Neil Young News: Surprise! Archives Postponed -- Again

Monday, October 06, 2008

Surprise! Archives Postponed -- Again

The rumors have been floating around for several weeks now that the ever so long, long awaited and delayed Neil Young Archives would not make the announced November 3 release date.

From oz on Bad News Beat:

"Due to production issues, not economic or slow blu-ray adoption, the Archives have been again delayed until Jan or Feb of 2009."

The delay was more or less corroborated at the BBC "Don't Be Denied" preview screening last week. The BBC broadcast later this month was supposed to be tied into the release of Archives Volume #1 but apparently that plan has been shelved. As far we know, the BBC will proceed with it's originally planned broadcast date of 10/31.

So once again, there's no reason to fear that the improbability that the Archives will come out before the unreleased "Time Fades Away" album. Or -- for that matter -- any other highly unlikely events.

But maybe the Performance Series release of Sugar Mountain Live will arrive this year? While it is still undetermined as to exactly what the release will contain, last month we speculated on the source and setlist. And now Sugar Mountain Live is listed on Amazon.com as a pre-order with a Nov. 25 release date.

As always, please take my advice: don't listen to me.

More on the never ending quest and odyssey we call in search of the mythical Archives. Even Indiana Jones couldn't handle this we think.

More reaction on the 1,000 post thread on Steve Hoffman Audio Forums.

Links to this post:

<$BlogBacklinkTitle$>: <$BlogBacklinkSnippet$>
posted by <$BlogBacklinkAuthor$> @ <$BlogBacklinkDateTime$>

Create a Link

43 Comments:

At 10/06/2008 01:50:00 AM, Anonymous said...: That sound you hear is my friends horse-laughing me out of the room as I show them this article.

Kidding aside, doubt creeps in. Is this vaporware?
At 10/06/2008 01:50:00 AM, Anonymous said...: I'm not going to believe that production issues are to blame. After all, Neil said the Archives would be coming out this year and he lied - and its not cool to lie.
At 10/06/2008 02:21:00 AM, Anonymous said...: This is fucking ridiculous. Why has he gone back on his word AGAIN? I'm sick of waiting now... are the archives actually real? They had better be something special after all this torture we've been subjected to.
At 10/06/2008 03:09:00 AM, rdvdijk said...: After years of "Archives" release promises, we should all realize by now that we shouldn't believe it until we have the actual product in our hands.

The Archives will not be released while Neil is touring, recording, or doing something like LincVolt that takes up all of his time. And since I think that Neil will be doing these things until his (eventual) death, I can conclude: if the Archives will be released at all, they will be released posthumously.
At 10/06/2008 03:28:00 AM, Anonymous said...: I've been looking at it all this way...Fillmore East...Massey Hall...Live On Sugar?
Aren't these in fact a great sampling of what we're waiting for?
I am loving Neil's Out-put these past years! Not the huge Box-Set we're salivating for but, what a great Ride hearing the stuff we're getting. Relax and Enjoy I say.
At 10/06/2008 05:36:00 AM, Pete said...: I have friends who tell me about the great things they're going to do, but somehow they never get around to it. Always a plausible reason why, well, almost always! Sometimes I get pissed off with them and feel like saying just f***in do it or get over it.

But then I feel a bit of compasion towards them and realise it's difficult having a dream, cos what do you do when the dream is realised. Much of the excitement is the traveling towards the dream, not the dream itself.

Neil, from a great distance shows similar traits. He knows he's sitting on a catalogue of stuff that could be released and fill in the gaps for fans and critics alike and make the statement "This is my life in music. This is what I did". But he already knows the history, he doesn't need you or me to tell him what was good and bad, and quite possibly he couldn't cope with reaction and would find himself having to keep on moving, which is what he's done all his life.

Somehow, I think that those of us who have been lucky to see him touring since Fall 07 throughout the US and Europe and those in OZ and NZ who will see him in 09, will get the best of archives, simply because he performed it live and he was in control of everything. To have heard him play Ambulance Blues, Sad Movies and Try in Manchester, England earlier this year was probably better than the archives in my hands, especilly as I had a copy of the gig a few days later.

I guess that if the Archives do come out whilst Neil is still alive it will come out with a whimper, or Neil will change direction musically very quickly just to get distance from his back catalogue.

Anyway, whatever he does, he's been a friend I've never met but has done me a lot of favours over 38 years as well as having had my support. So I'll keep going on my trip and keep getting out of bed and going to work, be nice to my wife, phone the kids, play my guitar, ride my bike and avoid DIY if possible! I hope that Neil has as much fun on his trip.
At 10/06/2008 06:36:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Why does anyone give a flying fuck about the archives anymore?

Do people really enjoy being played for fools that much by Neil?
At 10/06/2008 06:49:00 AM, Anonymous said...: what an ass
At 10/06/2008 07:43:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Neil is a pain in the ass but that wath we all like.
At 10/06/2008 09:07:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Here's my prediction: we will get a release date; we will show up at the record shop that day and see the Achives all packaged up;
we'll take it home and unwrap it;
we'll open it up and see...just a note saying that's it been delayed again but please consider this empty box an "IOU".
At 10/06/2008 09:55:00 AM, Luke Shelton - MartinD45 said...: Relax, people. Look at it this way: Would you rather have Neil spend time on NEW projects and creating NEW music (while he can), and have the Archives come out down the road somewhere? The answer is yes.

I mean, he could scrap all writing, recording, and touring plans for a few years just to get you your Archives, or he can continue to create NEW works. I know for sure what I want...
At 10/06/2008 10:39:00 AM, Anonymous said...: I have it from well-informed sources that the Archives were going to be released to coincide with the Cubs winning the World Series. So, when that fell through this weekend, the release of Archives was postponed. The new target date is 2108.
At 10/06/2008 10:52:00 AM, Anonymous said...: hahahahha...I think "the archives" will be realized when Neil Young will decide to retire from the music biz or die...or both things together
At 10/06/2008 02:06:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Here's what Warner says regarding the November 25th release:
Sugar Mountain - Live At Canterbury House 1968 (CD/DVD)
At 10/06/2008 04:34:00 PM, Adam said...: The only thing I know is that when this finally does come out, I'll be downloading it for free, because this is getting ridiculous.

And I would rather see Neil put out the archives then make new music (I'd say he's solidly into the 'fade away' portion of his career).
At 10/06/2008 04:49:00 PM, Anonymous said...: He's such a dick. Just put it out, you jerk. It's not that big of a deal.

You know what? It's proabably not that great anyway.
At 10/06/2008 05:49:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Maybe he's just giving some of the complainers time to save up since they were unhappy with the cost of the Blue Ray machine. Now they have another 6 months to stash away some pennies and the only 'other expense' will be $75 for a general admission ticket for the current tour. Don;t worry, Neil has everyone's best interest in mind ... but that's never clear until after the fact ...
At 10/06/2008 06:40:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I couldn't care less about Blu-ray to be honest. I just want the archives on CD and DVD so I can put them on my ipod etc. If I fancy trying out the Blu-ray versions i'll just use my PS3.
At 10/06/2008 07:10:00 PM, pelagius42 said...: i am shocked and stunned
At 10/06/2008 07:26:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I don't doubt the infor; in fact I don't think it will ever come out.

But who is Oz? Id he a reliable source
At 10/06/2008 07:40:00 PM, TheDrunkenAngel said...: a disappointment, but after all it is neil's music, so there's no need for fuss. in time, it will arrive and even if it's in a year's time or in a decade's i don't care. neil is neil; let the man do his work.
At 10/06/2008 07:49:00 PM, Anonymous said...: This is Great News!!!

Now I can re-budget my Christmas shopping. I was holding back a few hundred to buy the Archives Vol I.

But now I can buy my little Johnny that Lionel "Greendale" Train Set he has been so long wanting and begging to have.

Also I can now fix the water heater and we can all have hot showers again.

Even better I can get the kids teeth fixed. I have grown tired of little Mary complain of her teeth hurting.

I still know I will have to take out a second loan on my house to buy volumes II and III. But the Government will be there to rescue us.

But, all jokes aside, Gee-Whiz NY give us a break. I know the Archives is you 401K plan.

But get off the pot or is there a new format soon to be annouced to give reason to delay it again since the 80's

Just as the stupid Cubs fan I am, I have arleady purchased foot tickets to the CHicago Show.

Some how seeing and listening to NY live, makes the hate go away.

Cheers,
Timmy (just turned 50 this weekend)
At 10/06/2008 08:33:00 PM, Shittyhorse said...: What's with all the bitching? Jeez...never have I seen an artist so hated by his fans! Tickets, Archives... Relax! If anyone here is really surprised then you must have your head examined! This is NEIL YOUNG! This has been happening since what? 1984? Did you really think you'd have the box in your hands Nov. 3? Stop and think about why we love this guy in the first place! Its things like this...This is the reason we are even still talking about Neil because he wouldn't be here! He would have faded away into obscurity by now or at least become an 'oldies' act on the fair circuit. He keeps things interesting! If he did what WE want he'd be a bore...like going to see Steve Miller play his greatest hits album live AGAIN...sure their good songs but who's really talking about Steve Miller- THE MAN? Neil is the only one who has the BALLS to do this simply because he just doesn’t give a shit what I want or what you want. Its what he wants. Remember going to see Neil in concert in '03 just before Greendale came out? Who else does something like that? That’s Balls! That’s not giving a shit what you want! That’s an artist! Some thing tells Neil what to do.. whether it be some God or supreme being...some deity-like muse from the heavens or maybe some gas from last night's fruit salad making him grouchy. But what ever it is I, for one, am glad he listens to that and not US!. It hasn't truly steered him wrong yet.. it maybe made us question him shortly, but that’s all.
Really now... the music is there and it WILL come out! It may not be what YOU want so don’t be surprised!
PS...If you think you feel let down by this great man; think about how Crazy Horse felt when they found out Neil wasn’t gonna use them this time out, or how Stephen Stills felt in 1976 when Neil vanished into the night in the middle of a tour, or the countless others left in Neil's wake!
At 10/06/2008 09:09:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I purchased a PS3 to play the Archives on and that's why I'm annoyed. I probably wouldn't have bought a PS3 if Neil hadn't have said it was coming out this year. Neil's broken his word and I could have put the money to better use if I'd known better. I guess i just feel like an idiot for believing him.
At 10/06/2008 10:39:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Sugar Mountain live sounds great!!! Hope it comes out.
At 10/06/2008 10:53:00 PM, Rustie said...: Does anybody in this comment section know what it takes to remaster and put stuff like this back together? I admit I don't but I can't imagine it being too easy. Isn't the remastering of Time Fades Away supposed to be a major headache because of the recording system Neil experimented with on the tour? How do you know he hasn't run into some other Gordian Knot like that? Or perhaps it's a legal problem that's gumming things up? While I don't think Neil craps gold all the time, I'm willing to give him the benefit of a doubt.

Now, consider all of the OTHER projects that Neil has on his plate: touring, supposedly recording 'Toast' (according to a rumour I heard somewhere on the internet, take it with a major natural deposit of salt) with Crazy Horse, working on Linc-Volt, his involvement with Lionel Trains (the foamer in me squeals like a bubblegum groupie), and don't forget he has a family too! His attention is being drawn in so many different directions.

Long story short: I'm prepared to wait, but not forever; but I'll give him a generous chunk of time since I'm willing to bet it will be worth it.
At 10/07/2008 03:18:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Some of you are really pathetic. Stop and think about what the great man has done over the last few years and cut him some slack.

April 2005
Brain Aneurysm

July 2005
Filming at Ryman for Heart of Gold

August 2005
Farm Aid

September 2005
Release: Prairie Wind

October 2005
Bridge School

November 2005
Promote album (Conan O'Brien etc.)

May 2006
Release: Living with War

July – August 2006
CSNY Tour

August 2006
Farm Aid

October 2006
Bridge School
Release: Heart of Gold

November 2006
Release: Live at Fillmore East

December 2006
Release: Living with War: In The Beginning

March 2007
Release: Live at Massey Hall

June 2007
Few appearances w/ Pegi Young

August 2007
Farm Aid

October 2007
Release: Chrome Dreams II
Bridge School

October – December 2007
US Tour

February – March 2008
Europe Tour

June – August 2008
Europe Tour

July 2008
Release: Deja Vu Live

August 2008
Farm Aid

October – December 2008
US Tour

November 2008
Release: Sugar Mountain

January 2009
Australian Tour

Other
- Special 200g vinyl versions of Prairie Wind, Live at Fillmore East, Live at Massey Hall, Living With War.

- Studio time / recording sessions / remastering for various albums

- LincVolt

- Work on the Archives Release (I'm sure he has been doing something on it ... as evidenced by Blu Ray conference thing)

- The man has a family as well
At 10/07/2008 05:47:00 AM, Anonymous said...: I think that the problem now is that Warner/Reprise has ABSOLUTELY NO INTENTION of releasing the Archives also on Blue Ray discs, but just as a 8 cds 2 dvds box set like it was planned, and officlally announced in 2007 (the web page is stil alive).Superior audio quality format of the recent past, like Dvd Audio and Super Audio Cd have been, commercially speaking, a complete failure for the music industry, so in my opinion there is no record label in the world that wants to risk in such a huge project mainly based just on music, even if it was involving someone with sales figures ten times higher than Neil. Up to now Blu Ray disc has been a partial success mainly just with action movies, but not certainly a breakturough like dvd video was 10 years ago. I also noticed that the announcement of a november 3th release was just a press release form Neil's management, and Reprise has never officially announced that the Rrchives are coming on Blue Ray. So I am not happy for that, but I think that I'm right.
At 10/07/2008 11:28:00 AM, Anonymous said...: 'Not economic'?
That's Crazy Horse shit!

The only fans who can afford it, in these times, are the rich: The bankers. The lawyers. Are they the fans that Neil wants the Archives for? The Donald Trumps?

Everyone else is figuring out how to pay the mortgage and fill their cars. And yes, complaining about ticket prices.

Neil tinkers around a garage, with mechanics retooling a vintage car, deluding himself that he's 'just one of the guys'.

He isn't nor has he been, in, oh, 42 years. That's nearly half a century, people. Just a wild guess: he doesn't stay awake at night worrying if his job is secure.

Everything about the marketing of it is calculated NOT to sell to the masses: Blu-Ray. now, outside of the holiday season (when people rationalize spending $$$ gifts).

Your winter heating bill or The Archives. That's what many will be looking at.

The Archives will come out, one day, when he's bored, and just sneak it into the Greedy Hand.

"I used to care, but things have changed..." Dylan
At 10/07/2008 01:27:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I never knew a fan could tell so many lies.

Oh, Oh, what a fuzz. Come on you NY fans!
Shame on all the negative posts! Support LincVolt!

Forget the archives! Let's rock!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCfQ0jHi6wc

With the best band he ever had... B.S.M.
At 10/07/2008 02:14:00 PM, Anonymous said...: >>I never knew a fan could tell so many lies.

No lies, buddy. Reality for the vast majority of middle America.

Promises are made to be broken for Neil fans, right?

"Ever feel like you've been cheated...?"
Johnny Rotten
At 10/07/2008 03:03:00 PM, Anonymous said...: >>I never knew a fan could tell so many lies.

This was posted to all the negative posts above saying shit like "what an ass" and "he's solidly into the 'fade away' portion of his career". Too much hate for nothing on this blog.

I know he probably doesn't stay awake at night worrying if his job is secure. But music and specially his music has always stayed with me when I was worrying about whatever. I am happy with that and don't need the archives for that because I allready have Time Fades Away and listened to it a couple of times today. Thanks again Neil.
At 10/07/2008 03:17:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I never knew a fan could tell so many lies.

Manchester (UK) May 17, 1966
Fan: "Judas"
Dylan: "I don't believe you"
At 10/07/2008 04:21:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Wow, I just picked up the archives
at a local music store on blu-ray.
cost me $ 1200, but it's worth it.
Not sure if I should actualy open it and play it or just look at it since it was so expensive.
thanks Neil, finaly got it !
At 10/07/2008 05:27:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Haha, this whole thing is pretty funny.

So many people, getting so angry and annoyed over nothing.

Motivate yourselves to something else, something important, that requires this spirit.

The Archives have always been coming. But not for much longer.

They are almost here.
At 10/07/2008 07:30:00 PM, DONTCRYNOTEARSAROUNDME! said...: shieeeeett maaannn! You-gots somea dat archives, man? I's need me some ahh-kives...come on man, i'll suck yo dick for some archives...
WAAAWAAAWAAA! cry me a river...OH Neil! I just HATE YOU CAUSE YOU DIDNT RELASE your ARCHIVES!!! Now what am I gonna do? WAAAAWAAAA! I know I'll go on line and talk shit about you...about how your old and your career is going down the tubes...because my WHOLE WORLD just came crashing down around me...but when it does come out I'll be the first one in line at the store to drop half-a-g for it...then I'll come back on and rave OHHH HOW GREAT THE ARCHIVES ARE! I LOVE YOU NEIL YOUR THE BEST!!!!

GOD HELP US Jesus! God and Baby Jesus help!!!
At 10/07/2008 08:48:00 PM, Anonymous said...: The guy above has taken too many drugs.
At 10/08/2008 05:21:00 AM, Anonymous said...: You know what would be hilarious? If the Archives leaked out on Neil. One day we log on to Demonoid and there they are for the taking. It would serve him right.
At 10/08/2008 10:13:00 AM, Jake said...: I definitely prefer Neil releasing 1 or 2 records from the archives a year. So far the first two volumes have been awesome and I can't wait for "Sugar Mountain" (even though nobody seems to know what it is).
If he keeps releasing archive material like this than I'll be happy.
At 10/08/2008 11:09:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Adam said it best above..."And I would rather see Neil put out the archives then make new music"...that's for sure. Fade away Neil, go ahead now, fade away...I don't want new music, give me the old stuff. It sounds as if he doesn't have as much control as some would think he does.
At 10/09/2008 06:06:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Come on. Have you seen Neil performing No Hidden Path? That's a new song and one of the highlights of his recent tours.
At 10/09/2008 08:50:00 PM, SHITTYHORSE said...: to the guy two above me: boy are you an idiot! What kind of fan are you? Fade away? WHY DONT YOU! Please! quickly and quietly! Neil's last album is one of his best... really! At first I ranked it up there with the other recent albums..ok...but it is a neil album. Well after MANY MANY listenings I now know Chrome dreams II is a great great album. THE GUY HAS HAD SO MUCH OUTPUT! he's allowed a few clunkers..but CDII isnt one of them. I believe in time we (the REAL fans) will all realize that all his albums had or will have a place, a point in time in our own lives where we really got it and every time we listen to it again we will remember that time fondly...if not yet then maybe ten years from now. Much of Neil's stuff takes a few spins to really appreciate..some more then others...but Chrome Dreams really isnt one of them; its a great album and WILL be remembered as one of his many great ones. Come on, Shining Light? GREAT TUNE! REMINDS ME OF SLOW ELVIS. The Believer! NO HIDDEN PATH is fantastic!!!
CHRIST...not to mention who else at 60 something (besides Dylan) puts out a good, never mind great album.
At 2/20/2009 02:47:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Dave Rave

Sort of like the chance of KC and Omaha being resecheduled in 2009 tour- The box has become a joke but the Live archives are a good tease...

Be well Neil but be Midwestern again!