. However, it's one disc and only 16 tracks. The standards are here - "Cinnamon Girl", "After The Gold Rush", "Ohio", "Old Man", "Heart Of Gold", "Hey Hey My My (Into The Black)", "Southern Man", "Rockin' In The Free World", "Down By The River", etc. The songs are absolutely first rate. But, you simply can't contain Neil Young's best work on ONE disc. A more current 2-disc, or even 3-disc set is deserving at this point in Neil Young's career. This is a "HITS" only compilation... no deep album gems or artist favorites. As it states on the back of the jewel case, "Greatest Hits inclusion based on original record sales, airplay, and known download history". So if a favorite song of yours was never on the radio, and on a weaker album of his... there's no chance the song would be found here. You know what you're getting - the hits and only the hits. If you're a big Neil Young fan with a vast knowledge of his tunes from decades past, you might be disappointed with this disc. You'll find NO songs from many of his albums (i.e. - "On The Beach", "Zuma", "Unplugged", "Ragged Glory", "Neil Young" (1969), "Live Rust", "Weld", "Mirrorball", "Long May You Run", "Silver & Gold", "Trans", "Broken Arrow", "Everybody's Rockin'", "Old Ways", etc. However, if you're a casual fan like me, this "Greatest Hits" package is pretty much perfect (4.5 stars).
Free Music Review: Missing The Point
Hit: 5 Stars
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!)
Free Music Review: "Tell Me Why?"
Hit: 5 Stars
Subtitle: "...or how a harcore fan tries to fairly review a single-disc retrospective from his favorite artist."
You know how this works. Usually it's a bunch of complaining. "Why wasn't this song or that song on there instead of this other song?" and so on. Well, since this is Neil Young, and I trust he still "ain't singin for Pepsi, ain't singin for Coke" I'm gonna try and give him the benefit of the doubt.
Ok, the first question a hardcore fan asks upon seeing this is "why?". Neil's already released 'Decade' and even 'Lucky Thirteen' (a collection of the best of his experimental '80's material) so why this single disc, with only 5 songs not already on 'Decade'. Two things come to mind: 1. money 2. a cheap way fo new fans to get an overview of Neil's most popular work. Now, as much as the cynic (and annoyed fan) in me wants to say it's number one, there's no way Neil can need money. He's released 35 solo albums, played with CSNY, had huge grossing tours, and even owns the Lionel model train company - he's set for cash. So you can't fault him for trying to get new fans interested.
Next, a hardcore fan has to ask why this was put out instead of releasing 'Time Fades Away', the first album in the great "Doom Trilogy" (although reputedly the worst of the three) on cd! Why isn't this out yet?
And the last major annoyance is why does Neil keep interrupting work on the 'Archives', a retrospective of unreleased and rare material at times rumored to be an 8 to 10 cd set? It's been over 15 years in the making! Of course the more I think about it, releasing something like this (which seems so un-Neil) could be a concession to the record company so that they'll even allow a huge set like that to be released exactly as Neil wants it. Given his shakey relationships with record execs in the past, I wouldn't doubt it.
For the new fan however, this set is perfect, and a smart idea. Before I became a hardcore fan, I passed on 'Decade' because of the cost, and the fact that it didn't have any of the "newer" hits. I made my own single-disc collection which was basically the same as this. I listened to that cd constantly, so I know a new fan will LOVE this disc. Personally, I don't own it since I now have every album these songs came from and then some.
So, is it blasphemy that there are no songs from 'Tonight's the Night' or 'On the Beach'? Well...yeah. But if you really wanted a complete "best of" it would run longer than 10 cds and contain many entire albums. For new fans, the main thing is to realize this is just the tiop of the iceburg. If you like this, start buying the regular albums. And if you REALLY like this, check out Neil's biography, 'Shakey', one of the best and most interesting rock bios ever written.
Free Music Review: Neil Young
Hit: 5 Stars
Well folks I think it is time I weighed in on the subject of Neil Young selling out by putting out a "Greatest Hits" album/CD. I am old by some of your standards I am sure. I am a product of the sixties so I have had the oppurtunity to listen to some great music and musicians when rock and roll was early in it's birth. It was not like today when the studio takes over and overdubs and removes mistakes. It was alive, fresh, and creative. But I am getting away from the purpose of the review...I agree that if you have not had the oppurtunity to listen to much of Neil Young's music that this is a good purchase. It will let the new listener hear some of his music without purchasing all the albums or CD's to cover all the tracks...Personally I own all of the albums or CD's that cover the "Greatist Hits" tracks so I will not be getting it...in fact since I don't listen to the albums much any more all the albums I have I also have on CD. But remember I have been accumulating this over the last almost 40 years. I have listened to Neil Young from his days with Buffalo Springfield to CSNY and all of his solo career...he is great alone with a guitar and harmonica and shines with "Crazy Horse" behind him...Neil would never sell out...and if you disagree then buy his biogaphy "Shakey". Neil Young is one of the last true rock and rollers that are left. He says in his biography that he would rather bury all this recordings and let someone else do a greatist hits when he is dead. By the way he owns all the original recordings he has ever done all the way back to Buffalo Springfield. Now everybody has a opinion so I in no way am I out to offend anyone but I think that if you want to talk about selling out then go buy a Brittney Spears CD..do you really think anyone would care to listen or watch her if she dressed out at 275lbs. I think to determine if someone is really selling out you should first look at whether they have a record label behind them or an entire marketing machine...like Ms. Spears. It's nice eye candy for sure but she has no talent..and there are many others out there so I am not picking on her believe me...Anyway for those who buy this recording enjoy and have a ball...then go buy "Live Rust" and "Unplugged" and compare the versions of "Like a Hurricane". Sorry folks I am just a die hard fan for Mr. Young...Keep on Rocking Neil...