Another year, another new twist in the saga of Neil Young’s long-in-the-works "Archives" series.
The multi-disc first volume of the project, which has shifted release dates countless times in the past two years, was most recently scheduled to arrive Feb. 19. But Young told Billboard last week that a new technological twist is responsible for the latest delay.
"I know it’s in technical production now, but it’s only coming out on Blu-ray and DVD," he said during an interview at the Sundance Film Festival, where he and his Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young bandmates unveiled their "Deja Vu" documentary. "There won’t be CDs. Technology has caught up to what the concept was in the first place [and] how we’re able to actually present it. But there’s no doubt it will come out this year."
That’s right: no CDs, a format Young has long despised due to its audio limitations. Instead, Young is utilizing DVD capabilities to present an interactive "time line" for the music, allowing users to experience articles and film clips from a song’s given era as well as ephemera like lyric sheets.
"Archives" appeared closer than ever to release in October, when Young’s new studio album, "Chrome Dreams," was bundled at select retail outlets with a bonus CD with a song from "Live at the Riverboat." That collection, which will appear in "Archives," chronicles a week’s worth of concerts taped in Toronto shortly after Buffalo Springfield split.
Source Billboard
