Next Tuesday sees the release of '
Neil Young Archives, Volume 1',
and the Blu-ray version is the one Young prefers. He openly says on the front
of his
Archive website:
"If you are considering buying the Neil Young Archives set, and you want the
best package, then Blu-ray is for you. The sound and picture quality is
unparallelled."
Speaking to
Los Angeles Times, the Canadian singer/songwriter says
he's "very jacked up" about the Archives. In an ironic touch from one of the
biggest iconoclasts in North America's music arena, his preferred Blu-ray player
is the PlayStation 3, which he operates using not the BD remote, but the in-
box gaming controller.
On the other hand, Young has little time for MP3 and the sale of music in that
format. He bluntly says, "Apple has turned music into wallpaper." To illustrate
how little MP3 is worth to him, he quips, "as a matter of fact, there's a thing
that comes in the [Archives] box where you can have this whole set on MP3 for
nothing". He hopes that this set "will be the beginning of an understanding of
what's been lost along the way with our technological advances."
Volume 1 covers the period from Young's earliest recordings with The Squires
(his high-school band) in Winnipeg in 1963, through to his classic 1972 album
Harvest and beyond, including studio and live tracks with the
legendary Buffalo Springfield; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; and Neil Young with
Crazy Horse. Also included is Young's first film,
Journey through the
Past, which is now available for the first time since its original theatrical
release in 1973.
The disc interface is built around two main tools: an interactive timeline that
places Young's music in context, and a virtual file cabinet with a folder for each
song, which holds archival material related to that song (photos, press
clippings, lyrics, recording details, interviews, videos, etc.). It is possible to test-
drive the disc interface accessing a nice
tutorial
on the website created to promote the Archives release.
Using BD-Live, even more items can be downloaded and added to the timeline,
some immediately, others later at no extra cost. "In a project of this scope,"
Young explains, "things are always being discovered."
Audio will be in 24-bit/192 kHz stereo LPCM, while video will be 1080p.
Journey through the Past is presented in both DTS-HD 5.1 surround
and stereo 24-bit/96 kHz PCM.
The first volume of the archives includes ten BDs and 128 songs. It also comes
with a 236-page full-color hardbound book that contains additional archival
materials, tapes database, and detailed descriptions of the music and artwork; a
foldout Archives poster, and a custom keeper for the 10 sleeved discs.
Young envisions the Archives to comprise ultimately of four or five volumes.