It goes without saying that the songs on Sugar Mountain: Live at Canterbury House 1968, the latest entry in Neil Young’s long-delayed Archives series, are fantastic. Just beginning his solo career, the then-23-year-old songwriter draws heavily on songs he wrote for Buffalo Springfield, the super-group in reverse that launched the careers of both Young and Stephen Stills, and features a number of songs that would go on to be fan favourites in Young’s long career.

It’s also no surprise that the performance is exceedingly strong. Young had learned to play to large crowds during Buffalo Springfield’s mid-’60s heydey, but he’d also cut his teeth in folk clubs in Winnipeg, and he splits the difference at Canterbury house. Armed with just an acoustic guitar and his already haunting voice, Young comes across as exceedingly confident when he’s playing, but restless and energetic the rest of the time. Much of Sugar Mountain is given to long, rambling “raps” on topics from his love for classic cars to the futility of trying to stay in tune during a stadium rock show. These impromptu monologues are occasionally frustrating, but they show Young finding his footing as a solo performer, trying to balance his quickly rising fame with a personality not suited to his larger-than-life stature.

Just because Sugar Mountain features few surprises, though, doesn’t mean it isn’t worthwhile. Young has become such a legendary figure in Canadian music that it’s easy to forget he was once just a normal guy trying to establish himself in an already-booming folk-rock scene. The album’s minimal arrangements, off-the-cuff atmosphere and reliance on material from Young’s previous group all combine into a portrait of the artist not as the old man he always resembled, but as a quiet young guy with a one-of-a-kind voice, and a quickly growing collection of killer songs.