Burning: 2-disc Neil Young comp

[mad rhetorik]

I made a 2-disc comp of Neil material culled from the four albums I own on CD (Decade, Tonight's The Night, On The Beach, and Rust Never Sleeps) for a friend who's just getting into Neil. However, I decided that I might want to offer it here, as a newbie-friendly NY comp.

I divided the material into two equal-length discs representing the two major sides of Neil's personality: The unplugged singer/songwriter, and the blistering rocker. The playlists are thus:

Disc 1: Neil Young--Acoustic

1. Sugar Mountain
2. I Believe In You
3. Helpless
4. Heart Of Gold
5. Old Man
6. The Needle And The Damage Done
7. Tonight's The Night, Part 1 (this is actually an electric track; however, it fits best here since it is the less guitar-driven of the two versions, and I didn't want the electric disc to have both versions on the song on it, that would be redundant)
8. New Mama
9. For The Turnstiles
10. Motion Pictures (For Carrie)
11. Ambulance Blues
12. Deep Forbidden Lake
13. Love Is A Rose
14. Campaigner
15. Thrasher
16. My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)

Disc 2: Neil Young--Electric

1. Cinnamon Girl
2. Cowgirl In The Sand
3. Southern Man
4. Ohio
5. Tonight's The Night, Part 2
6. Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown
7. Revolution Blues
8. Winterlong
9. Like A Hurricane
10. Cortez The Killer
11. Powderfinger
12. Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)

I know I lean heavily toward Neil's more-played stuff here, but since I'm going for an intro to Neil I figured this playlist would work well. After all, it's got a few of my favorites on it--Winterlong, Revolution Blues, The Needle And The Damage Done, Cowgirl In The Sand, Ambulance Blues (!!!!) etc...

On a related note, I haven't heard any of Neil's more recent albums from the '90s. Can any of the Neil fans in the audience give me a clue on which are worth buying?

[DarrenH]

What a coincidence , thems the only four Neil Young albums I own as well. Two of those are recs I got from you (On The Beach and Tonight's The Night). Both are excellent.

Anyway, great tracklist and a very good introduction for anyone wanting to hear Neil's early works.

Can't help with Neil's 90's stuff. I lost track of Neil after Rust Never Sleeps and didn't notice him again until the release of Freedom back in '89. Lost sight of him after that as well. I wouldn't mind checking out Greendale though.

Darren

[Dave_G]

mad,

I would thoroughly enjoy one of those NY Komps.

Dave

[Hyfi]

Looks great, I'd like a copy please.

bhorner@netscape.net

Thanks

[mad rhetorik]

So far I've got three comps on order already. I may need to buy more CD's and packaging stuff if this keeps up. Starving college student and all that. : )

Anyway Darren, I actually own a few other Neil albums on vinyl. I have Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, After The Gold Rush, and Harvest. While those albums are great, Decade does such a good job of covering the best songs from those albums that I didn't need to buy them again on CD. I wish I had the title track from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere though, that's a killer tune. I don't own Zuma yet but I've heard it and think it is one excellent album. "Danger Bird" is awesome. I think that's the NY I'll buy next.

[Davey]

On a related note, I haven't heard any of Neil's more recent albums from the '90s. Can any of the Neil fans in the audience give me a clue on which are worth buying?

I think Harvest Moon and Sleeps With Angels are both very good albums and worth getting, especially the latter which I think he was recording at the time Cobain opted out with a suicide note that used Young's "it's better to burn out, than to fade away" line, and that gives the album a darkness. In fact, a couple songs are probably about Cobain, although not overtly. Maybe more. Anyway, it's kind of an unfocused collection but has nevertheless grown into one of my favorites of his. I've heard some of Silver and Gold and really liked it, but figured I already was overflowing with Neil Young albums by that time. Same with the two latest. But if you like the more gentle Neil Young, Harvest Moon is of course one of his most popular and one of his best too. He did an unplugged album about that same time, maybe just after I guess, and what I heard from that was pretty cool too, but I never bought it.

And on a completely different vector (since I'm listening to it right now), Didn't It Rain by Songs: Ohia from 2002 would make a damn fine addition to a Neil Young collection....except that Jason Molina is Songs: Ohia. Dark and brooding, but not bleak. In fact, almost uplifting for me, if that makes any sense. Recorded live with a nice open sound, almost like something Albini would engineer these days (his name is even featured in the title of the second song, Steve Albini's Blues). Lyrically it seems to be a very personal album and immediately draws the listener, at least this one, into Molina's world. Kind of the same way NY does at his best. And it's hard to miss the similarity in their voices as well

[Mr MidFi]

Hey Mad...I just sent you a PM. Gotta have one of those. Much obliged.

[mad rhetorik]

Alright, that's enough orders! Right now supply is barely meeting demand ; P . I'm already out of CD's to burn with.

Jar, Midfi, Hyfi, Dave G., Nobody: You will all get your comps on schedule (read: as soon as I can get 'em out, should be Monday). Anybody else will have to wait till I can get more supplies. I really must've struck a nerve with this comp!

BTW, Davey, thanks for your feedback re: '90s Neil. I will look into Harvest Moon (is that a sequel to Harvest?) and Sleeps With Angels.

[Alung]

Email me > conraylea@aol.com

Thanks,
Alung

[Finch Platte]

Sh!t people have heard a hunnert times and they still want to hear it again. I offer a comp of stuff no one has heard and get no takers. Buncha pussies.

ep (channelling YECH)

[DarrenH]

Sh!t people have heard a hunnert times and they still want to hear it again. I offer a comp of stuff no one has heard and get no takers. Buncha pussies.

ep (channelling YECH)

Sh!t man if the music you's was offerin was worth a rats arse I might bite.

So hit me.

I'll b!tch about it later.

Darren

[Hyfi]

Zuma is tops on my list.