Back in August, Neil Young said he was going to open his online archives. Today, the site went live, and it includes almost everything Young has recorded over the past five decades.

You really do need to check it out.

This is big news – not just because Young is one of the best and most prolific singer-songwriters of the rock 'n' roll era, but also because Young is notorious for starting projects without completing them. Back in 2009, he released the long-awaited first volume of his career-spanning archive sets, The Archives Vol. 1 1963–1972, an 11-disc box that was first announced in the '90s. There's still no word on when, or if, subsequent volumes will ever come out.

Young has also recorded and shelved many albums over the years. Just a few months ago he released Hitchhiker, an acoustic album that he recorded in 1976 and which sat unreleased for more than 30 years. Dig deep in the new Neil Young Archives online, and you'll find a list of a dozen unreleased albums that span 1969 through 2001, though none of them seem to be accessible right now. But based on some of their titles – 1974's Homegrown, Chrome Dreams from 1976 and a live album from 1973 with Crazy Horse – some long-lost gems are among the future offerings.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/neil-young-archives-online/

http://www.neilyoungarchives.com/#/?_k=7wxd4o