Decade

The first stop for anybody new to Neil Young's music, this 34-song set (originally released in 1977) traces his growth from Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young to Crazy Horse to his Harvest band, the Stray Gators. The album defined Young to rock radio the way Hot Rocks determined which Rolling Stones songs would become classics, but this is more than a quickie greatest-hits collection. Rarities and hits - Springfield's Mr. Soul, CSNY's Ohio, and Young's Cinnamon Girl, Heart of Gold, and the closing Long May You Run - develop in thematic and chronological patterns.