The Best and the Worst
How can an album as important as this one be allowed to remain in it's current state of "not yet remastered" disrepair? Forcrisake, every other chunk of trite music out there from the 70's and 80's has been remastered. Either Neil is going to launch the mother of all box sets, or someone has just gotten very lazy.

The worst fidelity in my collection of 2,000+ CDs
The music would be a fine introduction to early Neil Young, but the fidelity sounds like an old car radio playing through your friend Larry's coat. Every track that is available elsewhere sounds better elsewhere. (Compare "Like a Hurricane" on this album to the one on "American Stars n Bars," which is HDCD in standard release.) If you simply must have some of the oddball cuts it doesn't look like you have much choice. Actually, the smart thing to do would be to wait until Young's back catalogue gets the audiophile treatment.

Ten golden years
Spanning Neil Young's career form 1966 to 1976 (and leaving no stone unturned), Decade is an epic collection of songs, a glorious encapsulation of one of the greatest discographies ever recorded. As an introduction to the wonderful world of Neil, it can't be beat; every one of the eclectic artist's passions is on full display here, from the apocalyptic electric guitar workouts of "Down By The River" and "Cowgirl In The Sand" to the soul-shaking folk introspection of "Old Man" and "Heart Of Gold." As such, every facet of Young's genius can be found somewhere on this record. One listen to the artist's lopsided, circuitous evolution, from the acid-dream folk rock of his early days with Buffalo Springfield to his tenure as the surreally bitter poet laureate of the post-Vietnam era, should convince anybody that Neil Young was a unique and compelling artist, an inspired madman howling from a dark and gorgeous dream world.

Ahem. The music found herein is simply fantastic. These two discs are saturated with masterpieces. Aside from the aforementioned tracks, we've got dreamweaving classics such as "Expecting To Fly" and "Broken Arrow," as well as the tortured sonic soundscape of "Cortez The Killer." The spooked psych-soul of "The Old Laughing Lady" slams headlong into the crunching rock anthem "Cinnamon Girl," birthing the tortured outrage of "Southern Man" and "Ohio" in the process. And then there's the quiet apocalypse of "After The Gold Rush," the mournful haze of "Sugar Mountain," the raw sting of "The Needle And The Damage Done," and the mangled death funk of "Tonight's The Night (Part 1)." Sure, these songs (most of them, anyway) can be found on albums that you should already have (such as Harvest, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, and Tonight's The Night), but Decade is still a worthy purchase for the simple reason that before you buy it, "Like A Hurricane" and "Campaigner" won't be in your collection. After you buy it, they will be. Plus, collection or not, its sounds great to listen to these 35 songs in this order.

Decade Review
There are songs on this album that I don't have on any of the many Neil Young albums I have. This was the greatest decade of Neil's career. I love every single album and song he came out with at that time. Even Time Fades Away, which Neil himself doesn't like.

Amazing After All These Years
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3GU0T8QV9TD5Q I've liked Neil Young and his music for almost 40 years. I couldn't like him anymore than I always have, but I like his music now more than ever. There are songs I like now that in the past I got deathly tired of, that I was indifferent to, and that I actively disliked.

Hopefully this video will give you an idea of how I feel about his music. Check out my website via my profile to see more samples of JumpRock and see how easily I think you can learn to do the same. Nothing to buy and no lessons - it's all there for free - I'm just promoting myself and my ideas about exercise and motivation.

I haven't noticed any volume problems on the lp or cd or the samples playable here. Don't know about the import.

There are still times when I'm listening to Launchcast and I think "Who's this clown?", and I turn to skip it, and it's Neil Young, so I stop and listen. (Qualifier - That's not a criticism - Neil Young can start in the most discordant place imaginable and bring out the melody and make the most awkward phrasings work by extending a syllable or whatever in a way that doesn't seem feasible until you hear it. But sometime when it first catches me off guard - I don't think - hey, that's Neil Young - I just hear the discord.). Anytime it's Neil Young, you should do the same. You may still not like it, but maybe you just haven't heard it enough times or for enough years.