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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: Warner Bros UK
Salesrank: 108481
Released: August 11, 2003 |
| Our Price: $5.49 |
| Used Price: $5.99 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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On the Beach Track Listing:
1. Walk On
2. See the Sky About to Rain
3. Revolution Blues
4. For the Turnstiles
5. Vampire Blues
6. On the Beach
7. Motion Pictures
8. Ambulance Blues
Editorial Review:
Sparse, underproduced, and at times downright dour, On the Beach was Neil Young's first studio album after Harvest had transformed him into a mainstream superstar two years before. It was a career move akin to "pissin' in the wind," as the artist himself describes life on one of the album's most famous lines. Young had already recorded the harrowing Tonight's the Night, his indictment of '60s drug culture and the damage done, but his label rejected it as too abrasive. So the artist gave them this instead. Less mournful but still haunting, the album is basically Young's rejection of rock stardom and what had become of the counterculture, covering a range of subjects, including Richard Nixon and Patty Hearst (the epic "Ambulance Blues"), his affair with actress Carrie Snodgrass ("Motion Pictures"), and, most famously, years before it became "chic" to do so, Charles Manson (the rocking "Revolution Blues"). "Vampire Blues," meanwhile, seemed to be about all those topics, as well as Young himself. Full of despair and little hope, On the Beach would nevertheless eventually come to be reappraised as a rock culture masterpiece. --Bill Holdship
On the Beach Reviews:
Great Sound Quality! Poor Cardboard Sleeve Design! Classic Young! 
2007-06-17 - This is one of the better Neil Young albums of his earlier, "brooding" years and contains some of his best-written tracks as well. The last track, "Ambulance Blues", is an object lesson in great, poetic lyric-writing. No weak tracks here and like classic albums should, the track order seems to be perfectly chosen. "Walk On" is my favourite song here and is the perfect track to kick off this album just as "Ambulance Blues" is the perfect one to end it.
Anyone who has heard "Decade" can tell you that the Young catalog is long overdue a major remastering job; this album though has been very well remastered for a surprisingly good sound quality throughout. The only downer is the quality of the mini-lp replica sleeve a.k.a. mlps design. It's well known that the Japanese have been for a long time and still are the masters at this sort of design and even Rhino in their Replica series have resorted wisely to outsourcing the sleeve design to Japan while retaining the remastering of the content. Perhaps our friends from the EU should consider doing the same. The cardboard is thin and flimsy and clumsily put together here and a lack of a plastic inner sleeve (all Japanese versions have one) makes it very difficult to keep the disc scratch-free.
If the poor execution of the mlps doesn't bother you then this is actually great value for money given the price and the vastly improved sound quality of this album is a real treat. This leaves me waiting and hoping our friends in Japan will get around to remastering and issuing an mlps version of "Decade", "Harvest", "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere" and "After the Gold Rush" in the manner that they are so adept at doing.
In the meantime, this EU version will have to do as the best-sounding version of "On the Beach" that is out there albeit not the best mlps designed one.
Recommended on quality of content and sound but not on implementation of design.
a-typical, but sensational Neil Young product 
2006-02-08 - To discover this album was a truly amazing experience. I like the sound of this album, every instrument has it's place and every song has must space left to be filled in by your imagination. Also I like Neil using the complete register of his voice (not so much of the high tones, like "After the goldrush"). The lyrics.....everything is just right and you never seem to catch the full mystery of this album. All reasons to listen to it again and again.
This cd was well worth the wait......!!!!
2003-08-31 - In my opinion this is Neil Young's best recording ever. The remastering of this disc brings forth every note (and then some) that I remember as a young teenager when this album was first released. This imported limited edition contains a replica of the original album cover, the original record sleeve and also has the same multi-colored floral design inside the album cover. If you liked this album before, then you'll love the cd version even more. If you're a fan then you won't be disappointed.
