Number 42

CSN and sometimes Y - the popular side of a difficult artist receives extra attention. Eddie Vedder takes notes.

Continuing my favorite CD countdown, here's Number 42-

Neil Young - Greatest Hits (2004)

Like many non melodic rock artists, I got into Neil Young a little late. Around 2004 to be exact, when this set came out. Before then, I considered Young to be a country rock singer with a bad voice. But the one-two punch of this Greatest Hits set combined with seeing him perform live a year later at a Bridge School Benefit made me a fan. Suddently, I could appreciate his "ragged glory". His music had character and an individual sense of life to it.

Greatest Hits covers most of Young's best known songs. The classic rockers "Cinammon Girl", "Like A Hurricane" and "Rockin In The Free World" are all here. Guitar heavy work outs like "Ohio" sit comfortably along folk rock adult contemporary such as "Heart of Gold" or "Only Love Can Break Your Heart".

The excellent "Comes A Time" folk ballad makes a welcome appearance. The songs are uniformly good, the only knock I can give to Greatest Hits is that it tries to chart his career over a broad period of time. It fails on this front, Young's career was varied with many wrongheaded side trips and is best known for his early 70's work that is emphasized here. If Greatest Hits was all the Young you had, you'd think Young took most of the 80's off.

Taken as a sampler, Greatest Hits is very effective. Many of Young's most popular colors-acerbic with harsh guitars, wistful with acoustic guitars, political outrage and personal reconciliation all are here. Neil Young will always be considered a rock and roll rarity-the hippie from the country with the worldliness and intelligence to be more than his influences.