Hi Ibba, thanks for the "out of the box" comment that helped liven up the discussion, thanks also to ajeje's wonderful contribution. Obviously, I don't share your opinion: I don't think "on the beach" is a secondary episode, nor do I believe it lacks the variety, inspiration, and melodies of the previous albums, and my point of view is clear in the review. Music is an art, not a science, and as such, there is certainly no absolute truth in anyone's pocket, so I gladly read what you wrote. However, I would like to delve into some "clues" you brought up to support your thesis.
1) Poor reviews. The album received mediocre reviews, just like the other albums of the "cursed trilogy." This was largely due to the shortsightedness of the critics, whose most authoritative members expected Young to churn out another "Harvest" (some even compared him to John Denver, my god...) or to return with CSN. This album was misunderstood: Young had already launched himself beyond the darkness of the seventies when everyone thought they were still living in a golden age: a path of painful yet necessary artistic and human regeneration, which Neil would later describe in the lyrics of "the thrasher" (on "Rust never sleeps"). Time is famously a gentleman, and today the critical evaluations of this album have radically changed.
2) Poor sales. This is a corollary of the previous point: if the critics didn't understand the album, imagine the audience, accustomed to the sweet melodies of "Harvest" and the intoxicating good vibes of CSNY. There's a bootleg from 1974 where Young plays the album in its entirety: while performing "Ambulance blues," you can hear the audience's voices, bored and irritated, only to suddenly wake up, laughing, when Neil finally says, "You're all just pissing in the wind."
3) The late CD reissue. Here we enter the realm of Neil's peculiarities: for years he didn't want to reissue it simply because it was too personal, too tied to an unrepeatable period. Then again, Neil has always done things his way with reissues: even "American stars n bars," which contains the famous "Like a hurricane" and the delightful "Will to love," wasn't released on CD until 2003. Go figure, Neil...
4) The fact that he doesn't play it live: same as above. Many of the pieces from "On the beach," besides being painful, are too tied to the context of the era. Take "Revolution blues," which Neil dedicated to Charles Manson at a concert in the catastrophic 80s: it would truly sound anachronistic to play it now. Or "motion pictures," the requiem of his love story with Carrie Snodgress. Neil also plays very few tracks from "harvest," an album he partly detests precisely for the unmanageable success it brought him. In his concert in Brescia in 2001, which many consider his best ever in Italy, he didn't play a single piece from his most famous album in over two and a half hours! I completely agree with you when you say that OTB "can only be appreciated by those who already know and love Neil Young": to those who want to discover Neil, I always recommend "Ektin," "after the gold rush," "Zuma," or "Rust never sleeps": more visible and appreciable facets of the Neil Young moon, but not for that reason inherently superior to "On the beach" or "tonight's the night." Cheers!
