Neil Young Archives Volume II (1972-1976)

[Brian]

This retail version costs $90 less than the deluxe box set with a hardcover picture book.

After buying the first box set of a promised career spanning series in 2009, I waited 12 years for "Neil Young Archives Volume II (1972-1976)," which covers my favorite period of his music, including the albums "On the Beach," "Tonight's the Night" and "Zuma."

I already had three of the ten CD's pictured above because Neil put them out in the last few years -- two live albums and "Homegrown," the intended successor to "Harvest" that was shelved in 1974.  Adding to the redundancy, the tracks from the original studio albums are rearranged throughout the discs.  But I love that each song appears chronologically by recording date, a new way of hearing the old stuff while following Neil's muse.  As for the new material, there are a dozen songs that were never released in any form.  And there are early versions of songs like "Powderfinger," "Ride My Llama" and "Pocahontas," which were re-recorded for "Rust Never Sleeps" in 1979, that are even better in their incipient glory.