It's hard to argue with the tracks included on this single disc collection, and it's really pointless to kvetch about which of your favorite Neil Young tracks got left off. Odds are you have them all anyway. I know I do. My only question is who was this CD compiled for? Obvioulsy his fans already have these songs. And with the most recent song on this disc dating from 1992 ("Harvest Moon"), it's unlikely that the casual fan was waiting twelve years for this to get released.

Longtime fans who bought 1977's DECADE already have all but five of these songs. You know what I'm waiting for? Where's DECADE II and III? [In fact, Young is only three years away from being able to release DECADE IV.]

And shouldn't this have been titled BEST OF instead of GREATEST HITS? Sure, it includes all three of his early-seventies top 40 hits, but it omits other singles that charted in the hot 100 like "When You Dance I Can Really Love," "Walk On" and "Four Strong Winds," among others.

Bottom line, this is a terrific collection of songs with some of Young's most powerful anthems. Five stars for the music, but I would think this is going to have limited appeal for anyone but the neophyte fan.

It is amazing to me how many times record companies and/or the artists themselves manage to screw up a "greatest hits" compilation. Too often are such compilations done to represent the entire career of the artist, regardless whether the artist's biggest hits stem from throughout that career. The "Elton John Greatest Hits 1970-2002" is a good example of that: too many latter day non-greatest hits take up space instead of overlooked real greatest hits.

Neil Young's "Greatest Hits" (16 tracks, 77 min.) thankfully is just that: his truly greatest hits, regardless of how recent or not so recent they are. This results then in a compilation on which only the last 2 songs are are post-1979 (1989's "Rockin' in the Free Workd" and 1992's "Harvest Moon"). In other words, 14 of the 16 songs on here are from 1969-1979. Although one can always argue whether this or that song should've been on here (I'd say that "Comes a Time" belongs on here), the truth is that, for the CASUAL Neil Young fan (if there is such a thing), this "Greatest Hits" CD truly represents his best known songs.

For the not-so-casual Neil Young fan, beware: there is significant overlap between this "Greatest Hits" and the 1977 "Decade" compilation: 10 of the 16 songs on "Greatest Hits" are also found on "Decade". That said, kudos for the audio quality of this CD, which sounds remarkedly better than the "Decade" compilation. "Neil Young Greatest Hits" is an essential CD for any music fan.

Actually, I'd give this CD four and a half stars. The only thing that prevents a five-star review is that any greatest hits of someone as important as Neil Young needs to have 2 CDs to cover all the material the man has produced over the years. Sound quality excellent, and the versions are full-length, as much as ten minutes in the case of 'Cowgirl in the Sand'. Neil Young was one of the seminal singer/songwriters of the sixties and early seventies, and his works capture the era of protest and baby-boomers coming of age. The song selection is good for a single CD. As someone who has most of Young's work on vinyl, I realize that this retrospective is only about half what deserves to be included, but it is a good start, and highly recommended.

Some of these reviewers are just totally missing the point of this release. Yes, these are the same songs we've all heard before and maybe there's no need to go out and buy them again. Well guess what? YOU DON'T HAVE TO BUY IT! Nobody's putting a gun to your head. If you feel that this exercise in career overview cheapens Young's musical achievements, shut yourself in a room and listen to your treasured vinyl copies of "Tonight's The Night" or "On The Beach" or whatever. This release is not for you. It's for casual fans or people who haven't heard any of this music and are curious about checking out some of Neil's songs without having to immediately delve into his extensive back catalogue. I know it's hard for you people to believe that such listeners exist but they are out there. Of course it's better to listen to the albums but a lot of people just don't care enough to bother. This is all they need and want. But what about Decade?? Isn't that a better buy because it is a double CD? Not necessarily. This release has two advantages over Decade:

1) If you are a casual fan, maybe you don't want a whole double CD of songs. Maybe you just want a single disc with most of the major songs covered.

2) The songs on here have been digitally remastered. This is the reason I bought this CD, despite the fact that I own a lot of Neil's albums already. Because, if you haven't noticed, Young's catalogue (along with the Beatles) is one of the most neglected in popular music. We now have SACD's for Dylan and the Stones but you still can't get a basic remastered copy of, say, Tonight's the Night and After the Goldrush. So until Neil or his label get their acts together and get some reissues happening (On the Beach was a good start but we want the lot thanks), this is the best that these songs are going to sound on CD.

Cries of "sell-out" or accusations that Neil is somehow ripping off his fans or degrading his mighty catalogue by releasing this are ridiculous and totally unwarranted. Every great artist should have a single-disc career overview - it is after all, the best way to give people a taste and maybe convert new fans. I think it's great that people might buy this, hear the greatness of songs like "Cinnamon Girl" and "The Needle and The Damage Done" and then be inspired to check out the actual albums.

Apart from all this, this has been very well compiled. Sure, everyone will have favourites missing - hell, I'd love to hear Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown on here, but we all know it was never going to happen! All of the major high points of Neil's career are covered here - while the disc is playing, it really doesn't feel like anything is missing, and that is a testament to the compilers. All in all, it's a perfect introduction for new listeners and a nice summary for fans (and don't forget it's remastered!)

In the fall of 1971, I was introduced to that social contraption called the college party. These always took place in a dorm room or two. Some lights turned off and others turned low--often emitting a soft red glow by the odd shirt or cloth laid over the lamp. Young men and women joked, talked and hooked up. Weed smoked and alcohol flowed. You had to watch out for the dozens of lit cigarettes. And the music played none stop. Stones, Traffic, Moody Blues, McCartney, James Taylor, CSNY and Chicago.

One such party, I came across a beautiful girl with long blond hair sitting down on the floor next to the wall, legs outstretched. I sat next to her and chatted for a long while. "Amy" was outfitted in customary tight blue jeans and black turtleneck. I probably wore the regulation "James Taylor" uniform of jeans and a blue cotton shirt. I offered her a beer but she turned it down for the bottle she had already cracked open. "Amy" then introduced me to the brain numbing pleasures of tequila. The first shot was enough to knock the wind out of you; but it got easier as you went along. I have no idea how much "Amy" and I shared.

Several hours later, I awoke in a dark room in bed with Amy. We were distinctly undressed and I had a vague memory inebriated carnal pairing. Amy woke up, rubbed my arm and then sat up, undisturbed by her nakedness, and lit a cigarette. I stared at her body for a few minutes thinking that I may never see anyone like her this way ever again. Then I thought "what the hell" and sat up next to her. I, too, soon found myself taking drags off a cigarette although I didn't smoke.

Then the opening chords of "Cowgirl in the Sand" passed their way through the walls of the room. Amy laughed a little bit and then went about rolling a joint. She lit it, took a few deep draws and then passed it to me. While proceeding to get stoned, Amy said: "I love Neil. You know, I was a groupie for almost six months last year. Old boyfriend was a roadie and got me on the tour. It was fun. Neil and I got real tight. When it all ended, he wrote this song about me. Me, the "cowgirl". I never rode a horse in my life. But to old Neil I was "Cowgirl".

Later, after a few promises to stay in touch, we threw our clothes on and parted. As in the way of these things, we never got together again. I would see her around. We would talk; but our night was lost the fog of cannabis, tequila and sex.

It was just as well. As we sat in bed together and she told her story of Neil and their brief life on the road I knew it wasn't true. "Cowgirl" couldn't have been written about her because it had been put out on record a full year before her "tour" with Neil. Furthermore, her entire story about the tour was seriously in doubt. Friends said that prior to her arrival at college, Amy never had an unsupervised day in her life.

Once you got past the fiction, you realized that Amy was telling you something deeper about herself. Neil Young has that kind of meaning for people. Long familiarity with his music lets you feel you know him--that he is a fellow traveler with yourself--that he can peer into your soul and understand you. That's why after all the twists and turns people still love him. This is also why many outside the "cult of Young" find him so repellent.

Some will go on to assure the reader that it is not Young they object to so much as the undeserved adulation bestowed upon him. Neil Young is seen by some critics (especially many in the U.K.) as a "failed Dylan successor". While sometimes his lyrics are razor sharp, Young's lines are more likely to meander about nothing in particular. His subject matter is can shift mid-verse and obscure any recognizable human experience. His reedy voice has a narrow range that at times is not all that pleasant and during live performances can frequently wander off pitch. Last but not least, Young's guitar style is particularly limited to what these days we call a raw grunge style that often resorts to his trademark "pterodactyl" mode.

If you are of a particular age and think the emergence of "punk" in the late 1970's was earthshaking and revolutionary--especially if you punch your fist into the air to the "London Calling" battle cry--Neil Young is all a part of that period of American music you don't understand and don't care. Nonetheless, for all assurances to the contrary, many do indeed have an intestinal hatred for Young that in turns can get ugly.

Personally, I think this has all to do with when it comes to Young what you see is what you get--but with each new record you never know what you're going to get. Young himself has never made any great claims to be mysterious and as far as he is concerned it's perfectly okay to ignore him. Just when you think you've got him nailed down, like Huck Finn, he'll "light out for the territory [separate from] the rest". While it is true he is no Bob Dylan, I fail to see why so many thought he was in that race to begin with. As far as being a "guitar slinger", it is true there are better ones in the Rock pantheon--Stephen Stills to name one--nevertheless he has cut out a poignant style you can recognize in a forest of guitar warriors.

Of much greater importance, Young drinks from the spirits and waters of the American/Canadian western prairies for a unique vision all his own. For those for whom America is summed up in New York and L.A., there is little understanding or interest in this part of the country. So there is a lyricism and imagination with deep roots foreign to too many critics.

This present collection is a fair representation of the Young omnibus. It totally neglects Young's work with the Buffalo Springfield and is heavily weighted toward his early solo work. It skips his 1980's period (hey, it wasn't that bad) except for two essential songs and does little better for the 1990's. The two glaring omissions which are essential to any Young "journey through the past" are "Cortez The Killer" and "When You Dance I Can Really Love". The goal was to put out a Young "greatest hits" on one disc; but I would argue that hope was just a bridge too far.

Thinking back to Amy, I am less inclined to think she was a liar than to think part of her soul had Neil Young as that imaginary lover she could turn to who spoke of thoughts and feelings she had no words for. Maybe she should have found her own language and imagination for those poetic realities; but most of us don't have that gift. Mr. Young certainly does.