Neil Young: Archives Vol. 1 Blu-ray Review

• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
  
• Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
  
• Audio Codec: English LPCM (192kHz/24-bit). DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (96kHz/24-bit) & LPCM stereo (96kHz/24-bit) on Journey Through the Past
  
• Region: ABC (Region-Free)
  
• Discs: 10
  
• Performers:  Neil Young, Crazy Horse, The Stray Gators, Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Squires
  
• Studio: Reprise Records
  
• Release Date: June 2, 2009
• List Price: $349.99
  

[amazon-product align="right"]B001B8PV4U[/amazon-product]Purchase from CD Universe

Overall

The Collection

Video Quality

Audio Quality

Supplemental Materials

Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures

More screen captures (34 total)

(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG and thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)

The Collection

Neil Young: Archives: Vol. 1 is a mammoth collection. Finally seeing the light after Neil Young has kept it under wraps for so many years due to his dissatisfaction with digital recording, in particular the CD, the collection covers his career from 1963 – 1972 and it is one of the most significant releases to come to the Blu-ray format to date.

I’d been referring to Archives for the longest time as a Blu-ray-audio release, but after having gone through the set, I now hesitate to call it that at all. Though it is true that, at its heart, Archives is still an audio release, it is far from audio-only, such as some of the Blu-ray-audio releases from Lindberg Lyd.  With Archives, Neil Young has taken the first decade of his career and lovingly and meticulously gathered it all together in one package on the only format that could do it justice — Blu-ray. Yes, it is also available on CD and DVD, but according to Neil Young’s own words on the front page of his website, “If you are considering buying the Neil Young Archives set and you want the best package, then Blu-ray is for you.”

Archives not only comes stuffed with beautifully mastered high-resolution 192kHz/24-bit audio of Young’s music, but it is packed to the brim with everything but the kitchen sink — and that’s possibly in here as well. There are newspaper clippings, handwritten lyrics, high-resolution photos, high definition (1.78:1; 1080i/60) video settings to accompany every song showing all manner of vintage gear, from Teac cassette decks to old portable turntables. There’s an interactive Timeline and a Neil Young Bio stretching across the first nine discs and disc ten is Neil Young’s 16mm film Journey Through the Past, unavailable since its original theatrical release.

Part of the fun with Archives, outside of listening to the fantastic music, is searching through each disc and finding some of the Easter eggs buried in there. It can possibly take weeks to make it through this entire collection, listen to every bit of music, view every document and every piece of memorabilia or archival footage buried in the collection. One disc has a humorous clip of Neil browsing through a record store and coming across a bootleg CSNY album; let’s just say he wasn’t happy. This is excellent stuff.

Of course, the main attraction on Archives is the music and Neil Young has provided plenty of that. There are 116 “main” audio tracks, plus the additional hidden tracks and bonus materials that will be provided at future dates. The set provides plenty of rare mixes, previously unreleased versions, live recordings, alternate takes and some album tracks as well, spanning all the way from Young’s early Toronto-band days with The Squires straight through his years with Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young to his solo days. Of course, the set would be incomplete without music from Neil Young & Crazy Horse or Neil and The Stray Gators and there’s plenty of that as well.

Archives Vol. 1 is also enabled with BD-Live and it has been promised that the set will be updated — free of charge — as new material becomes available. This will require users have a BD-Live (Profile 2.0) capable player, naturally. For Archives, I hasten to say that, if you do not have a player capable of doing BD-Live, it is finally worth it to upgrade.

Here’s the breakdown of each disc in the set and what is available on each. Some BD-Live material was not available for download at the time of this review, but all BD-Live material should be fully operable on Tuesday when the collection is officially released.

Disc 00 Early Years (1963-1965):

Track listing:

1. “Aurora” — The Squires – from the 45 RPM single (mono)
2. “The Sultan” — The Squires”  – from the 45 RPM single (mono)
3. “I Wonder”– The Squires – previously unreleased song (mono)
4. “Mustang” — The Squires – previously unreleased instrumental (mono)
5. “I’ll Love You Forever” — The Squires – previously unreleased song (mono)
6. “(I’m A Man And) I Can’t Cry” — The Squires – previously unreleased song (mono)
7. “Hello Lonely Woman” — Neil Young & Comrie Smith – previously unreleased version
8. “Casting Me Away From You” — Neil Young & Comrie Smith – previously unreleased song
9. “There Goes My Babe” — Neil Young & Comrie Smith – previously unreleased song
10. “Sugar Mountain” — Neil Young – previously unreleased demo version (mono)
11. “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing” — Neil Young – previously unreleased demo version (mono)
12. “Runaround Babe” — Neil Young – previously unreleased song (mono)
13. “The Ballad Of Peggy Grover” — Neil Young – previously unreleased song (mono)
14. “The Rent Is Always Due” — Neil Young – previously unreleased song (mono)
15. “Extra, Extra” — Neil Young – previously unreleased song (mono)

• NY Biography

Timeline:

“I Wonder” recorded by The Squires in a Winnipeg Basement March 15, 1965

Disc 01 Early Years (1966-1968):

Track listing:

1. “Flying On The Ground Is Wrong” — Neil Young – from the Buffalo Springfield Box Set (mono)
2. “Burned” — Buffalo Springfield – from the album Buffalo Springfield (mono)
3. “Out Of My Mind” — Buffalo Springfield – from the album Buffalo Springfield (mono)
4. “Down, Down, Down” — Neil Young – previously unreleased version (mono)
5. “Kahuna Sunset” — Buffalo Springfield – from the Buffalo Springfield Box Set (mono)
6. “Mr. Soul” — Buffalo Springfield – from the Buffalo Springfield Box Set (mono)
7. “Sell Out” — Buffalo Springfield – previously unreleased song (mono)
8. “Down To The Wire” — Neil Young – from the album Decade (mono)
9. “Expecting To Fly” — Buffalo Springfield – from the album Buffalo Springfield
10. “Slowly Burning” — Neil Young – previously unreleased instrumental
11. “One More Sign” — Neil Young – from the Buffalo Springfield Box Set
12. “Broken Arrow” — Buffalo Springfield – from the album Buffalo Springfield Again
13. “I Am A Child” — Buffalo Springfield – from the album Last Time Around

• NY Bio

Timeline:

• “Do I Have to Come Right Out and Say It?” (192/24) — Buffalo Springfield, Gold Star Recording Studio, Hollywood.
• “For What It’s Worth” — Buffalo Springfield, Columbia Recording Studio, Hollywood December 5, 1966 (192/24)
• “This is It!” — Excerpts from Buffalo Springfield’s final concert; Long Beach Arena May 5, 1966

Disc 02: Topanga 1 (1968-1969):

Track listing:

1. “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere” —  Neil Young – from the stereo promotional 45 RPM single-second pressing
2. “The Loner” — Neil Young – from the album Neil Young
3. “Birds” — Neil Young – previously unreleased version
4. “What Did You Do To My Life?” — Neil Young – previously unreleased mix
5. “The Last Trip To Tulsa” —  Neil Young – from the album Neil Young
6. “Here We Are In The Years” —  Neil Young – from the album Neil Young–second version
7. “I’ve Been Waiting For You” — Neil Young – previously unreleased mix
8. “The Old Laughing Lady” — Neil Young – from the album Neil Young
9. “I’ve Loved Her So Long” — Neil Young – from the album Neil Young
10. “Sugar Mountain” — Neil Young – previously unreleased stereo master
11. “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing” — Neil Young – previously unreleased live version
12. “Down By The River” — Neil Young with Crazy Horse – from the album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
13. “Cowgirl In The Sand” — Neil Young with Crazy Horse – from the album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
14. “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere” — Neil Young with Crazy Horse – from the album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

• NY Bio

Disc 03: Live at The Riverboat (Toronto 1969): — (In early-February 1969):

Track Listing:

1. “Sugar Mountain” — Neil Young – previously unreleased live version
2. “The Old Laughing Lady” — Neil Young – previously unreleased live version
3. “Flying On The Ground Is Wrong” — Neil Young – previously unreleased live version
4. “On The Way Home” — Neil Young – previously unreleased live version
5. “I’ve Loved Her So Long” — Neil Young – previously unreleased live version
6. “I Am A Child” — Neil Young – previously unreleased live version
7. “1956 Bubblegum Disaster” — Neil Young – previously unreleased song
8. “The Last Trip To Tulsa” — Neil Young – previously unreleased live version
9. “Broken Arrow” — Neil Young – previously unreleased live version
10. “Whiskey Boot Hill” — Neil Young – previously unreleased live version
11. “Expecting To Fly” — Neil Young – previously unreleased live version

• NY Bio
• NY Discography — A discography of “selected acoustic releases” by Neil Young, including Harvest, American Stars ‘n Bars, Harvest Moon, and Unplugged.
• Riverboat History
• Timeline

Archives:

• Photos (1920X1080; black and white/color) — Archival photos of Neil Young at the Riverboat, its interior and the surrounding area.
• Documents — Original handwritten manuscripts for “I’ve Loved Her So Long” and “The last Trip to Tulsa”
• Press — Newspaper clippings on Neil Young at the Riverboat from various Toronto newspapers.
• Original Tape Box — A look at the original reel-to-reel tape boxes with handwritten playlists on the boxes.
• Riverboat Raps — Select Neil’s various moments of banter with the audience during his Riverboat gig.

Disc 04: Topanga 2 (1969-1970):

Track listing:

1. “Cinnamon Girl” — Neil Young with Crazy Horse – from the album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
2. “Running Dry (Requiem For The Rockets)” — Neil Young with Crazy Horse – from the album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
3. “Round And Round (It Won’t Be Long)” — Neil Young with Crazy Horse – from the album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
4. “Oh Lonesome Me” — Neil Young with Crazy Horse – previously unreleased stereo mix
5. “Birds” — Neil Young with Crazy Horse – from the 45 RPM single (mono)
6. “Everybody’s Alone” — Neil Young with Crazy Horse – Previously unreleased song
7. “I Believe In You” — Neil Young with Crazy Horse – from the album After The Gold Rush
8. “Sea Of Madness” — Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – from the original soundtrack album Woodstock
9. “Dance Dance Dance” Neil Young with Crazy Horse – previously unreleased version
10. “Country Girl” Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – from the album Déjà Vu
11. “Helpless” — Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – previously unreleased mix
12. “It Might Have Been” — Neil Young with Crazy Horse – previously unreleased live version

• NY Bio

Timeline:

• “Mr. Soul” — NY & Stephen Stills, Woodstock, August 18, 1969 (1.33:1)
• “Down By the River” — Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, Music Scene ABC-TV, Los Angeles, September 22, 1969 (1.33:1)
• Re: Crazy Horse Archives Review Session, Broken Arrow Ranch, February 24, 1997

Disc 05: Neil Young & Crazy Horse –Live at The Fillmore East (New York 1970):

Track listing:

1. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
2. Winterlong
3. Down By The River
4. Wonderin’
5. Come On Baby, Let’s Go Downtown
6. Cowgirl In The Sand

(all previously released live versions)

Backstage:

• Neil Young:
  • Bio
  • Discography — A Discography of Neil Young & Crazy Horse
• Jack Nitzsche — Bio
• Danny Whitten — Bio
• Ralph Molina — Bio
• Billy Talbot — Bio
• Neil Young & Crazy Horse 1970 Tour Dates

• Photos
• Documents — Handwritten song manuscripts and sheet music
• Press — Press clippings on Neil Young & Crazy Horse
• Memorabilia — Filmore East memorabilia, including ticket order forms, seating charts, performer passes, envelopes and the reel-tape boxes for the NY & Crazy Horse shows.
• Song Lyrics

Disc 06: Topanga 3 (1970):

Track listing:

1. “Tell Me Why” — Neil Young – from the album After The Gold Rush
2. “After The Gold Rush” — Neil Young – from the album After The Gold Rush
3. “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” — Neil Young – from the album After The Gold Rush
4. “Wonderin'” — Neil Young – previously unreleased version
5. “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” — Neil Young – from the album After The Gold Rush-first pressing
6. “Cripple Creek Ferry” —  Neil Young – from the album After The Gold Rush
7. “Southern Man” — Neil Young – from the album After The Gold Rush
8. “Till The Morning Comes” — Neil Young – from the album After The Gold Rush
9. “When You Dance, I Can Really Love” — Neil Young with Crazy Horse – from the album After The Gold Rush-first pressing
10. “Ohio” — Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – from the stereo 45 RPM single
11. “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” — Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – previously unreleased live version
12. “Tell Me Why” — Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – previously unreleased live version
13. “Music Is Love” — David Crosby, Graham Nash & Neil Young – from the album If I Could Only Remember My Name
14. “See The Sky About To Rain” — Neil Young – previously unreleased live version

Timeline:

• “On the Way Home” — Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young (1.33:1), Fillmore East, NYC, June 2, 1970
• “The Loner & Cinnamon Girl” — Neil Young (1.33:1),Café Feenjon, Fillmore East & Washington Square Park, NYC, June 1970

Disc 07: Live at Massey Hall (Toronto 1971):

Track listing:

1. On The Way Home
2. Tell Me Why
3. Old Man
4. Journey Through The Past
5. Helpless
6. Love In Mind
7. A Man Needs A Maid/Heart Of Gold (Suite)
8. Cowgirl In The Sand
9. Don’t Let It Bring You Down
10. There’s A World
11. Bad Fog Of Loneliness
12. The Needle And The Damage Done
13. Ohio
14. See The Sky About To Rain
15. Down By The River
16. Dance Dance Dance
17. I Am A Child

(all previously released live versions)

• NY Bio
• Discography — A discography of “selected acoustic releases” from Neil Young
• Massey Hall History — A history of the historic hall in Toronto, built in 1894.
• Lyrics
• Timeline

Archives:

Video:

• The Needle and the Damage Done (1.33:1) — A television performance by Neil Young of “The Needle and the Damage Done” prefaced by Johnny Cash talking about the dangers of drug abuse and Neil Young as the voice of a new generation from the Johnny Cash on Campus TV Show, Ryman Auditorium Nashville, TN. February 7, 1971.
• Old Man (1.33:1) –Swinging Mit Neil Young Dutch TV Documentary. February 9, 1971.
• Archives Meeting (1.33:1) — Broken Arrow Ranch, CA, February 18, 1997.

Radio:

In the Studio with Redbeard, February 2, 1989. — Neil Young radio interview where Neil speaks about “Old Man” and “A Man Needs a Maid” from Harvest.

Photos

Documents — Handwritten notes and manuscripts including the original proposed sequence for the 2-LP “Live” album circa 1970 that was never released.

Original Tape Box — The original reel-to-reel tape boxes for the Massey Hall sets.

Press — Newspaper clippings from the Toronto press about Neil Young’s stay at Massey Hall.

Disc 08: North Country (1971-1972):

Track listing:

1. “Heart Of Gold” — Neil Young – previously unreleased live version
2. “The Needle And The Damage Done” — Neil Young – from the album Harvest
3. “Bad Fog Of Loneliness” — Neil Young with The Stray Gators – previously unreleased version
4. “Old Man” — Neil Young with The Stray Gators – from the album Harvest
5. “Heart Of Gold” — Neil Young with The Stray Gators – from the album Harvest
6. “Dance Dance Dance” — Neil Young – previously unreleased version
7. “A Man Needs A Maid” —  Neil Young with the London Symphony Orchestra – previously unreleased mix
8. “Harvest” — Neil Young with The Stray Gators – from the album Harvest
9. “Journey Through The Past” — Neil Young with The Stray Gators – previously unreleased version
10. “Are You Ready For The Country?” — Neil Young with The Stray Gators – from the album Harvest
11. Alabama Neil Young with The Stray Gators – from the album Harvest
12. “Words (Between The Lines Of Age)” — Neil Young with The Stray Gators – from the original soundtrack album Journey Through The Past
13. “Soldier” — Neil Young – previously unreleased mix
14. “War Song” — Neil Young & Graham Nash with The Stray Gators – from the 45 RPM single (mono)

• NY Biography
• Video Bonus  (1.33:1)– Neil browses for LPs in a record store (remember those?) and finds bootlegs of Crosby & Nash.

Timeline:

• “There’s a World” — Neil Young with The London Symphony Orchestra, Barking Town Hall, London, February 28, 1971. (1.33:1)
• “Gator Stomp” — Neil Young with The Stray Gators, Broken Arrow Ranch, September 27, 1971. (1.33:1)

Disc 09:  Journey Through the Past — A Film by Neil Young:

1.78:1 1080p/24 AVC/MPEG-4

English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (96kHz/24-bit)
English 96kHz/24-bit LPCM stereo

Extras:

• Photo Gallery — Production stills
• Memorabilia — Posters and more
• Press — Press coverage of Journey Through the Past

Radio:

• Dick Mason Interview at WKDA-FM Nashville
• B. Mitchell Reed Interview Excerpt
• Radio Spots
• Scott Shannon Biography

• Trailer (1.78:1; 1080p/24)

Video Quality

The focus on this set is really all about the sound, but nevertheless, there is high definition video that accompanies the music, some hidden archival video clips, and the tenth and final disc of the set contains Neil Young’s 16mm film Journey Through the Past.

The video settings that accompany the songs are all in 1080i/60 AVC/MPEG-4 with a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. You’ll see vintage turntables, reel-to-reel tape machines, 8-track tape players, and cassette decks playing back in ambient settings such as against the backdrop of a map of the United States or with a Neil Young album cover in a candlelit room or perhaps setup beside a microphone while a cigarette burns away in an ashtray. These segments look well enough, sometimes displaying a high amount of video noise and other times looking stunningly clear.

The hidden and bonus video clips vary in quality, some being from what looks like rudimentary video sources and others like film. They are all in 1.33:1 and look noticeably less detailed than the visualizations that accompany the music. On Disc 07: Live at Massey Hall the music is accompanied by live footage of the performances, captured in 16mm under very poor lighting conditions, and detail is poor. The picture is in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio.

Journey Through the Past comes in a 1.78:1 AVC/MPEG-4 1080p/24 transfer that looks particularly good for a 16mm film from the very early 1970’s. Unlike Woodstock, which I recently reviewed, Journey Through the Past did not appear to be suffering from the same heavy-handed DNR (Digital Noise Reduction) and dust and scratch removal, nor did it have the noticeable compression artifacts that Woodstock suffered from. There were some scratches and specks in places, which is to be expected, but it’s easy to see that the same amount of care that went into transferring the music for Archives went into encoding this long-lost film.

Audio Quality

Archives comes with all of its first nine audio-based discs oozing with superbly transferred and mastered 192kHz/24-bit LPCM stereo. Even some of the “hidden” bonus tracks, accessible from the Timeline, are allowed the high-resolution 192/24 treatment, with only some of the audio tracks and some of the video bonuses coming in 48kHz/24-bit instead.  Of course, the audio quality on Disc 00, which was released early for those who pre-ordered from Young’s website, and Disc 01 suffer from less-than-stellar quality sources, but one must make exceptions for that. Even with the limitations of the original recordings on those Early Years discs, they have been handled with great care and not overly tampered with to remove audio “blemishes,” so they still sound natural and analogue-like. By the time Disc 02 is reached, however, there will be a smile on your face. Things really begin to come alive on this third disc in the set by track 8, “The Old Laughing Lady,” and none of the studio recordings disappoint from that point on. Some of the live settings, such as the Massey Hall set, have less-than-perfect recordings, but the mastering still never disappoints.

It’s not just the high-resolution that makes the set sound as good as it does, but the obvious care and attention that have gone into the analogue restoration and analogue to digital transfers by John Nowland at His Master’s Wheels in Woodside, CA and digital editing and mastering by Tim Mulligan at Redwood Digital, also in Woodside, CA. One can rest assured that Neil Young, an ardent guardian of his legacy and outspoken commentator on the ills of modern digital sound quality, watched (or listened, as the case may be) over the proceedings diligently.

Archives is a set that falls way to the left of what has become the normal mode of operation for mastering techniques in the music industry today. The set screams “analogue” with every warm bass line and every moment of natural tape hiss that is allowed to bleed through. This collection has not been over-compressed or peak limited to sound loud; it has been allowed to breathe. There is a great sense of natural dynamics, air around the instruments, and smooth high frequencies. This is a collection that one can sit down and listen to at virtually any volume level without fear of ear fatigue.

Even the tenth and final disc in the set, Neil’s 16mm film Journey Through the Past is granted two marvelously transferred and mixed high-resolution soundtracks in the form of a 96kHz/24-bit stereo and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (96kHz/24-bit) lossless soundtrack. This is quite unusual for most films being released to Blu-ray today and only a few concert BDs (Blu-ray Discs) have come released with 96/24 surround soundtracks. Journey Through the Past’s 5.1 mix sounds about as good as a low-budget indie film from that era could possibly sound today, with an open soundstage, intelligible dialogue and music performances that suffer only from some slight clipping.

Supplemental Materials

Where to begin? Archives Vol. 1 not only comes with a 236-page full-color hardbound book that features additional archival materials, a tapes database, and detailed descriptions of the music and artwork plus a foldout Archives poster and a custom keeper for the ten discs all housed in a sturdy custom display box, but the discs are BD-Live enabled and Neil Young has promised to keep the set updated through downloads. So in essence, the supplements on Archives Vol. 1 can and will be perpetually changing.

Already there are hidden bonuses on the set. Most of the bonuses are housed on each disc’s Timeline, which provides not only a timeline of Young’s career, but puts it into historical perspective, pointing out things such as the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, or when the first man walked on the moon. Go to the Timeline, and you can find things like video clips of Buffalo Springfield performing on a television show or Neil Young and Stephen Stills performing “Mr. Soul” at Woodstock. There are more bonuses that are apparently available through BD-Live, but at the time of this review, the links, in the form of thumbtacks on the Timeline, were not active. I expect they will all be working when the set is officially released on Tuesday.

Each song can also be viewed and played back in the File Cabinet, which uses BD-Java to display the list of tracks on that disc in the form of a file cabinet. While listening to the song from the File Cabinet, listeners can inspect memorabilia, handwritten song lyrics, high-resolution photos, album art and more. Using my Panasonic DMP-BD80 and Momitsu BDP-899 Blu-ray players, I’m happy to say that none of these BD-Java or BD-Live features gave me any problems and they all loaded quite quickly.

The discs also come with a running Neil Young Biography that stretches across each of the first nine discs in the set and tells Neil’s story for this entire early part of his career. There are also plenty of press clippings, song manuscripts, and other memorabilia that varies from disc to disc. This set is packed to the hilt and is honestly the best use of Blu-ray’s capabilities that I have ever seen in respects to providing supplements.

The Definitive Word

Overall:

Neil Young has been waiting a long time to find the right digital format to satisfy his needs to release this Archives project on and Blu-ray is it. Of course, the set is also available on CD and DVD, but there is no comparison; for the highest resolution, interactivity and upgradeability, Blu-ray is it. Archives should prove once and for all the great advantage that the Blu-ray format holds for the public, not only for movies, but also as a total multimedia entertainment delivery system. The sound on this set is delicious with video more than adequate enough for the main course. Archives also takes interactivity and BD-Live to the next level and at $299.99 for this set, it is a steal for something that can and will be perpetually upgraded. Kudos, Neil, and bravo to Blu-ray.