Neil Young LPs from the official release series Standalone releases

Back

25 August 2024

Photo: Piero Crucetti/Alamy Stock Photo

In July 2023, Neil Young released the Official Release Series Volume 5, a stunning collection of four classic albums on vinyl and CD, beginning with the exciting renaissance that came with the release of Freedom in 1989 and continuing the unprecedented exploration of collections Shattered glory (1990), welding (1991) and Bow (1991). In many ways, it is a musical travelogue about how Young saw the future and opened up creative worlds for the use of sound and originality that had not been exploited before.

Pre-order these four classic Neil Young albums here.

Each of these titles from Official Release Series 5 will be available again when they are released as standalone albums on both vinyl and CD on October 4. When these four albums were released in the box set last July, it was the first time they had been remastered for vinyl.

This musical period came at a crucial juncture in Neil Young's extensive career. The 1990s were just beginning, and Young had just returned to his longtime home at Reprise Records. It definitely seemed like a joyous and jubilant moment for the man who had just celebrated the 21st anniversary of a solo career that had never stopped evolving. The first album in this series is aptly titled Freedom, and contains the song Rockin' In the Free World.

Shattered glory (1990) was a non-stop celebration of the music Neil Young & Crazy Horse are still making at full force, and was recorded at Young's Broken Arrow Ranch in Northern California. The original 10-song album was expanded to include four rare tracks for this reissue.

Interstate and Don't Spook The Horse were both B-sides to singles. Box Car and the 12-minute Born To Ru' were both previously unreleased versions prior to release on the Original Release Series 5 box set. The four additional songs resulted in the album being expanded to 3 LPs and 2 CDs. The album was remastered from the original analogue tapes.

welding (1991) is one of the most groundbreaking albums in Neil Young's history. It is a live album recorded with Crazy Horse after the release of Shattered glory. It came from a highly creative period in the band's history and, as Neil Young often did, made it clear that he was a founder of rock 'n' roll whose achievements could never be questioned.

Bow (1991) is the live companion collection to Weld, and at the time achieved the kind of musical notoriety that often characterizes Young's work. Arc is a 35-minute burst of feedback, improvisation, guitar solos and vocal fragments. When it appeared in the Official Release Series 5 box set, it was the first release of the album on vinyl.

Neil Young's music is not governed by calendars or conventions. Since Young's first solo album in 1969, his sonic evolution has always been what he felt was necessary to move forward. All original releases and now official reissues are a journey of discovery. Sometimes it feels like there is no distinction between past, present and future. The music lives together.

Freedom, Ragged Glory/Smell The Horse, welding And Bow all now take their appropriate place in the career exploratory march of a true adventurer, both in the music he makes and the care and consideration with which he presents it to the public. Despite all the successes and advances in sound, it still feels like things are just beginning.