For all the albums Neil Young has released throughout his prolific career, there is—to the best of my knowledge—only one that has never seen release on compact disc. That would be Journey Through The Past, the 1972 soundtrack to a film that was not particularly well received. (The film finally saw release through Young’s Archives, Volume 1 box set—and, no, I haven’t seen it.)
What also served essentially as the first retrospective of Young’s still-nascent career serves less as an exclamation point for what he had accomplished in such a short time, than as a question mark in terms of just what this was supposed to represent. Musically, it could be considered to accurately represent Young’s career—both to that point and in the future—as a hodgepodge of different styles, some of which conflict each other.
There’s no denying this collection contains some good music. The two Buffalo Springfield cuts, “For What It’s Worth/Mr. Soul” and “Rock & Roll Woman,” culled from live television appearances, showcase just how hot that band burned before they crashed to the ground like a phoenix. Similarly, the inclusion of two tracks of works in progress, “Alabama” and “Words,” pre-dated the inevitable box sets that included every time an artist farted in front of an open microphone. Hearing “Alabama” take shape with vocal harmonies is fairly interesting, while “Words” seems to stretch on a little long past its freshness date.
Now, maybe I’m confused because I’ve never seen the accompanying movie, but the inclusion of two tracks from The Tony & Susan Alamo Christian Foundation Orchestra & Chorus (as well as a discussion Young had with someone on “Relativity Invitation”)—well, it just doesn’t really jibe with the image of Young. (Of course, I could be completely wrong... but seeing Neil doesn’t return my calls anymore, we’ll never know.) The musical selections “Handel’s Messiah” and “King Of Kings” (the latter composed by Miklos Rozsa) are not unpleasant. They’re just not what one would expect to hear on a Neil Young album—especially when Young himself doesn’t play or sing on them. (The same argument could be made for the cover of Brian Wilson’s “Let’s Go Away For A While”... though it could just be that these tracks were part of the film, and their inclusion could easily be explained that way.)
As for the tracks featuring Young? Some inclusions make sense, such as “Ohio” and “Southern Man”—that is, work he was well known for. And, you could argue that adding in songs like “Soldier” and “Are You Ready For The Country” served as reminding listeners that Young was more than what one heard on the radio. But, strong cases can be made for replacing a few of these with some of his better-known songs like “Cinnamon Girl.”
In the end, Journey Through The Past ends up being spotty with its song inclusion and overall performances. Is it an unpleasant experience? No... but it’s hardly one that you would consider casting it in the light of being a must-own album. (The key word here is “album”; unless you opted for the eight-track or reel to reel, an old vinyl copy will be the only way you can listen to this one.) But Young was always an artist who followed his own nose, and not the ass of another lemming, even if—especially if—doing so hurt his commercial credibility. In that regard, perhaps Young knew exactly what he was doing with this particular album. If that’s what made him happy, all the better... but don’t go into this one expecting to hear a greatest hits collection.