Neil Young's OFFICIAL RELEASE SERIES VOLUME 5 is a stunning collection of four albums that begins with the exciting renaissance that came with the release of FREEDOM in 1989, and continues on the unequaled exploration of collections RAGGED GLORY (1990), WELD (1991) and ARC (1991). In many ways, it is a musical travelogue of how Young saw the future and opened up creative worlds for the use of sound and originality which had not been used before.
The OFFICIAL RELEASE SERIES VOLUME 5 is available as a vinyl box set of the original four albums on 9 vinyl LPs and the 4 CD releases now issued on 6 CDs. Like all the reissues in this series, the albums are remastered from the best source available--original analog tape in the case of Ragged Glory. For the four albums in the series, this is the first time they have been remastered for vinyl. The CD of Ragged Glory has also been remastered.
The vinyl and CD box sets are numbered, and the LPs are pressed on 180-gram vinyl. The vinyl box for the four albums is in a telescoping box, and the CDs are in a slipcase.
In Neil Young's extensive career, this period of music came at a definite turning point. The 1990s were almost ready to start, and Young had recently returned to his long-time home at Reprise Records. It definitely appeared to be a joyous and jubilant moment for the man who had recently celebrated the 21-year anniversary of a solo career that had never stopped progressing. The first album in VOLUME 5 is aptly named FREEDOM, and includes the song "Rockin' in the Free World."
RAGGED GLORY (1990) was a non-stop celebration for the music Neil Young & Crazy Horse are still creating at full force, and was recorded at Young's Broken Arrow Ranch in Northern California. The 10-song original album is expanded for this re-issue with 4 rare tracks. “Interstate” and “Don’t Spook The Horse” were both B-sides to singles. “Box Car” and the 12 minute “Born To Run” are both previously unreleased versions. The 4 additional songs have resulted with the album expanded to 3 LPs and 2 CDs.
WELD (1991) is one of the most groundbreaking albums of Neil Young's history. It's a live album recorded with Crazy Horse after the release of RAGGED GLORY. It was from a wildly creative period of the band's history, and as Neil Young has often done, gave notice that he was a rock & roll originator who could never be second-guessed.
ARC (1991) is the live companion collection to WELD, and at the time generated the kind of musical notoriety that has often marked Young's creations. ARC is a 35-minute outburst of feedback, improvisation, guitar solos and vocal fragments. This marks the album's first release on vinyl.
FREEDOM
- Rockin’ In The Free World (Live Acoustic)
- Crime In The City (Sixty to Zero Part 1)
- Don’t Cry
- Hangin’ On A Limb
- Eldorado
- The Ways of Love
- Someday
- On Broadway
- Wrecking Ball
- No More
- Too Far Gone
- Rockin’ In The Free World (Electric)
RAGGED GLORY – Smell The Horse
- Country Home
- White Line
- Fuckin’ Up
- Over and Over
- Love to Burn
- Farmer John
- Mansion on the Hill
- Days That Used To Be
- Love and Only Love
- Mother Earth (National Anthem)
- Interstate
- Don’t Spook The Horse
- Box Car
- Born To Run
WELD
- Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)
- Crime in the City
- Blowin’ in the Wind
- Welfare Mothers
- Love to Burn
- Cinnamon Girl
- Mansion on the Hill
- Fuckin’ Up
- Cortez the Killer
- Powderfinger
- Love and Only Love
- Rockin’ in the Free World
- Like A Hurricane
- Farmer John
- Tonight’s the Night
- Roll Another Number
ARC
1. Arc (A Compilation Composition)