Official Neil Young Thread

Neil Young tour merch:

Its not advertised, and pressing weights can vary, but generally, yes.

Tim Simmons said:

Ive bought records that were supposed to be 180 and have weighed 200 and 140 that have been closer to 160. Its not really a science. But yes, the box set vinyl is heavier than the stand alones.

I saw in the city the Freedom/Ragged Glory/Weld set being sold for 125 dollars used. Might pick it up then if it's 180 gram. Don't have Weld...  

The standalone vinyl releases for Harvest Moon, Unplugged, Mirror Ball, and Sleeps With Angels are “tentatively scheduled for next year”

Spiritual_Chaos said:

Saw someone mailing in about Neils habit of having pointless etchings on the last side, but didn't dare to read Neils response. 

Neil actually took it surprisingly well, and even seems to be agreeing (to a point)...

Dear Neil (& John Hanlon),

I’m all for as much Neil product as possible whether it’s solo, horse, new live stuff, new studio stuff, etc.

However, as a father of two, with a mortgage, child care, increasing food bills (set against the backdrop of trying to buy fairly and equitably), I feel I have to raise my voice and criticise one increasingly common aspect of your releases—the 4th side etching on your vinyl records and the general stretching of traditionally “short” records getting to 3/4 sides in the name of “quality.”

I work in healthcare with a focus on quality and, in the simplest terms, there’s little value or quality in breaking the listening process into 3 or 4 for a record originally designed for a single break midway through.

The audiophile situation is a dubious business at best, my ears worked fine when I first started listening to you but now I’m being told the records I fell in love with are “wrong.”

In the case of etchings, I can absolutely guarantee 99.999% of your fans would rather you took a little bit longer and found some music to fill that 4th side. Case in point, John Hanlon tells us there will only be seven songs out of a 15-song setlist included on Mirror Ball Live covering three sides of vinyl. No doubt we will be charged the full cost of a 4-sided double vinyl record on release day. Rather than hearing a non-bootleg, non-YouTube version of Pearl Jam playing Like a Hurricane or Cortez the Killer.

And I’m sorry, there isn’t a person on earth who says their listening experience has been improved by paying for a side of vinyl with literally no music on it. In fact, I’d wager more record players have been damaged by etchings, thereby ruining the experience in the longer term. It’s not even “no music” à la John Cage because you can’t play it.

Quality whether the people want it or not. Fourth side etchings at the least ARE NOT QUALITY. There’s a wider argument as to whether you’re giving us “quality” at all in the vinyl record buying world.

Other recent (and forthcoming examples)

• TTN 50 (another etching)
• World Record (particularly galling as it is less than the hallowed 46 mins and the vinyl mix is shorter than the similarly scandalous 2-CD version!)
• Chrome Dreams (literally made for a 1977 single vinyl record)
• Toast 51 mins, 2 LPs, 3 sides and an etching
• Colorado 3 sides over 2 LPs … and a 7-inch for less than an hour!
• Tuscaloosa 3 sides over 2 LPs yet there’s now bonus tracks for subscribers on NYA that could have gone on side 4
• Harvest Moon and other reissues that were previously single vinyl records back when people first fell in love with them aren’t drawing new fans through this marketing strategy or false narrative about audio quality. My original 1990 copy of ragged glory sounds glorious on my 1970s equipment. I know it’s pushing it at an hour, but still better value than the 3 disc reissue.
• For comparison, Young Shakespeare, Royce Hall, Dorothy Chandler, etc. are 55 mins or so and all on one piece of vinyl.

In my world, we would critique the limited choice of audio “quality” over a wider definition of a “quality product or service,” and the potential future risks of decreased efficiency (more vinyl flipping leads to fatigue leads to less people hearing the end of the record) and potential equipment damage, as poor horizon scanning. I’d also love to see your stakeholder mapping to see where fan views fit and what the people really really want as opposed to what you or the record company want or think we, the fans, want.

I realise this is selfish to a point, but we are an important factor if you want us to buy your records (or CDs), have money for tickets and NYA subscriptions as well as:

• buy organic food
• make the capital investment to charge an EV at home or other environmentally friendly home improvements (solar panels, insulation, non-gas, wood or coal fired heat options, etc.)
• send kids to good schools, sports clubs, music lessons etc
• support elderly parent
• support good causes locally, nationally and internationally

And yes, I realise I’m making this point to Neil Young, the most impressively single-minded artist on the planet. But something’s got to give here.

Sorry to be the one to complain, but it needs to be said.

Keep on rocking in the free world, Peter, Dublin.

Hey Peter

What a great refreshing letter!!!!!
quality whether you want it or not!!!!!!
I am going to go over this with John Hanlon, Niko Bolas and everyone to come up with an answer for you.
We are comparing quality of double vinyl to single vinyl in many cases, particularly Lakefield, a new live solo album from Canada recorded just before the LOVE EARTH Tour began. We are considering dual releases of single vinyl with double vinyl as a deluxe high quality version of the same record. The quality would suffer with the single disc, but I am listening anyway to see what I feel. I am sure with one record the single sides would be over 30 minutes. I am listening to two options to decide between today.
Quality is very important to me but I want you to be able to afford the music. 

It is particularly bothersome that some new doubles were originally singles. I want to be sure it is worth it to all of you. as you point out. I am locating those albums to compare the quality. The doubles will always be louder because of the extra room on two discs. Thanks for caring and writing such a succinct -helpful letter.!!! This is why I appreciate the letters so much. 
Love
be well
neil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u1VO7hRhXA

goldrush said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

Saw someone mailing in about Neils habit of having pointless etchings on the last side, but didn't dare to read Neils response. 

Neil actually took it surprisingly well, and even seems to be agreeing (to a point)...

Dear Neil (& John Hanlon),

I’m all for as much Neil product as possible whether it’s solo, horse, new live stuff, new studio stuff, etc.

However, as a father of two, with a mortgage, child care, increasing food bills (set against the backdrop of trying to buy fairly and equitably), I feel I have to raise my voice and criticise one increasingly common aspect of your releases—the 4th side etching on your vinyl records and the general stretching of traditionally “short” records getting to 3/4 sides in the name of “quality.”

I work in healthcare with a focus on quality and, in the simplest terms, there’s little value or quality in breaking the listening process into 3 or 4 for a record originally designed for a single break midway through.

The audiophile situation is a dubious business at best, my ears worked fine when I first started listening to you but now I’m being told the records I fell in love with are “wrong.”

In the case of etchings, I can absolutely guarantee 99.999% of your fans would rather you took a little bit longer and found some music to fill that 4th side. Case in point, John Hanlon tells us there will only be seven songs out of a 15-song setlist included on Mirror Ball Live covering three sides of vinyl. No doubt we will be charged the full cost of a 4-sided double vinyl record on release day. Rather than hearing a non-bootleg, non-YouTube version of Pearl Jam playing Like a Hurricane or Cortez the Killer.

And I’m sorry, there isn’t a person on earth who says their listening experience has been improved by paying for a side of vinyl with literally no music on it. In fact, I’d wager more record players have been damaged by etchings, thereby ruining the experience in the longer term. It’s not even “no music” à la John Cage because you can’t play it.

Quality whether the people want it or not. Fourth side etchings at the least ARE NOT QUALITY. There’s a wider argument as to whether you’re giving us “quality” at all in the vinyl record buying world.

Other recent (and forthcoming examples)

• TTN 50 (another etching)
• World Record (particularly galling as it is less than the hallowed 46 mins and the vinyl mix is shorter than the similarly scandalous 2-CD version!)
• Chrome Dreams (literally made for a 1977 single vinyl record)
• Toast 51 mins, 2 LPs, 3 sides and an etching
• Colorado 3 sides over 2 LPs … and a 7-inch for less than an hour!
• Tuscaloosa 3 sides over 2 LPs yet there’s now bonus tracks for subscribers on NYA that could have gone on side 4
• Harvest Moon and other reissues that were previously single vinyl records back when people first fell in love with them aren’t drawing new fans through this marketing strategy or false narrative about audio quality. My original 1990 copy of ragged glory sounds glorious on my 1970s equipment. I know it’s pushing it at an hour, but still better value than the 3 disc reissue.
• For comparison, Young Shakespeare, Royce Hall, Dorothy Chandler, etc. are 55 mins or so and all on one piece of vinyl.

In my world, we would critique the limited choice of audio “quality” over a wider definition of a “quality product or service,” and the potential future risks of decreased efficiency (more vinyl flipping leads to fatigue leads to less people hearing the end of the record) and potential equipment damage, as poor horizon scanning. I’d also love to see your stakeholder mapping to see where fan views fit and what the people really really want as opposed to what you or the record company want or think we, the fans, want.

I realise this is selfish to a point, but we are an important factor if you want us to buy your records (or CDs), have money for tickets and NYA subscriptions as well as:

• buy organic food
• make the capital investment to charge an EV at home or other environmentally friendly home improvements (solar panels, insulation, non-gas, wood or coal fired heat options, etc.)
• send kids to good schools, sports clubs, music lessons etc
• support elderly parent
• support good causes locally, nationally and internationally

And yes, I realise I’m making this point to Neil Young, the most impressively single-minded artist on the planet. But something’s got to give here.

Sorry to be the one to complain, but it needs to be said.

Keep on rocking in the free world, Peter, Dublin.

Hey Peter

What a great refreshing letter!!!!!
quality whether you want it or not!!!!!!
I am going to go over this with John Hanlon, Niko Bolas and everyone to come up with an answer for you.
We are comparing quality of double vinyl to single vinyl in many cases, particularly Lakefield, a new live solo album from Canada recorded just before the LOVE EARTH Tour began. We are considering dual releases of single vinyl with double vinyl as a deluxe high quality version of the same record. The quality would suffer with the single disc, but I am listening anyway to see what I feel. I am sure with one record the single sides would be over 30 minutes. I am listening to two options to decide between today.
Quality is very important to me but I want you to be able to afford the music. 

It is particularly bothersome that some new doubles were originally singles. I want to be sure it is worth it to all of you. as you point out. I am locating those albums to compare the quality. The doubles will always be louder because of the extra room on two discs. Thanks for caring and writing such a succinct -helpful letter.!!! This is why I appreciate the letters so much. 
Love
be well
neil

Very odd to me that neither Peter nor Neil mentioned the thing that concerns me the most about these albums (and it;s an issue that has concerned me about both most of later Neil Young AND Pearl Jam LPs):  The excessive use of plastic, paperboard and other resources in a planet that is being rapidly depleted.  And both Neil and P.J.  purport to be environmentalists.  There's a major disconnect here.