Neil Young - 'Greatest Hits'

By Matt Parks

Neil Young’s career now spans five decades, and his body of work ranks second to only Bob Dylan in depth, diversity, and quality. As such, compiling a collection truly representative of his entire career is a difficult task indeed, but his new ‘Greatest Hits’ compilation—the first new ‘Best Of’ collection from Neil Young in 27 years (1977’s ‘Decade’ being the last)—attempts to do just that.

Taken song for song, it’s a great collection—16 great songs from an all-time great artist—but considering the vast catalog of quality work Young amassed between 1977 and 2004, it a little disappointing that eleven of sixteen tracks on ‘Greatest Hits’ were previously anthologized on ‘Decade’ (“Only Love Can Break Your Heart,” “Like a Hurricane,” “Comes a Time,” “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black),”“Rockin' in the Free World” and “Harvest Moon” are the only tracks not available on the earlier compilation). Any serious Young fan already owns either ‘Decade’ or the early Young albums from which the collection was compiled.

Had the aim here been to cover only ’77-’04 rather than assemble a definitive collection on a single disc (and thus retracing the first decade of Young’s career once again), this album might have included many more great tracks from Young’s later phase not included here, such as “Powderfinger,” “Mansion on the Hill,” I Am the Ocean,” “Sleeps With Angels,” “Change Your Mind,” “This Note’s for You,” “Goin’ Home,” and “Unknown Legend” (just to name a few).

Because of its limitations, ‘Greatest Hits’ only scratches the surface Young’s vast catalog of unique, diverse, and uncompromising recordings. Still, “Greatest Hits” is a terrific, inexpensive introduction to the work of an essential artist—if you’re not planning on buying all of the 30 or so albums Young has released since 1969, this is a must have for any serious rock music collection.

Playlist: Rockin' in the Free World, Hey Hey My My (Into the Black), Heart of Gold, Like a Hurricane

(12.20.2004)