Comment of the Moment: CD-Less Archives

There's been a huge reaction to the news that the Neil Young Archives will not be released in a CD format both here at Thrasher's Wheat, over on Rust and across the 'net.

A lot of the reaction is frustration and confusion. We really feel that given how many times and how long we've gone through this, that one shouldn't get too worked up about this until it's actually released. Afterall, just a year ago (and even still today) the official Reprise Records site states 8 CD, 2 DVD.

As we stated in our previous post Neil, Elliot Roberts and the label have probably given this a great deal of thought over the years. From many angles. Certainly the label looks at this from a sales perspective. But our hunch is that Neil is doing this from a legacy and quality perspective. It's what Neil wants to hear and see.

While we can't say that we fully understand all the technical details, and the various pro and con choices, we're certain that when the Archives is released that there will be plenty of details about with which to make an informed decision about how to proceed with our purchase and any associated hardware. For all we know, there maybe some bonus MP3 download option or something equally appealing to the more casual, non-audiophile fan.

Long time fans understand this is all part of the Neil deal. He does what he wants. You're either on the bus or you're not. You either get it or you don't. It's virtually pointless to wail about anything Neil does. Whether it's ticket prices, Pegi as an concert opener, bonus tracks on Chrome Dreams, only one free CD for every four tickets, folks are going to be upset.

As we recall -- although we can't find the exact quote at the moment -- Neil said that he has, on occasion, "abused" his fans with all of his career detours. Of course, for many, this is what makes it interesting to be a Neil fan. Every year is a surprise.

So who knows? Maybe another year will pass with no Archives? Or as rko said...

You folks need to get a grip. We've waited 20 years for this. Finally Neil is ready to let us have it and all we do is bitch and complain.

I wouldn't be surprised if he just says "F- it, ungrateful bastards".

But I hope he doesn't.

Lastly, we're sure that Neil will have a lot to say about his reasoning as the release gets closer. We've waited this long so what's a few more months?

Which is a long way of saying, here's the Comment of the Moment on the CD-Less Archives news by Anonymous:

Two possibilities

1. he's stalling - who knows why anymore. If I didn't know better I'd think the archival material actually didn't exist.

2. he hates CDs so much that he's willing to take the risk of a DVD only music release. Less of a risk now; look at the increasing number of concert recordings that only show up as DVDs (e.g. Heart of Gold) without any audio soundtrack being released on CD. This is happening to studio recordings slowly. CDs are dying.

If it's Possibility 1, Neil has passed the BS line with me. Too many false starts and too much waiting for the perfect medium. Get it in the can and on the shelves so I can throw it down on the table at the bar and stop my friends from laughing at me about what will come first, the end of the Mayan Calendar or the Archives

If it's Possibility 2,
I'm OK with it but that's because I wrote CDs off last year - the format is clearly dying. In fact I sort of expected this when Neil started talking up the video elements. I can move the audio into another format quite easily

However, I have to question how audience friendly this move is. Most fans don't have the inclination or the ability to deal with a non-CD medium for music at this point. Neil's fan base is older and used to CDs.

At the least, the songs should be provided in CD format in some permutation of the box set.

I understand his point about audio quality and taken to the extreme that means Blu Ray.

But we are talking about masters that are 40 years old and likely in many cases somewhat roughly recorded (hence their rarity). Does this type of recording really warrant a DVD only release, if the tradeoff is that the majority of the fan base cannot access the music in the format they want? Does The Sultan in Blu Ray really sound that much better than the The Sultan in WAV?

Will be interesting to see if Archives can be purchased by song on Itunes. Top quality there is sub-CD.