Archives Comment of the Moment: "monumental and staggering achievement"

The Neil Young Archives Comment of the Moment is by curly tops:

well after about 20 hours of viewing, listening and searching i've finally got through the entire archives box set...only to get a text from my friends dave and matt explaining there is more for me to download already and i've missed at least 3 amazing videos: ohio..birds..and buffalo s, in the studio....

This is a monumental and staggering achievement by neil and his gang..the quality and the formatting is way above anything i ever expected and thought id see or hear...there are of course a large majority of songs we have always heard ..but there are at least 40 -50 that are either only found on rare vinyl or havent been heard at all..i thought i owned all neil available as i collected the bootlegs for 30plus years..so its very awesome to have at least 25 songs ive never heard before...

i guess the main attraction are all the hidden goodies that one must search for, mainly on the time line...the footage of the various harvest clips around the barn and with the london orchestra is incredible..the 1969?loner/cinammon girl cafe footage..the neil stealing his own bootleg film...oh the live springfeild audio is jaw dropping..the various 1970 csny video at the fillmore...dance dance dance w crazy horse..and the brilliant version w g.nash..

finally seeing a perfect copy of journey through the past, and LOVING IT, this film is far better than i thought it would be..loads of awesome neil content..i love the early squires vocal recordings to..and the RAPS..man the RAPS throughtout the riverboat disc are sensational..it becomes even more apparent that neil was never the shy,reserved lonesome hippy he is thought of..he was always a cocky,funny,strong willed talkative entertainer...

i'm learning even more just how quick he moved..in 1964 he is with squires..two years later he is working with jack n on those brilliant Springfield songs..then a solo tour then a solo album..then crazy horse..ektin.woodstock/csny/dejavu..the horse tour..goldrush lp..solo tour etc etc..sometimes in the same month..its like he was just moving so fast .jumping from one project to another..he accomplished so much and so much variety in a few short years...this is the beauty of neil(and bob dylan)..

now matter how much we read and listen to them i find our ideas and views of them continue to change and grow year by year...If i have a gripe to make about the archives id like some "decade album" style notes by neil himself..and there is lot of footage that id like to see..especially the mind boggling dutch tv special..the bbc show..and the entire csny fillmore video...

neil and joel should also check out the grateful dead,s complete fillmore and winterlong box sets with the view of releasing the entire canterbury house..cellar door and riverboat recordings as individual boxsets..oh where is the phenomenal busking scene??maybe that will come..these are just small things..

ultimately as someone who owns around 10000 records ranging from 1920 field recordings right thru to sun ra vinyl ..and everything by neil bob beatles etc etc all the boxsets all the brilliant bootleg stuff etc etc..this is the most exciting and brilliantly assembled archival release of all time..this BLU RAY format is sensational...

(now someone please find some danny whitten footage..that is the holy grail for me..danny's guitar on ektin is my favorite ever lp of guitar playing..and for the record the rhythm section on the electric side of 4 way street is my favorite ever rhythm playing after billy and ralph)

go forth fellow men and indulge yourself in the most incredible box set you've ever experienced.

- curly tops

Thanks curly tops!

Also, see Everything You've Ever Wanted To Know About The Neil Young Archives But Were Afraid To Ask.

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