It may be hard to believe, but 2004's Greatest Hits is not only the first retrospective Neil Young has released since 1977's Decade, it's the first ever single-disc collection of his best-known songs. That's a span of 27 years separating the two collections, which is an awful long time to resist a Greatest Hits disc -- many of his peers succumbed, offering countless comps during those years -- and such a resistance to a compilation may not be much a surprise from the legendarily prickly Young, but what is a surprise is that 11 of the 16 songs on Greatest Hits were also on Decade. Of the five songs that were not on Decade, only two date from after the '70s -- 1989's "Rockin' in the Free World" and 1992's "Harvest Moon" -- while one of the remaining three (1970's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart") comes from the time chronicled on Decade; the other two, 1978's "Comes a Time" and 1979's "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)," arrived in the two years of the '70s not covered on the 1977 compilation. All this means is that Greatest Hits offers the basic canon, with no frills and none of Neil's trademark idiosyncrasy. Some may miss that cantankerous spirit, pointing out that this contains nothing from his towering twin masterpieces of dark introspection -- Tonight's the Night and On the Beach -- or that there's nothing from Buffalo Springfield (which was covered on Decade) and that noteworthy songs like "Powderfinger," "Cortez the Killer," "Lotta Love," and "Long May You Run" are missing. Ultimately, that doesn't matter much, because Greatest Hits has all the songs that every Neil Young fan, from the devoted to the casual listener, agrees are his biggest and best: "Down by the River," "Cinnamon Girl," "Helpless," "After the Gold Rush," "Southern Man," "Ohio," "The Needle and the Damage Done," "Old Man," "Heart of Gold," "Like a Hurricane." And that's why it works as an all-business introduction for the uninitiated and as a concise summary for those not willing to travel down all the long, winding roads Young has traveled over the years. In other words, it's as good a compilation as it could have been. [Greatest Hits was released in several editions. In addition to the basic single CD, there was a limited edition containing a DVD video with the promo clips for "Rockin' in the Free World" and "Harvest Moon." There was another limited edition with a bonus 7" record. Finally, it was also released as a high-resolution DVD Audio disc.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Stephanie Woolf (Group Member), Virginia Christensen (Group Member), Tim Mulligan (Mastering), Linda Ronstadt (Vocal Harmony), Marvin Chantry (Group Member), Frank "Poncho" Sampedro (Guitar (Electric)), Gary Burden (Design), Rebecca Lynch (Strings), Martha McCrory (Group Member), Roy Christensen (Group Member), Lawrence Lasson (Strings), Dallas Taylor (Drums), Maryanna Harvin (Strings), J.J. Cale (Vocals), Joel Bernstein (Cover Photo), Neil Young (Guitar (Acoustic)), Volume Dealers (Producer), Danny Whitten (Guitar (Electric)), Niko Bolas (Engineer), Maryanna Harvin (Group Member), David Briggs (Engineer), Crosby, David & Graham Nash (Vocals), Carole Walker (Group Member), Karl Himmel (Group Member), Nils Lofgren (Guitar), Rita Fey (Group Member), Stephen Stills (Piano), Rebecca Lynch (Group Member), Tim Mulligan (Producer), Bucky Barrett (Group Member), Billy Talbot (Guitar (Bass)), Kenneth A. Buttrey (Drums), Andy McMahon (Piano), Gary Burden (Art Direction), David Briggs (Producer), Carl Gorodetzky (Strings), Spooner Oldham (Piano), J.J. Cale (Guitar (Electric)), Sheldon Kurland (Strings), Graham Nash (Vocals), Neil Young (Harmonica), Linda Ronstadt (Vocals), Henry Lewy (Audio Production), Spooner Oldham (Organ), John Hausman (Assistant Engineer), Roy Christensen (Strings), Henry Lewy (Producer), Martha McCrory (Strings), Tim Drummond (?), Grant Boatwright (Group Member), Lawrence Lasson (Group Member), Gary VanOsdale (Group Member), Neil Young (Audio Production), Nicolette Larson (Vocals), Harry Sitam (Engineer), Tim Mulligan (Engineer), Graham Nash (Guitar (Acoustic)), Nils Lofgren (Piano), Ben Keith (Keyboards), Virginia Christensen (Strings), Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (Audio Production), Ben Keith (Pedal Steel), Stephanie Woolf (Strings), Tim Drummond (Bass), Chuck Cochran (String Arrangements), Teddy Irwin (Guitar), Calvin Samuels (Bass), Ralph Molina (Vocals), Ralph Molina (Drums), Farrell Morris (Group Member), Neil Young (Producer), Vic Jordan (Group Member), Jerry Shook (Guitar (Acoustic)), Joe Osborne (Bass), Karl Himmel (Drums), Rufus Thibodeaux (Group Member), Stephen Stills (Guitar (Electric)), Stephen Stills (Vocals), Dale Sellers (Group Member), Bill Halverson (Engineer), James Taylor (Banjo), Neil Young (String Arrangements), Frank "Poncho" Sampedro (Guitar), Frank "Poncho" Sampedro (?), Elliot Roberts (Director), Danny Whitten (Vocals), Bucky Barrett (Guitar (Acoustic)), David Briggs (Audio Production), Larry Harvin (Group Member), Grant Boatwright (Guitar (Acoustic)), Frank "Poncho" Sampedro (Vocals), Johnny Christopher (Group Member), Carl Gorodetzky (Group Member), George Kosmola (Strings), Billy Talbot (Vocals), Ben Keith (Group Member), Marvin Chantry (Strings), Ben Keith (Guitar (Steel)), Jenice Heo (Art Direction), James Taylor (Vocals (Background)), Larry Harvin (Strings), Henry Saskowski (Engineer), Billy Talbot (Bass), Kendall Pacios (Producer), Bill Peterson (Flugelhorn), Joe Osborne (Group Member), Rick Rosas (Bass), Dale Sellers (Guitar (Acoustic)), Danny Hilley (Assistant), Gary VanOsdale (Strings), Elliot Mazer (Producer), Neil Young (Guitar), Neil Young (Vocals), Jerry Shook (Group Member), George Binkley III (Strings), Neil Young (Guitar (Electric)), Gone With The Wind Orchestra (Performer), John Nowland (Digital Transfers), Niko Bolas (Producer), David McKinley (Engineer), Rufus Thibodeaux (Fiddle), George Kosmola (Group Member), Vic Jordan (Guitar (Acoustic)), Linda Ronstadt (Vocals (Background)), James Taylor (Vocals), Elliot Mazer (Engineer), Chad Cromwell (Drums), David Hewitt (Engineer), Greg Reeves (Bass), Johnny Christopher (Guitar (Acoustic)), Steve Gibson (Guitar (Acoustic)), J.J. Cale (Group Member), Ben Keith (Producer), John Nowland (Engineer), Crosby, David & Graham Nash (Guitar (Electric)), Henry Lewy (Engineer), Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (Producer), Sheldon Kurland (Group Member), John Barbata (Drums), Rita Fey (Autoharp), Carole Walker (Strings), Farrell Morris (Percussion), George Binkley III (Group Member), Spooner Oldham (Group Member), Neil Young (Piano)
