Hot Ptah Posted May 19, 2008 Report Share Posted May 19, 2008 From this article about Neil Young's pending release of 50 Blu Ray discs of his career archives, it occurs to me that this will amount to far more than 500 CDs of music. How much more, I am not sure. I could see Duke Ellington in the jazz world filling up 500 CDs with his worthwhile output, including rarities. I wonder if Neil Young, or almost anyone else, has that much material of interest. Neil Young is putting his past on Blu-ray 2 commentsby Brandon Bailey - May. 14, 2008 09:05 AM San Jose Mercury News SAN FRANCISCO - Rebellious rocker Neil Young hates the sound of compact discs. So he waited 15 years for a different technology, which he says will allow him to share his life's work the way he wants his fans to enjoy it. Starting this fall, Young plans to release a comprehensive archive of music, videos and other material dating back to 1963 on a series of interactive Blu-ray discs, which he demonstrated last week for several thousand software developers and tech enthusiasts at Sun Microsystems' JavaOne conference in San Francisco. "It's the history of a creative process, the development of my music and actually of my life," Young said after the demo. "It's interactive and online, and it will grow." The project could signal a broader use of the high-definition technology known as Blu-ray, which was developed with Sun's Java programming language, and which emerged earlier this year as the global standard for high-performance video from Sony and other companies. It's unclear how many fans will have the equipment, and the time, to enjoy such a comprehensive archive. Young said he hopes fans will spend hours exploring an interactive timeline, playing classic hits and unreleased tracks, while examining contemporaneous films, photos, recording notes and other documents. With up to 50 gigabytes of storage, Blu-ray discs have five to 10 times the capacity of DVDs, which in turn can hold far more material than CDs. Young, who lives on a ranch in San Mateo County, Calif., is planning a series of five volumes, each consisting of 10 discs. He promised that fans will be able to download additional material from the Internet as it becomes available. At least as important, Young said, the collection will represent an alternative to what he characterized as the tyranny of inferior sound. Blu-ray developers say their technology provides far superior audio quality as well as high-definition video. "CD quality is very low resolution, maybe a step above MP3s. It was a crime to make that the standard for so many years," he said, complaining that music fans were forced to accept CDs because they were marketed as an inevitable and necessary new format. "It was the Patriot Act of music," he said, drawing laughs. Reminded that many music fans these days download and play songs on portable MP3 players, Young said: "My heart goes out to them." But the 62-year-old rocker acknowledged that most consumers don't have Blu-ray equipment yet. Analysts say Sony and other companies have sold about 1 million Blu-ray players, while Apple has reported selling more than 150 million iPods. Sony has also sold about 3 million PlayStation 3 game consoles, which have Blu-ray capability, as Young pointed out. He did not rule out the possibility that the songs, dating back to his early days in a Canadian band called the Squires, might be released in other formats. "I'm not interested in making MP3s, but I'm not going to say to Apple: No, I'm not going to let you issue MP3s.' " Young, in a cap and sunglasses, appeared on stage with Sun Chief Executive Jonathan Schwartz and praised the technology that Young said enabled him to complete a project he first envisioned 15 years ago. But the artist, whose long line of hits - from "Cinnamon Girl" to "Rockin' in the Free World" - includes a song in which he vowed never to shill for a sponsor, told reporters that Sun is not sponsoring his project. "I'm actually plugging myself," Young said of his appearance. "They've enabled me to do something I've wanted to do for a long time. I feel like it's a good thing to acknowledge that." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted May 19, 2008 Report Share Posted May 19, 2008 Now we finally have a yardstick for how big his ego is ...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcy62 Posted May 19, 2008 Report Share Posted May 19, 2008 Grateful Dead, Sun Ra and Keith Jarrett will come second. And there are still some guys who doesn't regret the shorter timing of good old vinyl times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDK Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 Now we finally have a yardstick for how big his ego is ...... Excessive project perhaps, but Young has never struck me as egotistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregK Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 it's not like it's actually going to happen anyway. He announces some variation of this every few years, and then nothing. Nothing to do with ego. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van Basten II Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 I've heard rumours for many years that Young was going to do a huge boxset, will the rest of the music industry will follow and start doing music on Blu-Ray. By the way what difference will it make to do these things on Blu-Ray instead of regular CDs ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregK Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 I've heard rumours for many years that Young was going to do a huge boxset, will the rest of the music industry will follow and start doing music on Blu-Ray. By the way what difference will it make to do these things on Blu-Ray instead of regular CDs ? well, it will make me go buy a device I would have no interest in otherwise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 Theoretically you'll have much better sound. Definitely you'll save a lot of shelf space! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van Basten II Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 Will it mean buying a whole new sound system :bwallace2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasonguthartz Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 it's not like it's actually going to happen anyway. By the way what difference will it make to do these things on Blu-Ray instead of regular CDs ? Unless you think he's going to extremes to perpetuate a hoax, I'd say the video in this story shows it's legit: http://www.news.com/8301-13953_3-9937142-8...l?tag=nefd.lede Looks like a pretty innovative use of the technology (which could not have been done via CDs nor DVDs). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 Will it mean buying a whole new sound system :bwallace2: It will mean buying a Blu-Ray player which could replace your dvd player in your system. I don't have one. . . but I probably would really like to have this first Neil Young volume. . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van Basten II Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 I like Neil Young, but i'm not going to buy a new player just for him, my DVD player is hooked to a cheap amp and speakers, which i don't mind since i rarely watch movies that rely on surround sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 (edited) I watch movies all the time, in great sound, but two channel sound. I have a universal Sony player that has been modified to have a tubed amplifier output by my favorite audio designer, and I have tubed preamplifier, monoblocked tube amplifiers and radial dispersion loudspeakers from this same designer. I didn't used to really care about movie sound but now that I have this wonderful sound I really feel it makes a difference. I have a fantastic HDTV now though, and I will probably get myself a Blu-Ray player, not just for Neil Young archive volumes, but that's a plus, but for the improved video output. Edited May 20, 2008 by jazzbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free For All Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 (edited) Question: Do Blu-Ray players play non Blu-Ray DVDs? I mean, if I get one, will my current DVD collection be toast? Or do I need to keep my old DVD player in order to play what I've already got? I do currently have what I guess is called an "up-convertable" DVD player which helps my current DVDs to be compatible with my HDTV. After years of purchasing and re-purchasing LPs, cassettes and CDs (and DVDs) I'm not really interested in starting yet another re-buying jaunt. Edited May 20, 2008 by Free For All Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasonguthartz Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 (edited) Question: Do Blu-Ray players play non Blu-Ray DVDs? yes - see here I do currently have what I guess is called an "up-convertable" DVD player which helps my current DVDs to be compatible with my HDTV.There is no compatibility issue with DVDs and HDTVs -- the "up-converting" part of your DVD player is a chip which (in theory) improves the video image that is fed to your HDTV; more here Edited May 20, 2008 by jasonguthartz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free For All Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 I appreciate the info! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 (edited) One period of Neil's ever-changing chameleon persona involved him railing against industry, commerce and the like. Yet here he is locking himself into a new commercial product, helping out whoever is responsible for Blue Ray to widen their market penetration. I've been looking forward to hearing the 60s/70s material on this long promised project. I've no interest in Blue Ray technology as I watch so little in the way of TV/film and rarely watch music videos. I hope this will come out in an alternative way. Downloads perhaps? Though I suspect Neil will have a similar cranky attitude to downloads as he did to digital sound (the article suggests just that). Disappointing. Wouldn't they be better launching Blue Ray with a massive re-release of the Dire Straits catalogue!!!!! Edited May 20, 2008 by Bev Stapleton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 (edited) I don't think these will come out on Blu-ray only. That would be a guaranteed flop, just like releasing a recording on single layer SACD only. Even an LP-only release would be commercial suicide (the recent info about the new Elvis Costello album being released on LP+download only was wrong, there will be a CD). How many Neil Young fans (only fans will buy a 10 disc set) own Blu-ray players? Neil Young made the announcement at a Java conference (the technology used by Blu-ray discs), which could explain why he was talking only about a blu-ray release. Given that he hates CD so much, a DVD release (with 24bit/96kHz sound) seems logical. He already released some reissues on CD+DVD sets, the DVD containing the same music at a higher resolution and just a little video material. Edited May 20, 2008 by Claude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John L Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 Does anybody know how much Blue Ray stock Neil Young owns? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captainwrong Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 Who has time (or interest) to listen to all this? I mean, I like Young and all but sheesh. Also, I've always found his audiophile tendencies curious considering I'd never think to grab a Neil Young record if I wanted to test a piece of gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago in another thread. How many Neil Young threads do we need? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Ptah Posted May 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago in another thread. How many Neil Young threads do we need? Point well taken. My only interest in starting the thread was to point out the massive size of what will be released. When the Duke Ellington Complete RCA set was released, I thought that one was big, but it is modest compared to what Young has in mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 I think of Neil Young and Morrisey as the two great whiners of rock and roll - I find listening to either of them like listening to nails on a chalk board- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parkertown Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 Also, I've always found his audiophile tendencies curious considering I'd never think to grab a Neil Young record if I wanted to test a piece of gear. I dunno..."Hawks and Doves" has an incredible presence...a "you are there" type of sound... Original Lp or DVD-A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 Other Young releases also have imo great sound. Was just listening to Freedom the other day, and really felt the sound was good, and the second cd of the archive series presents the sound of Young and his instruments with a wonderful clarity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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