Best Neil Young Vinyl Recordings


Tough to find.

TIA

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I played both After The Goldfrush and On The Beach LPs last evening, both sounded good to me.

Clean OGs are tough today. Harvest, cut by Lee Hulko, is outstanding, even more than a decade ago, finding a quiet copy wasn't easy. There is a more recent Bellman recut that is popular and was cheap when issued. My preference for sound is the Hulko though (I probably went through more than half a dozen copies to find a quiet one). 

After the Gold Rush- the early ones had a remix on one track. RE-2 in the dead wax. The earlier cut was much harder to find even back in the day in clean, quiet condition. I do have the Greatest Hits (I think pressed for Classic, I'd have to check) and it sounds different than the tracks from the original albums. Brighter, moments of sibilance and my systems do not sound analytical or bright. 

Zuma is one that doesn't get as much mainstream attention- it's "dirty" in the distorted sense. Have no idea of market for an OG now. It's a great rocker album though. 

Massey Hall is a no brainer. Beautiful performance- acoustic, and previewing a lot of stuff that became famous, extremely good sounding recording.

I forget all the NY I have- I wasn't a big fan back in the day, but the bug bit me in the early oughts, and you could then find records, if you took some care, that were in excellent condition without "pay for a hostage" pricing. 

FWIW, I'm not an OG always guy- I will often compare various pressings, though these days, given grading and price inflation, I don't do that so much. Good luck on your NY quest. He is worth exploring. SHF has a ton of stuff about the pressings if you dig into the early threads. 

I have Landing on Water on Quiex vinyl. Sounds great and it was recorded with the drummer up front in the mix.

The mix reminds me of The POLICE album Ghost In The Machine where Stewart Copland is up front in the mix.

When Neil was with Geffen the promo albums were recorded on Quiex vinyl. I have Trans,Old Ways,Neil Young and The Shocking Pinks and Landing on Water on Quiex.