A vinyl only album, and it’ll stay that way if Neil Young has anything to do with it.
It’s a live album that Neil Young fans treasure, if they’ve actually been able to get their hands on a copy of it. Rolling Stone has listed it at #37 on their list of the 50 Greatest Live Albums of All Time. But Neil Young feels differently about it:
My least favorite record is Time Fades Away. I felt like a product, and I had this band of all-star musicians that couldn’t even look at each other. It was a total joke.
So, he has a bad association with the record. Stirs up the memories of a friend’s drug overdose death, severe back pain, and a backing band that couldn’t stand one another. It makes sense that this album, out of all albums in his vast catalog, would be his least favorite. Neil aborted the album’s release on compact disc, and while he’s alive, it seems unlikely it’ll be released digitally either. It may have been ignored upon its initial release, but critics and fans alike praise the album.
Director Cameron Crowe also loves the album, and even paid tribute to it in Almost Famous with the shot seen below (around the 35 second mark) which recreates the album cover. If you watch the movie, keep an eye open for this quick shot, because as the lights go down, just before it goes black, the man with the long hair thrusts his fist in the air to further resemble the Time Fades Away cover without completely ripping it off.
One of the best songs from this vinyl only album is “L.A.”; one of the three brand new songs that have only been released on this album. Check it out below. If you’re curious enough to try to find this album, there are copies on eBay ranging in price from $10 to $200
