Comment of the Moment: So What's The Deal With The Performance Series (NYAPS)?

Recently, we posted on the upcoming release of Dreamin' Man, Neil Young Performance Series Volume #12.

As with all things Neil, much head scratchin' and teeth gnashin'.

Which brings us to the Comment of the Moment on
So What's The Deal With The Performance Series? by our good friend Anonymous:

I think that the important thing to remember is that not every single person who likes Neil's music is going to invest in the Archives.

In the example of something like Massey Hall, that was a good enough addition to his catalogue to stand in its own right and separate from the Archives box set. It gives the chance for the non-obsessives to purchase a great recording and possibly get into an artist that they may have otherwise ignored and/or previously not liked. I have no problem with paying for it twice, because I now know that it is inevitable that it will form part of the Archives. If it's important enough to be released separately, then it will certainly be deemed an important part of his audiobiography and will be in the Archives. It's common sense.

I think, in hindsight, they may regret not making it clear that previous releases were going to form part of the Volume 1 package but we have to remember that they've been feeling their way in the dark over this project to a certain extent. They've been trying to explore the capacity of a new medium and provide a groundbreaking audio/visual experience. This has been extremely successful.

I'd rather be a fan of Neil's and be in this rather exciting position, whereby we're arriving at a completely unique and original method of experiencing music (and related paraphernalia) than someone else who has a wealth of material but is resting on their laurels and letting others put out cds in a boring and orthodox fashion (as much as I love Dylan, he is guilty of this).

I don't think that there's a business model for people who won't wait until the release of Volumes 3 and 4, yet complain about buying it twice. At the end of the day, everyone has a choice. Either wait for Volume 3/4, or buy it now in advance and have all these years of enjoying it (and it really probably will be years!).

I don't think I've heard people complain about buying remastered albums (and the difference between, say, cd and blu ray is even greater than that of a remastered album)! Personally, I can't quite fathom why there is such a big furore about this.

I don't normally post on here but thought I needed to wade in! Be grateful for what we're fortunate enough to be offered!

More on the upcoming release of Dreamin' Man, Neil Young Performance Series Volume #12.

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