Neil Young Announces ‘Official Release Series – Volume 5’
Neil Young has announced the latest of his Official Release Series of album box sets, due 14 July.
Official Release Series Volume 5 is a stunning collection of four albums that begins with the exciting renaissance that came with the release of Freedom in 1989 and continues with the unequalled exploration of collections Ragged Glory (1990), Weld (1991) and Arc (1991). In many ways, it is a musical travelogue of how Young saw the future and opened up creative worlds for the use of sound and originality which had not been used before.
pre-order official release series volume 5 here
Official Release Series Volume 5 features the original four albums as either a 9-vinyl box set or a 6CD package. Like all the reissues in this series, the albums are remastered from the best source available – original analogue tape in the case of Ragged Glory. This release represents the first time that these four albums have been remastered for vinyl. The Ragged Glory CD has also been remastered. The vinyl and CD box sets are numbered, and the LPs are pressed on 180-gram vinyl. The vinyl box for the four albums is in a telescoping box, and the CDs are in a slipcase. All pre-orders from the official store will receive an instant download of Don’t Spook The Horse.
This period was a definite turning point in Neil Young‘s career. The 90s were almost ready to start, and Young had recently returned to his long-term home at Reprise Records. It appeared to be a joyous and jubilant moment for the man who had recently celebrated the 21-year anniversary of a solo career that had never stopped progressing. The first album in Volume 5 is the aptly named Freedom and includes the classic Rockin’ in the Free World.
Ragged Glory (1990) found Neil Young & Crazy Horse operating at full force and was recorded at Young’s Broken Arrow Ranch in Northern California. The 10-song original album is expanded for this reissue with four rare tracks. Interstate and Don’t Spook The Horse were both B-sides to singles, while Box Car and the 12-minute Born To Run are both previously unreleased versions. The four additional songs have resulted in the album being expanded to 3 LPs and 2CDs.
Weld (1991) is one of the most groundbreaking albums of Neil Young’s history. It’s a live album recorded with Crazy Horse after the release of Ragged Glory. It was from a wildly creative period of the band’s history, and as confirmed Young as a rock’n’roll originator who could never be second-guessed.
Arc (1991) is the live companion collection to Weld, and at the time generated the kind of notoriety that has often been associated with Young’s creations. Arc is a 35-minute outburst of feedback, improvisation, guitar solos and vocal fragments. This marks the album’s first release on vinyl.
Official Release Series Volume 5 tracklistings:
Freedom
1. ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’ (Live Acoustic)
2. ‘Crime In The City (Sixty to Zero Part 1)’
3. ‘Don’t Cry’
4. ‘Hangin’ On A Limb’
5. ‘Eldorado’
6. ‘The Ways of Love’
7. ‘Someday’
8. ‘On Broadway’
9. ‘Wrecking Ball’
10. ‘No More’
11. ‘Too Far Gone’
12. ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’ (Electric)
Ragged Glory – Smell The Horse
1. ‘Country Home’
2. ‘White Line’
3. ‘Fuckin’ Up’
4. ‘Over and Over’
5. ‘Love to Burn’
6. ‘Farmer John’
7. ‘Mansion on the Hill’
8. ‘Days That Used To Be’
9. ‘Love and Only Love’
10. ‘Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)’
11. ‘Interstate’
12. ‘Don’t Spook The Horse’
13. ‘Box Car’
14. ‘Born To Run’
Weld
1. ‘Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)’
2. ‘Crime in the City’
3. ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’
4. ‘Welfare Mothers’
5. ‘Love to Burn’
6. ‘Cinnamon Girl’
7. ‘Mansion on the Hill’
8. ‘Fuckin’ Up’
9. ‘Cortez the Killer’
10. ‘Powderfinger’
11. ‘Love and Only Love’
12. ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’
13. ‘Like A Hurricane’
14. ‘Farmer John’
15. ‘Tonight’s the Night’
16. ‘Roll Another Number (For The Road)’
Arc
1. ‘Arc (A Compilation Composition)’