Neil Young – Archives vol one (1963-1972)- Blu Ray edition (2009) – CD review –

Good call, Neil. Work on this set for 20 years, then release it at a time when no one can afford it. Anyone who plops $300 on this 10-disc box is obviously not being hurt by the recession. Or, maybe they don’t feel like eating for a month.

For all the hype about how interactive this set is, it’s mostly novelty. Are you really going to look at lyrics & photos over and over? No, you’re going to enjoy it once and then tuck it away. It’s the music that bears repeated listening, and I don’t know of anyone that has a Blu-Ray car stereo. So, it’s not even portable in that way.

Finally, the unreleased material, the cornerstone of this entire project, is sorely lacking. More than 50 percent of this is stuff any diehard fan already owns. Yeah yeah, the sound is phenomenal. Maybe you’ve got time to critique the finer nuances on your audiophile sound system. Not me, I got mouths to feed. –Tony Peters