Neil Young to Release Music Archive on Blu-ray

[Woochifer]

Either the start of a trend where music releases start taking advantage of Blu-ray's higher audio resolution and interactive capabilities, or a one-off release that only exists because of a musician's persistence. Neil Young announced at a Java developer's conference that he will begin releasing his entire music archive on Blu-ray.

This includes music in high resolution, and interactive features with photos, videos, and memorabilia that the listener can browse through while the music plays (this is a key difference from DVD-A and 96/24 PCM DVD-V, where the interactivity is limited when the music is on). The first of five volumes comes out in the fall, and it will be a 10-disc set.

While I hope that this is a trend for future high res music releases, Neil Young has been far more supportive of high res digital formats than just about every other musician out there. Several of his albums came out on DVD-A, and he insisted that his Greatest Hits CD be made available with an open 96/24 PCM DVD-V that can play on any regular DVD player, not just those that supported DVD-A. No surprise that he's the first artist to promote Blu-ray as a music format. Time will tell if other artists join in this time.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BUAQ10HP4F.DTL

[kexodusc]

Nice...
I can't wait to listen to the soothing sound of those baritone pipes of his in all its hi-res glory...
Seriously...I have Harvest in Hi-Res and it's great.
Let the floodgates open.

[Woochifer]

Nice...
I can't wait to listen to the soothing sound of those baritone pipes of his in all its hi-res glory...
Seriously...I have Harvest in Hi-Res and it's great.
Let the floodgates open.

I got his Greatest Hits CD/DVD combo. The audio quality on both are quite good. His production team did a standout job with remastering the archival tracks. On that compilation, Young's older analog recordings sounded a lot better than some of the newer digital tracks (the liner notes said that some of those were originally recorded at 44.1/16 resolution).

Should be interesting to see if the music industry embraces Blu-ray as a way of propping up waning consumer interest in buying entire albums (as opposed to the a la carte track by track approach favored by downloaders). Blu-ray presents a lot of possibilities for adding value to music purchases. For what the industry charges, audio-only CDs just don't cut it anymore when comparing their utility to other home entertainment options. Even though CDs still command the lion's share of music purchases, one analyst projection I read forecasts that revenue from downloads will surpass CDs by 2012.

[Rich-n-Texas]

That Neil Young's a good guy ain't he? Some time ago PS recommended one of his Greatest Hits HDCD's which I purchased, and that's when I got the impression that he wanted his fans to be able to enjoy his music with clarity at an affordable price.

This Blu-ray archive could really be one of my first BD purchases, that's how much I appreciate his music and the effort he puts forth for the fans. Neil.

[johnny p]

I'm looking forward to this..... little scared about the price, and with Criterion announcing a dozen titles for release on Blu Ray, I'm gonna be poor FAST!

[filecat13]

Yeah, Neil's done it right more than most others. I have to confess I find some of his stuff a little kooky, but it's always worth the price of admission.

[Woochifer]

That Neil Young's a good guy ain't he? Some time ago PS recommended one of his Greatest Hits HDCD's which I purchased, and that's when I got the impression that he wanted his fans to be able to enjoy his music with clarity at an affordable price.

It's not even his support of high res formats, HDCD or what not -- it's just the simple attention to detail that his production crew takes in restoring the audio and making sure that it sounds optimal for whatever format it's in. Whether playing it on standard CD audio, 96/24 PCM DVD, or LP, Young's crew really takes the time to get it right.

This Blu-ray archive could really be one of my first BD purchases, that's how much I appreciate his music and the effort he puts forth for the fans. Neil.

Apparently, he has wanted to release a complete archival retrospective for several years now. With the high def resolution and Java-based interactivity built into the Blu-ray format, he has a lot of potential options available to go along with the high res restored audio.

This is a far cry from those "Enhanced" CDs that required users to install a Windows application just to get any interactive features (along with crappy fuzzy video and some low res JPEGs). Problem with requiring an external software installation is that the OS' keep evolving -- doubtful that too many of the features from those Enhanced CDs from 10 years ago can now run on Vista!

[Rich-n-Texas]

Well Wooch, I choose to believe Neil is exercising artistic license and has input into the final product. Whether that's the case or not is irrelevant in my own little Rock-n-Roll polluted mind. His songs have been part of my life for a very long time.

[Woochifer]

Well Wooch, I choose to believe Neil is exercising artistic license and has input into the final product. Whether that's the case or not is irrelevant in my own little Rock-n-Roll polluted mind. His songs have been part of my life for a very long time.

Sorry, I wasn't implying at all that Neil didn't have any input. Just giving a lot of credit to the people in his employ that have been restoring the audio on his reissues. If not for Young demanding this kind of attention to sound quality, it would never have happened. The liner notes for the Greatest Hits package went into great detail on the process for the CD, DVD, and LP releases.

[pixelthis]

Yeah, Neil's done it right more than most others. I have to confess I find some of his stuff a little kooky, but it's always worth the price of admission.

You mean like trans?
But he really beleives in quality.
I cant wait to hear these, besides the Band, this is the first decent stuff on Blu.
Now all we need is the DiDo concert....

[Rich-n-Texas]

Sorry, I wasn't implying at all that Neil didn't have any input. Just giving a lot of credit to the people in his employ that have been restoring the audio on his reissues. If not for Young demanding this kind of attention to sound quality, it would never have happened. The liner notes for the Greatest Hits package went into great detail on the process for the CD, DVD, and LP releases.

Understood. I hope other artists and personalities that are of the same caliber as Neil follow suit. Win-win for all of us.