Neil Young Archives on Blu-ray: June 2

BREAKING NEWS: At a SXSW panel on the Neil Young Archives, manager Elliot Roberts announced that the first volume of the long, long-awaited project will indeed appear on June 2. Of course, previously announced release dates have come and gone — but this time, as they say, it's for real. In fact, actual packages (not mockups) were shown at the panel.

Roberts was joined by Larry Johnson, director of Neil's Shakey Films, and Ola Lutjens, creative director of MX Production, the San Francisco company that devised the Blu-ray platform for the Archives.

Yes, Vol. 1 — covering the years 1963 to 1972 — will be released on 10 Blu-ray Discs. It will also be available on 10 DVDs or as a set of 8 CDs.

But Blu-ray's the thing here, and at their SXSW panel, the trio of Roberts, Johnson, and Lutjens dazzled the audience with a preview of the set, playing discs on a PS3. The wealth of material is even more than we could have imagined. Trust me.

As of now, you can preorder Vol. 1 from neilyoung.com, where you'll also find a personal message from Neil on why you should buy the Blu-ray version.

S&V will have in-depth coverage of this important project in print and online, so stay tuned.

— Ken Richardson

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