Neil Young Ditch Trilogy Box Set

It's silly expensive for just four LPs. 

I'm planning on buying it Friday on its release day in the US. I have quite a few NY albums, but as it happens, none of the LPs in the box set. So it is perfect for me. Time Fades Away is rare, and this issue will be limited to 3,500 copies worldwide. I've made plans to get to a record shop when it opens where it will sell for $150, a bit less than the EU price.

Let's just say I had an early release of the box set and the vinyl is in excellent condition, nice, flat and quiet. The music is.... 

I've ordered it for £100. I hope there's no pressing faults.  

I have all 4 albums with an original 1974 copy of On the Beach with the lined sleeve. £118 does seem expensive for re-issues. Good condition originals will sound better and be cheaper even with the premium price for On the Beach

I bought sealed USA first pressings of all the first 4 NY albums, but they're not better than the 1-4 vinyl boxset that came out 5 years ago. 

Are the words "Neil Young" on the front cover of the first album?

I picked up my box set this morning and am currently listening. Paid $154 at a local record shop. The weight of the box set is impressive. The discs each 180 grams. The outer box itself is heavyweight sturdy cardboard and built to last. I made sure to get one without any mars or dings on the outside. It was covered in shrink wrap. Inside there is a layer of bubble wrap on the top and bottom of the box and LPs are not sealed. The jackets are generally high quality, with heavy paper and good quality print. Each has a barcode on the back. The covers are matte finished, with the exception of On The Beach which has a low gloss finish on the outside and the flower wall paper on the inside of the sleeve. The LPs are housed in plastic-lined white paper sleeves and three also have a paper inner sleeve, presumably a reproduction of the original inner. Zuma and On The Beach outer sleeves open on the right and the former has a small poster of lyrics while the latter has lyrics printed on the inner sleeve. Time Fades Away outer sleeve opens at the top and includes a large poster of handwritten lyrics, but no paper inner sleeve reproduction. Tonight's The Night is a gatefold jacket, the front holding a paper inner sleeve with photos on it, the rear the LP. This jacket has the only flaw I've found in the quality of the set; the rear gatefold sleeve is poorly glued and looks destined to fail at some point.

So far I've listened to Zuma and Tonight's The Night. I'm pleased with the SQ. I'd say it has the usual NY sound with a solid bottom end. I think there might be a slight bit more shine to the cymbals and top end than usual, but it's a very pleasing sound overall. Both LPs were quiet, well centered, and Zuma is dead flat. Tonight's The Night has a very slight warp, but nothing that concerns me. Hope to hear the final two LPs soon. I'd say it is a high quality set for both sound and physical presentation, as it should be for $40 an LP. I'm quite an NY fan, but coincidentally happen not to have any of the albums in this set, in any format. So it's not possible for me to compare these pressings directly. Overall, though, I'd say the sound is consistent with other NY LPs I own, including several original issues. I hope to hear what others think.

Hi,

I see from another thread that you have been enjoying the box set.

The Ditch Trilogy + Zuma are from one of my favourite periods of Neil and always takes me back to some great and strange times way back when In Liverpool..... Seems like a lifetime ago......but there again it was!

Richard

Richard,

Yes, it's been a fun evening for me. Just did a quick count and find that I now have 22 NY LPs and 22 CDs and I still have a few more to get. Hard for me to pick a favorite era from NY as I find them all so creative. I guess it's whatever I happen to be listening to at the time. Cheers!

Hi Joerand,

Even though I said one of my favourite periods in fact he has many periods that our my favourite and that is what I like about him...variety along with he just is able to capture something special, a sort of feeling or vibe whether full on with Crazy Horse or alone with his 'old guitar' or ....

And I love the photo of him on TTT...... It was like that back then 

Richard

I am curious did they print the centre labels in Black and White and also scratch Hello Waterface on the lead out grooves Side 1 and Goodbye Waterface on side 2 as the original pressings had?

The original recordings were even more stark and raw than the released version.

As long as we're espousing the virtues of NY I'll elaborate and say that I can understand the concerns of David Geffen for albums like Trans and Landing On Water. But after time, those albums really fit well into the overall creative catalog of NY. He is very folksy, psychedelic, rocks hard, is the godfather of grunge, does the blues, does techno, and is downright country. Not to mention that some of his stuff with Buffalo Springfield was quite progressive for its time. And then there's Weld. All this with a guitar that can be smooth as velvet or choppy as a novice. Wonderful on the keyboards and harp as well. His voice is simultaneously frail yet in command. Throughout any of it though, there is always a genuine, raw energy and synergy with his band that engages the listener with musicality. He's consistently prolific and always strives for the best SQ.

Ewe,

I can revisit the labels tomorrow. For now I recall that On The Beach and Zuma had the familiar (to me) Reprise tan labels with orange "r". TTN had a black embedded label. All have the "ORNY" monogram on them. I don't recall messages in the dead wax. Just a "JM" initial, and interestingly a stamped "P USA". Interesting because I understood that these were pressed by Pallas in Germany.

As far as the raw sound, I did notice that there was a healthy edge and timbre to the sound overall.

The 'Flower wallpaper" lining of On the beach is actually the same as the material on the inside of the umbrella. Neil Young's best solo period 1968-1975.

There is an original version of the album out there that was rejected by Warners/Reprise because of it's darker rawer sound. I have a copy somewhere in the house but haven't played it for many years.

Mine was delivered from Amazon.......without any packing whatsoever! So the box is nicely scuffed and covered in delivery stickers on the front. Great service Amazon, what on earth is going on?

Are you sure it was delivered FROM Amazon, and not a re-seller?  That does seem very unlike Amazon.  They should provide satisfaction when you complain.

It wouldn't have been a reseller as countd received it on the day of release. The same happened to varyat recently if memory serves me right. Amazon corrected their error but it beggars belief that they sent it like that in the first place.

I have had my own trials and tribulations with this box set. My copy had Zuma vinyl in Time Fades Away sleeve. In summary I had 2 vinyl copise of Zuma and no Time Fades Away vinyl!

Also sleeve of Tonight's the Night was falling apart. Anyhow there were no further copies to be had so I sent mine back for a refund. I did do a comparison of On The Beach against my original uk pressing which admittedly is a little crackly and I preferred the reissue. Sounded much better to me. The original sounded thinner and weedier than the reissue. Still I did record what I had to cassette before returning it.

Apologies to varyat, it was in fact apye who had the same problem with Amazon's lack of packaging.

The order came from Amazon.co.uk. A joke. They should sort it out ok, as long as the item is still available.

Hope you get your issues resolved with Amazon. It does seem out of character for them.

An interesting side note on the box set is that mine, bought from a record store, has no edition numbers on it. On the "What are you listening too ....." thread Bishopola noted that his set, bought directly from the NY site, is numbered and was in excellent condition. We are both very happy with the SQ.

Both of us are in the US and our LPs have a "P. USA" stamp in the dead wax. I wonder what folks in the EU have stamped in their dead wax as the set was advertised as being a limited edition of 3,500 pressed by Pallas in Germany.

Richard,

Your NY box looks good.

You should of seen the state of the Bob Dylan mono vinyl box sets i had here a couple of months ago.

Both the first and its replacement were covered in delivery stickers and completely mashed up.

All the LPs in both sets were badly warped so would of had to go back anyway.