Richard Metzger reviews Neil Young Archives, Vol. 1: 1963-1972, the Blu-ray box set (it's physically huge, you could stand on it to change a lightbulb!). The short version: it's pricey, but thumbs up. Metzger calls it "[T]ruly the most impressive hunk of pop culture multi-media I've ever seen."
The good:
Young's attention to audio fidelity is legendary–some of his classic 70s albums have never come out on CD due to his dislike of the way they sounded–and the 24bit/192 KHZ PCM audio possible with the BD format showcases his music as never before. There are some very, very high fidelity audio discs out there, but none of them sound as good as the material on Archives. It is as if one was present in the actual studio (or audience) when the performances were recorded. High quality transfers were made directly from the original analog tapes–or at least with the shortest signal path possible–and it shows. FM radio classics like Cinnamon Girl and The Loner have never sounded better, but on the more intimate folkie material covered in the set, the audiophile qualities of the BD format really shines. The size of the room the songs were recorded in, the space around the voice and guitar, the buzzing vibrations of a single guitar string–all of this is quite audible on Archives. The sound quality is magnificent. I'll say it again, I've never heard better. For sound quality alone it would win the gold medal, but that's not the half of it. There are a gazillion nooks and crannies on the set.
And the bad:
My biggest problem with Archives, though, is not what is or isn't on the set (Blu-ray owners will get updates from Blue-ray Live as long as their players are hooked up to the Internet, so Young could always add things later as he pleases) rather it's the list price. This is where I become deeply ambivalent about Archives. An Amazon reviewer hit the nail squarely on the head when he described how absolutely floored he was by the box, but that it had been given to him as a gift. Had he paid the full $349.99 list price, he's not sure sure he'd have the same opinion.
Read the whole thing at Dangerous Minds:
METZGER REVIEWS THE NEIL YOUNG ARCHIVES (1963-1972) BLU-RAY BOX SET
