Neil Young has long been one of my favorite artists for his work with Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and as a solo artist. He is also one of the most prolific artists of the last 50 years and I fully appreciate an artist who writes their own material and takes such ownership in their legacy. On June 2, 2009, Young finally released the long awaited The Archives Vol. 1 1963-1972. Young is famously known as a stickler for audio quality and that makes people like me happy, but there can be a frustration level waiting for something that has been discussed and rumored for such a long time. Since this release has been rumored to be coming out for more than a decade the fact that it is finally here there is a surreal quality.
Nevertheless, two weeks after the release date I have yet to buy it. As I am now a father, a purchase of such an item is not something you take on lightly. There are three versions to consider: Blu-Ray, DVD, and CD. I have ruled out the CD version because of the large amount of still photograpy and video content associated with this release. That leaves the Blu-Ray or DVD to consider. However, I am leaning toward the Blu-Ray edition. Currently, I do not have a Blu-Ray player, but we already have a Sony HD TV at home and I would rather not buy this box set again. Further, I figure that I will have a Blu-Ray player at some point in the near future since the format allows CD and DVD technology can to be played. Along with the higher quality technology, the Blu-Ray edition will allow you to download addtional material via the internet as it becomes available for free. The retail for the Blu-Ray edition is $299. The DVD version retails for $199, and many of the features of the Blu-Ray edition are the same, but there are some extras not included and the perk of downloading additional material later is removed. Of course this will also require me to buy a Blu-Ray player, but that day was probably coming anyway.
I think that for now I will wait on the box set and buy a nice copy of Young's long out of print 1973 release Time Fades Away from a good used record store or eBay. But, I don't think I will wait long...
NPR review of Neil Young The Archives Vol. 1 1963-1972
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105014182
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105014182
