Review Summary: Excellent album and dignified ending to very productive and succesful decade for these three talented and influential musicians
After the success of ‘69’s “Crosby, Stills & Nash” and the classic 1970 album “Déj* Vu” with Neil Young, the “supergroup” fell apart with every member focussing on solo or duo efforts. This was the start of a very successful string of albums consisting of Crosby’s “Ïf I Could Only Cemember My Name”, Nash’s “”Songs for Beginners” and Stills’ self titled debut album. Neil Young released the classic “After The Goldrush” album, marking the beginning of his most creatively successful period ever. The rest of the early 70’s continued in the same vein with various albums being released by group members in different formations, including (now) classic albums such as “Harvest” by Young, “Manassas” by Stills’ band by the same name and “Wind On The Water” by the Crosby-Nash collaboration.
1974 finally brought Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young together again on stage for an ambitious stadium tour (only to be officially released on a 3 cd box set in 2014), but following this monster project the band members went their separate ways again.
In late 1976 however, Crosby, Stills and Nash reconvened to record their third proper album, “CSN”, released in the following year.
The times had changed from the beginning of the decade; The mood had shifted away from the hippie, summer of love vibe and the band members had gained tons of personal and musical experience in the very successful and busy years that had passed since then.
Lyrically on this album the men are more down to earth than on their former (CSN/Y-) albums, probably the result of relationships gone sour, friends dying from drugs and other excesses of the world of fame and fortune.
In fashion with contemporaries like The Eagles, REO Speedwagon and Fleetwood Mac the sound on the album is polished, well produced, almost “soft-rock”-ish, but a sound nonetheless that fits the music very well.
And the music is strong as ever. Crosby as always delivers the darkest and most melancholy songs (“Shadow Captain, “Anything at All” and “In My Dreams”).
Some of the Stills compositions are more rocking than what the trio ever produced (e.g. “ Fair Game”, “Dark Star”) but there’s also quieter Stills material here (“See The Changes”, “I Give You Give Blind”). Nash gives his all on this album with the beautiful “Carried Away” and “Just A Song Before I Go”. He also delivers a very out of style (read; not country) composition called “Cathedral”, a beautiful song in two parts supposedly based on an acid trip in Winchester Cathedral. Being one of the highlights of the album the song would soon become a live staple of the band.
Not every song on the album is memorable though but overall the track list is very solid with no “Teach Your Children” low point here, but no “Country Girl” masterpiece either, the latter maybe in part due to Young’s absence on this album.
“CSN” can be seen as the end of a very successful decade for it’s members and although it wasn’t quite produced at their respective creative peaks, the album is still testament to the enormous talents of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash.
