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Greatest hits albums are rarely meant for initiated, big-time fans of an artist. And for any hard-core Neil Young fan, his brand new, 16 song Greatest Hits collection will likely suffer the pitfalls of such a release while also celebrating the best aspects of trying to cram a 35-year career into one single absolutely tiny CD. The wee-bit of liner notes that accompany the disc lay out the criteria for song selection with Young being quoted, "Greatest hits inclusion based on original record sales, airplay, and known download history."
The album follows chronological order (from 1969 to 1992) and begins with three songs off Young's 1969 release Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere; "Down By The River," "Cowgirl In The Sand" and "Cinnamon Girl" respectively. When considering Young's note about songs being chosen in part based on airplay it's remarkable that the first two tracks alone consume 20 marvelous minutes illustrating Young's trademark, blistering guitar solos and his equally as heavy lyrical work.
The material is clearly dominated by Young's earlier days with only two tracks falling after the 1970s, but this was arguable Young's heyday (not to say he is any less impressive today, we have simply been afforded the good fortune of years upon years of digesting his music and contemplating his affect on the world) and thus it is appropriate in that respect. Each song is a classic, and we do get a broad range of Young's output, from the raging guitars of "Cowgirl In The Sand" and the emphatic live, "Like A Hurricane" (which could have been mixed down just a bit) to the overtly political "Ohio" to the introspective "The Needle And The Damage Done" to the softer, delicate "Helpless" all the way to the beauty of "Harvest Moon."
The fact that most rock and roll fans over 25 have heard these songs a zillion times and every song likely appears in many collections already (11 of the 16 songs appear on 1977's two-disc Decade collection) does cause one to wonder why some other sort of criteria was not involved in the selection process, perhaps an attempt to shed light on some of the lesser known parts of his catalogue. But here is where the duality of the "greatest hits" issue falls into place. We're talking Neil Young here, unquestionably one of the most important and influential musicians of all time, so when we hear his songs over and over we are able to cull new meaning from them at new times in our life, and having these re-mastered marvels all in one place is certainly a plus. So while we are not breaking any ground and both Young's early CSNY days and his last ten years are completely omitted, we are still left with a beautiful glimpse at Young's vast and necessary discography. For those getting started with Neil Young it's a good place to begin, but don't be misled, like all of the successful greatest hits CDs, it's designed to pique your interest and cause you to dig in deeper, much, much deeper.
Kayceman
JamBase | San Francisco
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