Neil Young fans have been waiting years for the release of Archives, the long promised box-set containing selections from the myriad studio outtakes and concert recordings the prolific writer/performer has stashed away during his five-decade-spanning career. Billboard.com previously reported the set would be released Feb. 19. Then the date was pushed back.

The latest twist? The irascible Young refuses to issue Archives on CD.

From Billboard.com:

"I know it's in technical production now, but it's only coming out on Blu-ray and DVD," [Young] said during an interview at the Sundance Film Festival, where he and his Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young bandmates unveiled their Deja Vu documentary. "There won't be CDs. Technology has caught up to what the concept was in the first place [and] how we're able to actually present it. But there's no doubt it will come out this year."

Come on, Neil. It's great that you're finally forking over the goods but box-sets make for great listening during a long drive — something made impossible if only issued on Blu-ray and DVD. Plus, what about listeners being able to download the music onto computers and iPods? No one wants to pay $100 (just guessing on the price) for music that can only be appreciated in your living room.

More from Billboard.com on the box-set's content:

Archives appeared closer than ever to release in October, when Young's new studio album, Chrome Dreams, was bundled at select retail outlets with a bonus CD with a song from Live at the Riverboat. That collection, which will appear in Archives, chronicles a week's worth of concerts taped in Toronto shortly after Buffalo Springfield split.

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The package is also expected to include the previously released concert sets Live at the Fillmore East and Live at Massey Hall. The remainder will feature material cut with Young's early Canadian band the Squires, recordings from the period during which he lived in Topanga Canyon, Calif., and scores of previously unreleased studio tracks.

Not thrilled about Live at the Fillmore East and Live at Massey Hall being repackaged — they're both excellent but what Young fan interested in Archives didn't already acquire those discs? On balance, still sounds interesting, though. I'm just hoping that between now and Archives' release date someone will talk Young into authorizing a CD or digital version of this highly anticipated treasure chest offering.

This article appears in Jan 30 – Feb 5, 2008.