Classic Rock Musings, Rants & Raves

On May 6, Neil Young unveiled plans for his long-awaited Archives project. Fans far and wide have been screaming for this multi-volume set for years. Now, they’ll more than likely be screaming again because the ever unconventional Young is only releasing the collection on Blu-ray discs. For those of you unfamiliar with Blu-ray, it’s a high-definition format disc that holds upwards of 25 gigs, considerably more than CDs (700 MB) and DVDs (4.7 GB). A year ago, Blu-ray and rival HD-DVD were competing for HD videophiles looking to upgrade the sound and picture of their favorite DVDs. This past February, however, HD-DVD bowed out and Blu-ray took the lead.

So, why is Young releasing this on Blu-ray? Fans who follow such things are well aware the singer has a blatant disregard for CDs. In fact, much to the chagrin of his devoted following, he has somehow managed to hold back a portion of his legendary catalog from ever coming out on CD (although I confess to having a nice little bootleg of Times Fades Away. Don’t tell Neil). More recently, he was releasing stuff on DVD-A, but now has shifted gears in favor of Blu-ray, which not only boasts superior audio and video; it can also be updated over the Internet.

During the May 6 press conference at a Sun Microsystems conference in San Francisco, Young said the first phase of Archives will span 10 discs, covering 1963 to 1972. The discs will be tracked chronologically and include previously unreleased songs, videos, handwritten manuscripts and other memorabilia. High-resolution audio sweetens the deal, while fans can add additional content from the Internet as it becomes available.

This is certainly good news for those in the Blu-ray industry, who had been working hard to expand the technology’s capabilities beyond movies. “Previous technology required unacceptable quality compromises,” Young said. “I am glad we waited and got it right.”

Once again, old rocker Neil Young is sparking a new revolution without compromising his artistic integrity. As if he hasn’t already done enough for toy trains. Check out the complete announcement below.

Part One

Part Two