Record Reviews

CROSBY, STILLS & NASH ~ CSN ATLANTIC 075678265020 (Barcode: 075678265020) ~ USA ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 1976 - 1977 Released: 1994 This is the second studio album by the iconic Classic Rock trio Crosby, Stills & NashFind albums by this artist. During the eight years that separate the trio´s eponymous debut album and this sophomore release the trio members were involved in the quartet Crosby, Stills, Nash & YoungFind albums by this artist recordings, solo recordings and the Crosby & NashFind albums by this artist duo recordings among other activities, but did not manage to record together as a trio, which of course caused this album to be highly anticipated at the time. Assisted by a plethora of guest musicians like drummers Joe VitaleFind albums by this artist and Russell KunkelFind albums by this artist, keyboardists Craig DoergeFind albums by this artist and Michael FinniganFind albums by this artist, bassist George PerryFind albums by this artist and even including a string section, the trio managed to produce twelve splendid new songs, three by David CrosbyFind albums by this artist, five by Stephen StillsFind albums by this artist and four by Graham NashFind albums by this artist, which stand up to the level of the material included on the legendary debut album. The music is characterized by the usual amazing vocal harmonies, great melodies and superb instrumental work, creating an instant classic, which in retrospect turned out to be the trio´s all time best selling album, outselling even the legendary debut. Mature and more experienced, the trio members might have lost some of their spontaneity and edge, but definitely gained finesse and sensitivity, and most importantly depth. The lyrics remain powerful and meaningful, and are an integral part of the overall artistic delivery. The four songs by Nash turn out to be the strongest songs on the album, especially so the epic "Cathedral", which is probably his strongest song written after leaving the Hollies. But all the songs on this album are up to par with the usual standard expected from these great Artists. In historical perspective this album sadly remains overshadowed by the early work of the trio and the fact that it was released at the time when Classic Rock was being pushed out by other (then) contemporary musical trends, which in time led to the annihilation of Rock Music at large. For the fans and connoisseurs of the trio´s recorded works, this album is an absolute must of course.

Updated: 25/01/2019Posted: 25/01/2019

CD 1 Remastered Recommend To A Friend

CROSBY, STILLS & NASH ~ LIVE IN L.A. IMMORTAL 8712177052240 (Barcode: 8712177052240) ~ USA ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 1982 Released: 2007 This is a little known, although seemingly perfectly legal live album by the iconic Classic Rock group Crosby, Stills & NashFind albums by this artist recorded during their 1982 tour which promoted their third studio album "Daylight AgainFind albums with this title". They were accompanied by a great band which included guitarist Michael StergisFind albums by this artist, keyboardists Michael FinniganFind albums by this artist and James Newton HowardFind albums by this artist, bassist George PerryFind albums by this artist, drummer Joe VitaleFind albums by this artist and percussionist Efrain ToroFind albums by this artist. The shows were taped and filmed for a TV special on the Thanksgiving Day weekend in November 1982 at the New Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, CA and later released as a home video also entitled "Daylight Again". This 2CD album originates from the audio recordings and presents twenty one songs. Some of the songs included here were also included on the Crosby, Stills & Nash first formal live album "AlliesFind albums with this title" released in 1983. The trio and the band are in superb form and go through the material included on their three albums as well as material recorded by the Crosby & Nash duo and their solo albums. The superb vocal harmonies and excellent instrumental work turn this album into a classic display of the combined talents of these superbly gifted musicians that sounds as good decades later as it did at the time of its recording. Some of the songs included here don´t exist in live versions on any other recording by the group. In retrospect it is a wonderful document of the Crosby, Stills & Nash musical ingenuity, which has almost no equals in quality and class among their musical cohorts over the decades. With superb sound quality, top notch material and brilliant performances this album is a breeze of fresh air among contemporary clatter which is considered music by some people. Wholeheartedly recommended!

Updated: 19/01/2019Posted: 19/01/2019

CD 2 Digipak Recommend To A Friend

CROSBY, STILLS & NASH ~ LIVE IT UP ATLANTIC 075678210723 (Barcode: 075678210723) ~ USA ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 1989 - 1990 Released: 1990 This is the fourth studio album by the iconic Classic Rock trio Crosby, Stills & NashFind albums by this artist. This album started as a Crosby & NashFind albums by this artist project, which than evolved into a trio album with Stephen StillsFind albums by this artist. Assisted by a plethora of guest musicians, like keyboardist Craig DoergeFind albums by this artist, bassist Bob GlaubFind albums by this artist, drummer Joe VitaleFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Branford MarsalisFind albums by this artist and others, the trio managed to produce ten splendid new songs, mostly co-written by the trio members, members of the band and other musicians / friends. Although poorly received both by the critics and the fans at the time, the music is characterized by the usual amazing vocal harmonies, great melodies and superb instrumental work, which is as good as anything they recorded earlier. The 1980s production techniques, synthesized sounds and other atrocities of the time are definitely present, hindering the intrinsic beauty of the music, but to be fair they can be discarded and ignored, certainly in a retrospective glimpse. Perhaps the trio members could have stuck to the acoustic approach and Classic Rock aesthetics, but if they did, they would have been accused of being outdated. You can´t win with the critics. In historical perspective this album sadly remains overshadowed by the early work of the trio and the fact that it was released at the time when Classic Rock was being pushed out by other (then) contemporary musical trends, which in time led to the annihilation of Rock Music at large. For the true fans and connoisseurs of the trio´s recorded works, this album is an absolute must of course.

Updated: 14/02/2019Posted: 14/02/2019

CD 1 Recommend To A Friend

CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG ~ AMERICAN DREAM ATLANTIC 075678188824 (Barcode: 075678188824) ~ USA ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 1988 Released: 1988 This is the second studio album by the iconic Classic Rock group Crosby, Stills, Nash & YoungFind albums by this artist. The four singers / songwriters are supported by bassist Bob GlaubFind albums by this artist, drummer Joe VitaleFind albums by this artist, percussionist Joe LalaFind albums by this artist and several other guests. The album presents fourteen original songs, recorded over a period of several months in 1988 an written or co-written by the group members and the musicians playing on the album, with Neil YoungFind albums by this artist being involved in writing half of the songs on the album. Personal conflicts, ego wars and genuine problems prevented Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young from fulfilling their tremendous potential and the fact that they managed to record only three studio albums is a travesty. "American DreamFind albums with this title" is a truly prophetic title, since the two decades that separate the recording of this album from their groundbreaking debut "Déjà VuFind albums with this title" not only changed the worldwide music scene but also marked the shattering of the America Dream in every aspect: political, social, moral and intellectual. The days of Freedom and Hope were gone and the bleak reality took over. If any other group wrote and recorded these fourteen songs they would have been considered as excellent, but sadly in comparison to their glorious past these songs, which also suffered from the 1980s production malady, sound somewhat pale and underachieved, which gave both the critics and even the faithful fans plenty of opportunity to bitch bitterly. To be fair, in retrospect the album is not that bad at all, surely not in comparison to what passes as music these days. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young did not loose their ability to compose superb melodies, write meaningful lyrics and sing sublime vocal harmonies, which can all be found on this album. If not for the somewhat muddy sound and dreadful synthesizers the album sounds quite nice and surprisingly stands the test of time relatively well, especially so the two David CrosbyFind albums by this artist songs, which are up to par with his usual classics. Overall this is perhaps not the greatest recording by these iconic musicians, but definitely an album worth to be remembered and re-visited periodically, making sure it is not forgotten.

Updated: 19/01/2019Posted: 19/01/2019

CD 1 Recommend To A Friend

CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG ~ LOOKING FORWARD REPRISE 093624743620 (Barcode: 093624743620) ~ USA ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 1997 - 1999 Released: 1999 This is the third (and so far the last) studio album by the iconic Classic Rock group Crosby, Stills, Nash & YoungFind albums by this artist. The album was initially planned as the next Crosby, Stills & NashFind albums by this artist album, but at a later stage Young joined the trio and contributed his playing and material to turn this into a bona fide quartet album. The four singers / songwriters are supported by keyboardist Michael FinniganFind albums by this artist, bassist Donald DunnFind albums by this artist, drummer Joe VitaleFind albums by this artist, percussionist Joe LalaFind albums by this artist and several other guests. The album presents twelve songs, recorded over a period of almost three years between 1997 and 1999, all bar one written or co-written by the group members, with David CrosbyFind albums by this artist contributing two songs, Stephen StillsFind albums by this artist three songs, Graham NashFind albums by this artist two songs and Neil YoungFind albums by this artist four songs. The last song was written by guitarist Denny SarokinFind albums by this artist, who also plays on the album. Personal conflicts, ego wars and genuine problems prevented Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young from fulfilling their tremendous potential and the fact that they managed to record only three studio albums is a travesty. "Looking Forward" sadly did not become prophetic as far as the quartet was concerned, although they did play several tours as a quartet in the years that followed. If any other group wrote and recorded these twelve songs they would have been considered as excellent, but sadly in comparison to their glorious past these songs, which also suffered from the uneven production, sound somewhat pale and underachieved, which gave both the critics and even the faithful fans plenty of opportunity to bitch bitterly, although it performed better in the charts than its predecessor "American DreamFind albums with this title". To be fair, in retrospect the album is not that bad at all, surely not in comparison to what passes as music these days. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young did not loose their ability to compose superb melodies, write meaningful lyrics and sing sublime vocal harmonies, which can all be found on this album. The album sounds quite nice and surprisingly stands the test of time relatively well, especially so the David Crosby and Graham Nash songs, which are up to par with their usual classics. Overall this is perhaps not the greatest recording by these iconic musicians, but definitely an album worth to be remembered and re-visited periodically, making sure it is not forgotten.

Updated: 02/02/2019Posted: 02/02/2019

CD 1 HDCD Recommend To A Friend

GRAHAM NASH ~ EARTH & SKY MAGIC 3700139305003 (Barcode: 3700139305003) ~ UK ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 1979 Released: 2001 This is the third solo album by British singer / songwriter Graham NashFind albums by this artist, one of the greatest Classic Rock icons of all times. Nash maintained a more or less steady solo career in parallel to his activity as a member of Crosby & NashFind albums by this artist, Crosby, Stills & NashFind albums by this artist and Crosby, Stills, Nash & YoungFind albums by this artist. The album presents ten original songs, all written (music and lyrics) by Nash with one song co-written with American singer / songwriter / multi-instrumentalist Joe VitaleFind albums by this artist, who also plays on the album. The numerous musicians who took part in recording of the album include also bassist Tim DrummondFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Craig DoergeFind albums by this artist and guitarist David LindleyFind albums by this artist. David CrosbyFind albums by this artist plays guitar on one tune and sings backing vocals on two and Stephen StillFind albums by this artist plays guitar on one tune. The album offers an excellent collection of typical Nash songs, based on wonderful melodic motifs and supported by intelligent and often politically oriented lyrics. The superb team of musicians creates a wonderful example of Classic Rock atmosphere, which by the time this album was released was almost completely abandoned by the music scene. The album is full of excellent instrumental performances and superb soloing, in addition to heartwrenching lead vocal parts by Nash himself. In retrospect this is one of the strongest solo efforts by Nash and the fact that it is almost completely forgotten these days is a crying shame. It serves as a closing chapter of the 1970s for Nash´s solo career, which except for the relatively less important mid 1980s album "Innocent Eyes" will have to wake for more than a coupe of decades to flourish again. For the many Nash fans, this forgotten gem is definitely worth to be revisited, although it is not easy to be found. Listening to it almost four decades after it was released was a joyful experience for me, which I recommend to all Classic Rock fans. They don´t make music like this any more and since the mold is almost lost, let´s keep this music alive as long as we can!

Updated: 18/11/2018Posted: 18/11/2018

CD 1 Remastered Recommend To A Friend

GRAHAM NASH ~ SONGS FOR SURVIVORS ARTEMIS 5099750850022 (Barcode: 5099750850022) ~ UK ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 2000 Released: 2002 This is the fifth solo album by British singer / songwriter Graham NashFind albums by this artist, one of the greatest Classic Rock icons of all times. Nash maintained a more or less steady solo career in parallel to his activity as a member of Crosby & NashFind albums by this artist, Crosby, Stills & NashFind albums by this artist and Crosby, Stills, Nash & YoungFind albums by this artist and with this album, released after sixteen long years of silence, he enters the new Millennium with rejuvenated powers. The album presents ten original songs, most written (music and lyrics) by him or co-written with long time collaborators like drummer Russell KunkelFind albums by this artist (who also plays on the album and co-produced it), Joe VitaleFind albums by this artist and others. Other players include keyboardist Matt RollingFind albums by this artist, bassist Viktor KraussFind albums by this artist, guitarists Dan DugmoreFind albums by this artist, Steve FarrisFind albums by this artist and Dean ParksFind albums by this artist and percussionist Lenny CastroFind albums by this artist. David CrosbyFind albums by this artist and Sydney ForestFind albums by this artist sing vocal harmonies. The songs are all absolutely exquisite and mark a glorious return of Nash´s personal songwriting style as defined three decades earlier. Combined with superb instrumental work and excellent production and sound, this album is an instant classic, as was his debut album. Nash proves again that his "Englishness" prevails and his unique song weaving talent remains as strong as ever, paralleled but just a few of his peers. The songs are mostly very introspective, lyrical and melancholic, with elegant and refined acoustic accompaniment, which is his natural habitat. The fact that the release of this album slipped almost completely under the radar, unnoticed by the critics and the fans alike, is nothing short of criminal and as usually completely tasteless. Nash and his troubadour friends still manage to produce some of the best Classic Rock the human race is capable of, and the fact that our generation is slowly dying off is of course part of the natural process of Culture disappearing, but as long as we still are able to hear great music, we should definitely let others know about it. For all the numerous fans of Nash and his music, which missed this album at the time of its release, please do yourself a favor and grab a copy, although these are not easily available any more. You are in for a huge and delightful surprise and are about to hear Nash at his very best. Wholeheartedly recommended!

Updated: 18/11/2018Posted: 18/11/2018

CD 1 Recommend To A Friend

STEPHEN STILLS ~ LIVE AT SHEPHERD`S BUSH RHINO 081227984694 (Barcode: 081227984694) ~ USA ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 2008 Released: 2009 In 2015 I had the immense pleasure to catch a concert by Crosby, Stills & NashFind albums by this artist in Rome, which turned out to be one of the greatest musical experiences of my late life. It proved to me that talent knows no age limits and true Art overcomes the hurdles old age places in front of us all. For almost three hours Crosby, Stills & Nash took me back to the heyday of my youth via a music propelled time machine. I wept and laughed, sung along and joined the four thousand strong crowd in an ecstasy of nostalgia, but also in a feeling of togetherness that I can only remember as far back as the Woodstock days, where Crosby, Stills & Nash played their first gig together. This album presents a solo concert by Stephen StillsFind albums by this artist, captured in 2008, which presents his life spanning career as a singer / songwriter from his early days with Buffalo SpringfieldFind albums by this artist, via Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young), ManassasFind albums by this artist and his other endeavors. The concert includes fourteen songs, split into two sets: an acoustic and an electric set. The first set presents Stills completely solo just singing and playing his acoustic guitar, while the second set presents him playing the electric guitar and supported by keyboardist Todd CaldwellFind albums by this artist, bassist Kenny PassarelliFind albums by this artist and drummer Joe VitaleFind albums by this artist, all three also singing vocal harmonies. Stills wrote ten and co-wrote one (with Graham Nash) of the songs present here and three are by other songwriters. The album also includes a DVD with the same material. Albums like these are often criticized by critics as nothing more than a "dinosaur experience", with the artists performing just crowd-pleasers and basically riding on waves of nostalgia. This album is nothing of the sort. Yes Stills performs some of his material that has gained him his legendary status, but he also proves that he is completely relevant today and his music simply does not expire with time. In fact there are very few contemporary music acts that can stand up to such artists as Stills, both as far as vitality and surely quality is concerned. For the hordes of Stills fans (we are dying but we are still here) this is a must of course, but younger music lovers should also find this interesting, provided of course they have the ability to distinguish between music and the bullshit the media is brainwashing them with. I hope to catch these heroes of my youth live on stage again, even if I have to do it in a wheelchair.

Updated: 29/10/2016Posted: 29/10/2016

CD+DVD 2 Mini-Sleeve Recommend To A Friend

STEPHEN STILLS ~ LIVE IN CONCERT ROX VOX 1006 (Barcode: 5292317100626) ~ USA ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 1976 - 1977 Released: 2015 This is a live recording of two concerts by the iconic American singer / multi-instrumentalist / songwriter Stephen StillsFind albums by this artist, which were originally broadcast by the legendary radio show King Biscuit Flower Hour. The concerts were recorded just three months one after the other (October 1976 and January 1977), the first of which was recorded completely solo and the second in a trio setting with bassist George PerryFind albums by this artist and drummer Joe VitaleFind albums by this artist. Together the album presents nineteen songs, most of which were written by Stills, spanning his entire career to date and including material from the Buffalo SpringfieldFind albums by this artist, Crosby, Stills, Nash & YoungFind albums by this artist and his solo albums. The music showcases the extraordinary qualities of Stills as a singer, brilliant guitarist and of course seminal songwriter. These performances are significantly different from other available recordings of this material and therefore should be highly interesting to the many Stills fans and considering the fine sound quality of this material, it is absolutely worth investigating. It seems Stills is largely underappreciated and somewhat forgotten today, which is a great pity as in retrospect he surely is one of the brightest stars of American Classic Rock – and don´t you forget it! Side Note Obiterdictum Ltd, a company based in Cyprus (oh well you know the story… copyright laws and legal issues) releases mostly live recorded radio broadcasts from the 1960s on and offers an amazing source of music which was never officially released by some of the best Classic Rock and Jazz artists. The catalogue offers five hundred releases, which is an absolute treasure chest of music history, often appearing for the first time. Although the sound quality and sometimes also music quality range from absolutely brilliant to pretty poor, most of the material is surely listenable, especially after being remastered recently, and more importantly offers music which is not available elsewhere. The company releases the albums under several sub-labels: Air CutsFind albums on this label, EchoesFind albums on this label, Hi HatFind albums on this label, HotspurFind albums on this label, InterferenceFind albums on this label, KeyholeFind albums on this label, KlondikeFind albums on this label, Live On VinylFind albums on this label, London CallingFind albums on this label, OrbitFind albums on this label, Rox VoxFind albums on this label and Sound StageFind albums on this label. There is no ironclad logic as to what material appears on which label, except perhaps some internal considerations by the Obiterdictum owners. Approach with caution, but keep in mind that some of these releases are absolutely brilliant!

Updated: 24/05/2019Posted: 24/05/2019

CD 1 Remastered Recommend To A Friend