Jim the Oldbie
My right elbow hurts.
With all the hoo-hah over Neil's fancy new music player, I haven't paid much attention to the other half of the concept, the PonoMusic download service. But today I read this mention here on QQ (thanks 'atrocity'!) of not only the service but the fact that Neil's elusive classic, Time Fades Away, was available for download there!
Full disclosure: This will always be my favorite Neil Young album. I've worn out at least 2 copies of it on vinyl. It was released right smack in the middle of my high school years, and it has become part of my DNA. Every autumn, right around Halloween as the leaves are falling, I am compelled for reasons I can't even recall anymore to put this one into heavy rotation for a couple of weeks, then let it rest again until next year when the ritual repeats, as it has pretty much without fail for the last 40-some years. What I'm trying to say is, I really really like this album a lot...
<ahem> Anyway. I'm happy to report that the download from PonoMusic sounds great.
By now, most Neil fans know the story of this recording. It was mastered direct-to-disc using an early automated mixing console, so no official stereo master tapes were ever made. Because of this, any proper reissue would require an actual remix from the original 16-track master. Sadly, for reasons known and unknown, Neil just never really seemed to like this record very much (and it is his music after all); so it just didn't happen. Until now.
How's it compare? The HDCD was pretty compressed, so there's really no contest there. But this version is much clearer and more dynamic than even any vinyl copy I've ever heard. It's really never sounded like this. You can crank it right the hell on up, and it will take you right to the show.
I do need to complain a bit about the PonoMusic service itself. The site requires that you download & install the "PonoMusicWorld app" (or whatever it's called), which turns out to be an audio-only, marketing-slathered version of JRiver Media Center, which beside the fact that I already have JRiver installed (Grr!), is wa-ay too much screwing around just to download some tunes. Also, I personally don't believe the hype about this insane 192K sample rate stuff. I'm convinced the night-and-day difference here is due to the long-deserved proper remix & remaster that this music has finally received. Hell, my audio rig resamples everything to 96K on the fly anyway, and it still sounds like Neil & the boys are right here in the living room. It's just wonderful.
If you love this album half as much as I do, you want to hear this. I know, twenty bucks is still twenty bucks; but you know this one is special. As for me, I'm going to enjoy it one more time tonight - then save it until autumn rolls around again.
-- Jim
Full disclosure: This will always be my favorite Neil Young album. I've worn out at least 2 copies of it on vinyl. It was released right smack in the middle of my high school years, and it has become part of my DNA. Every autumn, right around Halloween as the leaves are falling, I am compelled for reasons I can't even recall anymore to put this one into heavy rotation for a couple of weeks, then let it rest again until next year when the ritual repeats, as it has pretty much without fail for the last 40-some years. What I'm trying to say is, I really really like this album a lot...
<ahem> Anyway. I'm happy to report that the download from PonoMusic sounds great.
By now, most Neil fans know the story of this recording. It was mastered direct-to-disc using an early automated mixing console, so no official stereo master tapes were ever made. Because of this, any proper reissue would require an actual remix from the original 16-track master. Sadly, for reasons known and unknown, Neil just never really seemed to like this record very much (and it is his music after all); so it just didn't happen. Until now.
How's it compare? The HDCD was pretty compressed, so there's really no contest there. But this version is much clearer and more dynamic than even any vinyl copy I've ever heard. It's really never sounded like this. You can crank it right the hell on up, and it will take you right to the show.
I do need to complain a bit about the PonoMusic service itself. The site requires that you download & install the "PonoMusicWorld app" (or whatever it's called), which turns out to be an audio-only, marketing-slathered version of JRiver Media Center, which beside the fact that I already have JRiver installed (Grr!), is wa-ay too much screwing around just to download some tunes. Also, I personally don't believe the hype about this insane 192K sample rate stuff. I'm convinced the night-and-day difference here is due to the long-deserved proper remix & remaster that this music has finally received. Hell, my audio rig resamples everything to 96K on the fly anyway, and it still sounds like Neil & the boys are right here in the living room. It's just wonderful.
If you love this album half as much as I do, you want to hear this. I know, twenty bucks is still twenty bucks; but you know this one is special. As for me, I'm going to enjoy it one more time tonight - then save it until autumn rolls around again.
-- Jim
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