Neil Young Gives Axl Rose A Run For His Money

Brian Raftery | June 26, 2007 9:10 am

neilbeforezod.jpg
Yesterday, Billboard announced that Neil Young’s multi-disc Archives box set–which was supposed to finally come out later this year–has been moved to 2008. This thing been in the works for years now: A quick look through the archives unearths a Rolling Stone news piece by David Fricke, who notes that the project “has been a decade in preparation,” and that it will be out “in the third quarter of this year.” Said article was published in April of 2000. What work could Young possibly have left to do? It only takes a few weeks to digitally airbrush David Crosby’s more druggy background vocals.

Anyway, with nearly twenty years of production time to its credit, Young’s Archives beats Chinese Democracy as the music industry’s go-to long-delayed punchline (though, for joke-making purposes, “Chinese Democracy” rolls off the tongue much easier*). We’ll see who can hold out longest, but we’re guessing that by the time Young finishes with this thing, there will be no free world left within which to rock. In the meantime, we’ll all have to make to do with the live albums he’s been putting out in the past year, which include such stunning moments as this:

Neil Young – On The Way Home (Live At Massey Hall 1971) [MP3, link expired]

* For example, saying “Alice Sebold’s new novel has taken so long, it’s like the Neil Young’s multi-disc archive box set of publishing” doesn’t quite work.

Tags: