Arriving after a decade-long wait,
Neil Young Archives Volume II: 1972-1976 picks up where its predecessor left off -- that'd be in 1972, just after
Harvest gave the singer/songwriter his first and only number one single in "Heart of Gold."
Young later said "Heart of Gold" brought him to the middle of the road so he decided to turn into the ditch, and this second Archives documents that leftward turn by presenting highlights, outtakes, alternate versions, and live material from the years that brought
Neil's greatest albums:
Time Fades Away,
On the Beach,
Tonight's the Night, and Zuma. Some of the rare material surfaced previously in the Neil Young Archives series -- months before this box, the shelved 1975 album
Homegrown appeared and it's here in its entirety, along with the
Roxy: Tonight's the Night Live and
Tuscaloosa live albums -- but the appeal of this ten-CD box set is hearing all of this music in context, letting the songs speak to each other as the moods shift from melancholy to euphoria. Surprises both large and small abound.
Tonight's the Night and
On the Beach don't seem quite so bleak when re-sequenced and surrounded by session outtakes, while the parting of the skies on Zuma gets reinforced by tentative readings of songs that would surface on
Rust Never Sleeps. This subtle but distinct reframing is as worthwhile as the treasure trove of officially unreleased songs. Combined, they make for an absorbing, essential box set. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine