CSN

「新生」CSNによる77年傑作が24KT GOLD CDでリイシュー!! ファーストから8年の歳月を経て、77年デュオとして活動を続けていたCROSBYとNASHのステージにSTILLSが飛び入り参加したことがきっかけで3人は遂に再結成、JOE VITALE、TIM DRUMMOND、MIKE FINNEGAN、RUSS KUNKEL、RAY BARRETTOといったそれぞれのバックミュージシャンが参加した豪華な編成で届けられたオトナのウェストコーストロック名盤。C&NのサポートメンバーだったCRAIG DOERGEによる軽快な冒頭"SHADOW CAPTAIN"、大ヒットしたNASHのアコースティック・マスターピース"JUST A SONG BEFORE I GO"、FMラジオ・フェイヴァリットなSTILLSのダミ声とハーモニーが心地よい"SEE THE CHANGES"など、3人が代わる代わるリードを取りながらいかにもCS&Nらしいメロディとコーラスを展開し、確かな再出発を印象付けました。

The times had certainly changed since Deja Vu's release in 1970. Nevertheless, there was a hunger in audiences for a return to the harmony-soaked idealism with which the trio had been catapulted to popularity, and CSN consequently reached number two on the charts, behind Fleetwood Mac's megasuccessful Rumours. The music here is very good, though probably not up to the hard-to-match level of Crosby, Stills & Nash or Deja Vu. Still, the songs showed a great deal of lyrical maturity and compositional complexity compared to those earlier albums (from a far more innocent time). "Just a Song Before I Go" was the latest of Graham Nash's radio-friendly acoustic numbers, and a Top Ten single. "See the Changes" and "Dark Star" ranked with the best of Stephen Stills' work, while David Crosby contributed three classics from his distinctive oeuvre: "Shadow Captain," "Anything at All," and the beautiful "In My Dreams." Nash's multi-part "Cathedral," a recollection of an acid trip taken in Winchester Cathedral on his 32nd birthday, became a staple of the group's live repertoire. CSN was the trio's last fully realized album, and also the last recording on which the three principals handled all the vocal parts without the sweetening of additional voices. It has held up remarkably well, both as a memento of its time and as a thoroughly enjoyable musical work. ~ Jim Newsom|