Customer Reviews: Read 84 more reviews...
 An overall good collection November 16, 2004
Taylor X (Las Vegas, NV (USA))
115 out of 135 found this review helpful
Greatest Hits (2004.) A Neil Young hits collection.
One of the greatest rockers from the sixties onward was Neil Young. There aren't a whole lot of famous Canadian rock stars out there, but Mr. Young is one of the finest, and he's been doing what he does best for several decades now. But strangely enough, he didn't release a career-spanning, single-disc hits compilation until 2004! I have NEVER been a fan of hits compilations, in that I feel they can almost never do an artist justice. What about Neil Young? Does his new Greatest Hits do him justice? Read on, and you shall see.
PROS:
-THIS SET COVERS ROUGHLY TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF MUSIC. Young has had a long and excellent musical career over the years, with a number of variations in his sound. This set covers material from his earliest solo releases in 1969, right up to 1992's Harvest Moon album. In other words, most of his career is covered here.
-MOST OF YOUNG'S BIG HITS ARE HERE. Cinnamon Girl, Southern Man, Heart Of Gold, and Rockin' In The Free World are among the masterpieces that are served up on this compilation. You also get Helpless and Ohio, two of Young's compositions from his Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young days.
-PLENTY OF UNDERRATED TRACKS HARE HERE TOO. There's more to Neil Young than his hits, and you'll get plenty of those underrated tunes here, in addition to all the big hits.
-A GOOD VALUE. This set features seventeen tracks, and the price is good. That's less than a dollar a track! The good value and low price make this set ideal to any new Neil Young fan.
CONS:
-ALTHOUGH THE SET HITS THE HIGH POINTS, SOME HITS ARE STILL MISSING. I was rather surprised not to see Tell Me Why on here, as it was a pretty popular song.
-NOTHING BEFORE 1969. In other words, none of Neil's Buffalo Springfield material made the cut. This sucks, because Mr. Soul would have been a great addition to the compilation.
-NOTHING PAST 1992. Anything that Young recorded after the Harvest Moon album get zero representation here. I really would have liked to see some of his more recent material on the compilation - Let's Roll from 2002's Are You Passionate? album would have gone good on here.
-SOME QUESTIONABLE SONG SELECTIONS. Nothing major, fortunately. But still, there are still some things worth nitpicking. Just because Harvest Moon is the title track on that album doesn't make it the best track! There are many other tracks from that album that would have gone better on here.
OVERALL:
Not surprisingly, this set isn't perfect. But the fact of the matter is that it's perfect enough for casual fans of Neil. If you're new to Neil Young's music, this collection will make an excellent starting point. I personally recommend buying all of his albums from all of his eras, but that can get pricey. If you're on a budget, this will do just fine.
 Terrific Introduction for the Neophyte Fan November 29, 2004
Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE)
34 out of 35 found this review helpful
It's hard to argue with the tracks included on this single disc collection, and it's really pointless to kvetch about which of your favorite Neil Young tracks got left off. Odds are you have them all anyway. I know I do. My only question is who was this CD compiled for? Obvioulsy his fans already have these songs. And with the most recent song on this disc dating from 1992 ("Harvest Moon"), it's unlikely that the casual fan was waiting twelve years for this to get released.
Longtime fans who bought 1977's DECADE already have all but five of these songs. You know what I'm waiting for? Where's DECADE II and III? [In fact, Young is only three years away from being able to release DECADE IV.]
And shouldn't this have been titled BEST OF instead of GREATEST HITS? Sure, it includes all three of his early-seventies top 40 hits, but it omits other singles that charted in the hot 100 like "When You Dance I Can Really Love," "Walk On" and "Four Strong Winds," among others.
Bottom line, this is a terrific collection of songs with some of Young's most powerful anthems. Five stars for the music, but I would think this is going to have limited appeal for anyone but the neophyte fan.
A Rare "Greatest Hits" Worthy of the Title November 17, 2004
Paul Allaer (Cincinnati)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
It is amazing to me how many times record companies and/or the artists themselves manage to screw up a "greatest hits" compilation. Too often are such compilations done to represent the entire career of the artist, regardless whether the artist's biggest hits stem from throughout that career. The "Elton John Greatest Hits 1970-2002" is a good example of that: too many latter day non-greatest hits take up space instead of overlooked real greatest hits.
Neil Young's "Greatest Hits" (16 tracks, 77 min.) thankfully is just that: his truly greatest hits, regardless of how recent or not so recent they are. This results then in a compilation on which only the last 2 songs are are post-1979 (1989's "Rockin' in the Free Workd" and 1992's "Harvest Moon"). In other words, 14 of the 16 songs on here are from 1969-1979. Although one can always argue whether this or that song should've been on here (I'd say that "Comes a Time" belongs on here), the truth is that, for the CASUAL Neil Young fan (if there is such a thing), this "Greatest Hits" CD truly represents his best known songs.
For the not-so-casual Neil Young fan, beware: there is significant overlap between this "Greatest Hits" and the 1977 "Decade" compilation: 10 of the 16 songs on "Greatest Hits" are also found on "Decade". That said, kudos for the audio quality of this CD, which sounds remarkedly better than the "Decade" compilation. "Neil Young Greatest Hits" is an essential CD for any music fan.
Powerfully profound and profoundly powerful August 10, 2005
Dr. Emil Shuffhausen (aka Tom Bombadil) (Central Gulf Coast)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
While I cannot profess to be an expert on all things Neil Young, perhaps I am the kind of "casual fan" that Reprise was aiming at when they released this compilation. For me, this CD perfectly captures so many amazing Neil Young performances and memorable songs...songs that are monumental in the great modern music soundscape.
Neil Young is something of an enigma...all at once a bit of a cranky prophet and also a tender hearted romantic. He is the angry young man that never mellowed, but never lost his idealistic streak either. In other words, a man and musician of great integrity. His voice is a little creaky, and his guitar playing is definitely unique, sort of like Jimi Hendrix meeting Willie Nelson. There's something very plaintive about Neil Young's sound...but it's great pathos swathed in steely resolve.
Some reviewers here simply need to get over the fact that only so many songs will fit on one disc. And, for a great bargain, the listener here can get, on one disc, 16 landmark songs. You want more songs? You're going to need more discs. Does Neil Young deserve a sprawling, comprehensive, exhaustive box set to compile all of his great tunes? Sure. But that's not what this disc is for.
And, I've got to say, the track selection and ordering here is impeccable. From the languid groovy jams of "Down By River" and "Cowgirl in the Sand," to the feedback drenched epics "Hurricane" and "Rockin' in the Free World" to the heartbrakingly gorgeous "Harvest Moon" and "Comes a Time" to the breathtaking "Needle and the Damage Done," this is Hall of Fame stuff here.
Frankly, this disc will cause me to go back and invest more in Neil's catalog (solo and with CSN&Y and Buffalo Springfield). Who knows? Maybe I'll check out his work with the Mynah Birds (with Rick James, of all people). At any rate, this compilation has done it's work on me...I love it.
Near perfect disc for the casual Neil Young fan August 24, 2006
R. Gorham
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
THE BAND: Neil Young (vocals, acoustic & electric guitar, piano) and an assortment of musicians (too many to mention here) over the past 4 decades.
THE DISC: (2004) 16 tracks clocking in at just under 77 minutes. Included with the disc is a 6-page foldout containing song titles/credits, musicians on each track, which songs came from what albums, and the year released. Digitally remastered sound. Label - Reprise Records.
ALBUM REPRESENTATION: "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" (3 songs), "Deja Vu (1), "After The Gold Rush" (3), CSNY "Atlantic Records Single" (1), "Harvest" (3), "American Stars & Bars" (1), "Comes A Time" (1), "Rust Never Sleeps" (1), "Freedom" (1), "Harvest Moon" (1).
COMMENTS: First let me state that I've never been a hardcore Neil Young fan. I was a casual fan in the 70's and 80's... and still consider myself just that. I had very few of his vinyl albums back in the day (okay... I only had 2 of them - "After The Gold Rush" and "Harvest"). But listening to the radio fixed on classic rock, you can't help but get an earful of Young's songs from time to time. Sure, I think he tries to make a few too many political statements, and sure, he's no ladies man... but the man can write a song. I put him on the same lofty perch as the master story-teller Bob Dylan in that respect. Young has certainly stood the test of time... and he's still kicking albums out into his 60's. With that being said, a 2nd Neil Young compilation has been a long time coming since "Decade" in 1977. While "Decade" was a 35 track 2-disc set, it only spanned the years from 1969-77. This (2004) "Greatest Hits" package follows his music from 1969-91. It covers his solo career, days with CSNY, and Crazy Horse. However, it's one disc and only 16 tracks. The standards are here - "Cinnamon Girl", "After The Gold Rush", "Ohio", "Old Man", "Heart Of Gold", "Hey Hey My My (Into The Black)", "Southern Man", "Rockin' In The Free World", "Down By The River", etc. The songs are absolutely first rate. But, you simply can't contain Neil Young's best work on ONE disc. A more current 2-disc, or even 3-disc set is deserving at this point in Neil Young's career. This is a "HITS" only compilation... no deep album gems or artist favorites. As it states on the back of the jewel case, "Greatest Hits inclusion based on original record sales, airplay, and known download history". So if a favorite song of yours was never on the radio, and on a weaker album of his... there's no chance the song would be found here. You know what you're getting - the hits and only the hits. If you're a big Neil Young fan with a vast knowledge of his tunes from decades past, you might be disappointed with this disc. You'll find NO songs from many of his albums (i.e. - "On The Beach", "Zuma", "Unplugged", "Ragged Glory", "Neil Young" (1969), "Live Rust", "Weld", "Mirrorball", "Long May You Run", "Silver & Gold", "Trans", "Broken Arrow", "Everybody's Rockin'", "Old Ways", etc. However, if you're a casual fan like me, this "Greatest Hits" package is pretty much perfect (4.5 stars).
|
