Neil Young

Neil Young’s genius was affirmed before the sun ever set on 1967’s fabled Summer of Love. But it took several years before Young escaped the shadow of Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young to unveil his individual mastery. Even so, any veteran Youngian short of a completist will find this hit parade redundant and opt instead for the old Decade double disc. What edifies the casual fan most here is the concise overview of the man’s career and the wide array of sonic soldiers who have marched beside Young over the past three decades — Danny Whitten on “Cinnamon Girl,” David Crosby wailing the blues on “Ohio,” Linda Ronstadt’s return on “Harvest Moon.” Curiously, this collection eschews all Springfield compositions and comes to a dead stop at 1991. Nevertheless, the album makes a perfect road-raging mix in post-election ’04, when rockin’ in the free world is at a premium.