A Question on Neil Young's Product "Quality"
(Click photo to enlarge)
"I regret to inform you that Neil Young has discovered an audio glitch on the cd and has therefore requested that we put an immediate halt to all shipments, and also issue an immediate recall on any stock that remains at retail."The latest episode comes after various past struggles with quality, such as the Rust Bucket DVD issue or BBC 1971 DVD reissue, But as The Flying Scotzman points out, is this really production and mastering issues or simply poor quality control allowing bad product to go to production?
Other fans have in turn pointed out that’s unfair, as not all these issues are equal. Why? Because while most were errors in quality control, others were deliberate creative decisions.
The Rust Bucket dvd re-think, for example, was a separate issue to some of the recent QC issues. The mix was not a mistake, as such, but an intended effect by Neil — and one with good thinking behind it.
(To clarify, the first Rust Bucket dvd featured an remastered version of John Hanlon’s flagship master mix for the CD version. The fairly aggressive remaster for the dvd involved John’s mix being made narrower, louder, and given a treble and bass boost. This was an attempt, perhaps only partially successful, to more thrillingly simulate the excitement of the authentic live sound. The second edition dvd restored John’s unedited mix.)
But despite being an intentional production choice, the first Rust Bucket does in hindsight feel like a pivotal project — a turning point of sorts:
It was around this time Niko Bolas took over from John Hanlon. (This is perhaps relevant, or perhaps merely coincidence. Niko has certainly done great work with Neil before, even if his preference for drums over guitars is perhaps less suited to Neil’s electric work than Briggs’ and Hanlon’s guitar-centric approach.)
As Scotsman concludes: "And is it asking too much to expect Neil’s record company to play a role in actually checking the product works as intended (and meets even a minimal-viable standard of quality) before putting it on sale?". No, not at all.
Quality issues aside, the concert film COASTAL was a joy to experience in theaters with friends and new acquaintances. So one can only hope this all resolves swiftly so that the wonderful soundtrack can be properly experienced and enjoyed.
Lastly, we can only add that Neil Young's product quantity has been staggering over the recent years. Definitely not an excuse, but it's not surprising when one declares "open the vaults" that there are faults.
To quote Neil himself: "Quality: Whether You Want It or Not".
Slamdance Festival 2012, Park City, Utah
Labels: archives, cd, film, neil young, nya, soundtrack, vinyl
by thrasher@PermaLink: 4/24/2025 11:51:00 AM
13 comments
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Compared to what was to come in future years the March 1976 Japan/Europe was quite a simple affair.
Neil would come on first and do a solo acoustic set of 8 or 9 songs, and then after a short intermission would come back with Crazy Horse for an electric set of 9 or 10 songs. The longest shows had only 19 songs and total running times of just under two hours. The entire tour was only a month long, visited only 16 cities and comprised 22 shows in total – 7 in Japan and 15 in the UK.
The performances were also very straightforward with none of the theatre that came with Rust Never Sleeps for example. For the acoustic set Neil would just walk on and sit on a chair and start playing with pretty much just a single spotlight. The electric set had a bit more lighting but was basically just four young guys playing their music for their and the audience’s enjoyment.
I was at the Glasgow show that was the last night of the tour. It wasn’t intended to be the last night, but demand for tickets in London was such that they added a 4th show there on the original Glasgow date, and bumped the Glasgow one to after the London shows. (We might not have got the film of Neil busking The Old Laughing Lady on the banjo at Glasgow Central station on the day of the show if this hadn’t happened – I think he had some time to kill).
My memories are of outstanding performances of old, recent and brand new songs, and very enthusiastic and positive audience reaction. At the time none of us knew what to expect – there was no internet then and we were dependent on musical newspapers like the NME for any information. Zuma had been released the year before, and the last time Neil had played in the UK was the Tonight’s The Night tour. I loved Zuma, and was also very fond of AFTG, Harvest and EKTIN so the acoustic/electric format and the setlist very much met with my approval. In fact if I was to go and see Neil perform today and it was the same setlist I would be delighted.
The electric set had the most impact on me at the time as I had never seen or heard performances like these before. It was very rare to get any rock music on TV at the time, but I had seen the BBC In Concert footage so the style of the acoustic set was no real surprise. What I hadn’t experienced before was the long electric jams and Neil’s extended guitar soloing. And of course the absolute highlight of this was when Neil casually said ‘Here’s another new song for you’ and launched into Like a Hurricane. This was a jaw-dropping performance, particularly when Neil was soloing in front of a giant electric fan, his long hair and clothes ‘blown away’ as he played.
It was over all too soon, but the memories have remained. A friend who was with me remarked he hadn’t expected Neil to play so many of his favorite ‘old songs’. None of us would ever have imagined Neil would still be playing old and new songs for us nearly 50 years later.
Just wanted to add that looking back and with the benefit of hindsight perhaps the most significant thing about the Japan/Europe tour was that it was the start of the Poncho era of live Crazy Horse performances. So much was yet to come...
Regarding the Odeon Budokan album I share Tomatron's thoughts on it's brevity. It is really only half a show, and some of the tracks were rarely performed on the tour, e.g. Stringman was only played once, The Old Laughing Lady twice, and even Cowgirl was only played 5 times.
If it had been released in 1976 though my biggest surprise would have been the omission of Like A Hurricane. It was played every night and was an absolute standout. Perhaps Neil and Briggs wanted to save it for a studio album i.e Stars and Bars or as we now know Chrome Dreams. Having said that I actually enjoy listening to Odeon Budokan now as a live sampler as Tomatron suggests.
I have also been enjoying listening to CD, as a collection of classic Neil tracks, and as many have said it is mind boggling to enter the world of what if regarding what the Neil Young catalogue of albums would have looked like if different choices had been made about what albums were actually released. I am reminded of a quote from Poncho where he said Neil would ring him up to tell them they were releasing album and Poncho would say 'Oh yeah - what's on it?'
Perhaps the NYA timeline is the best way to explore Neil's music now, with the ability to see what was recorded when in chronological order rather than album order.