Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Deja Vu

David Crosby - It's All Coming Back To Me Now… (1994) {Atlantic}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 420 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 160 Mb
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© 1994 Atlantic Records | 82620-2
Rock / Folk Rock / Pop / Soft Rock

Recorded December 7, 1993, at the Whisky-a-Go-Go in Hollywood, CA, this is a David Crosby live album and a good representation of his solo concert performances. In fact, it's a little better than usual since Crosby is joined by singers Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes and his old partner Graham Nash. Crosby splits the 71-minute set just about evenly between more recent solo efforts – including two newly written songs – and faithful renditions of favorites from his Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young days. Inadvertently, the set list serves to confirm that the latter represents his best work, while at the same time songs like "Long Time Gone" and "Wooden Ships" have been heard so often in studio and live performances that there isn't much reason to have additional recordings of them. The album's chief virtue is in the expression of Crosby's personality, but there isn't enough of that. So, while these are often spirited performances, they don't add to our understanding of the artist the way a live album should.

In the 15 months between the release of Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere and After the Gold Rush, Neil Young issued a series of recordings in different styles that could have prepared his listeners for the differences between the two LPs. His two compositions on the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album Déjà Vu, "Helpless" and "Country Girl," returned him to the folk and country styles he had pursued before delving into the hard rock of Everybody Knows; two other singles, "Sugar Mountain" and "Oh, Lonesome Me," also emphasized those roots. But "Ohio," a CSNY single, rocked as hard as anything on the second album. After the Gold Rush was recorded with the aid of Nils Lofgren, a 17-year-old unknown whose piano was a major instrument, turning one of the few real rockers, "Southern Man" (which had unsparing protest lyrics typical of Phil Ochs), into a more stately effort than anything on the previous album and giving a classic tone to the title track, a mystical ballad that featured some of Young's most imaginative lyrics and became one of his most memorable songs. But much of After the Gold Rush consisted of country-folk love songs, which consolidated the audience Young had earned through his tours and recordings with CSNY; its dark yet hopeful tone matched the tenor of the times in 1970, making it one of the definitive singer/songwriter albums, and it has remained among Young's major achievements.

In the 15 months between the release of Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere and After the Gold Rush, Neil Young issued a series of recordings in different styles that could have prepared his listeners for the differences between the two LPs. His two compositions on the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album Déjà Vu, "Helpless" and "Country Girl," returned him to the folk and country styles he had pursued before delving into the hard rock of Everybody Knows; two other singles, "Sugar Mountain" and "Oh, Lonesome Me," also emphasized those roots…

Picking our list of the Top 100 '70s Rock Albums was no easy task, if only because that period boasted such sheer diversity. The decade saw rock branch into a series of intriguing new subgenres, beginning, at the dawn of the '70s, with heavy metal. Singer-songwriters came into their own; country-rock flourished. The era ended with the revitalizing energy of punk and New Wave. No list would be complete without climbing onto every one of those limbs. Here are the Top 100 '70s Rock Albums, presented chronologically from the start of the decade.

Picking our list of the Top 100 '70s Rock Albums was no easy task, if only because that period boasted such sheer diversity. The decade saw rock branch into a series of intriguing new subgenres, beginning, at the dawn of the '70s, with heavy metal. Singer-songwriters came into their own; country-rock flourished. The era ended with the revitalizing energy of punk and New Wave. No list would be complete without climbing onto every one of those limbs. Here are the Top 100 '70s Rock Albums, presented chronologically from the start of the decade.

‘I had the ambitious plan to release three albums this year: a Morricone-esque soundtrack, a triphop record, and a collection of poppy funky songs. I started writing with that goal in mind. But Luka Cruysberghs, our new 17-year-old singer, considered me an old-fashioned relic. She recommended the Spotify approach: select the best tracks from each record, and subsequently create our own playlist. I initially had my doubts and reservations. Then again: ‘Déjà Vu’ by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young is still one of favourite albums of all time, and that’s a mish-mash of styles and genres too. ‘Deja Vu’ is an eclectic mix of four talented songwriters, with the voice being the glue that keeps it all together. I felt like making a more coherent album as the follow-up to ‘In Wonderland’, but I had to agree that Hooverphonic is defined by said variation. I’m a big fan of heterogeneous albums myself. One and the same vibe can become quite boring while listening.’

"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005. The lists presented were compiled based on votes from selected rock musicians, critics, and industry figures, and predominantly feature British and American music from the 1960s and 1970s. From 2007 onwards, the magazine published similarly titled lists in other countries around the world.

On the positively baked Gentle Spirit, from 2011, Jonathan Wilson offered a stellar update of the early-'70s Laurel Canyon sound. For Fanfare, he is obviously inspired by the production techniques of that decade on both sides of the Atlantic. This is one of the most delightfully ornamented recordings to come down the pipe in quite some time. Its sound is so warm and inviting, it almost proves a distraction from the songs. Wilson's guest list is impressive: David Crosby, Graham Nash, Jackson Browne, Benmont Tench, Mike Campbell, and others contribute…