This article was originally published on beingtheremag.com, an independent music and film magazine that ran from 2004 to 2007. It is presented here as part of the Being There Magazine archive.
By Adam Anklewicz | Being There Magazine, April 2005
Crosby, Stills & Nash bring back many memories for me. During my years in high school, I spent a lot of my weekends in downtown Toronto at the now gone Vinyl Museum. I spent a lot of money on cheap used records that helped my vinyl collection grow exponentially.
All of my CSN(Y) records have The Vinyl Museum’s stamps on the inner sleeve. I have listened to Crosby, Stills & Nash, Déjà Vu and CSN over and over. They became a staple of my music collection and an integral part of my life since grade 10.
If you don’t own their first two albums, Crosby, Stills & Nash and Déjà Vu, then all I can say right now is go out and buy them. Literally, right now, go out and buy them. They are two of the best examples of how great 20th century music can be.
“Horror grips us as we watch you die / All we can do is echo your anguished cry / Stare as all human feelings die” is a lyric which has stood in my head for the past ten years from their classic song “Wooden Ships” which can be found on this new CSN compilation entitled Greatest Hits. Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and David Crosby are all amazing songwriters who proved themselves long before Crosby, Stills & Nash was ever a concept in anyone’s head; Crosby, coming from the success with The Byrds, Stills having been in the extremely popular Buffalo Springfield and Nash in the British invasion band The Hollies, who followed closely on the heels of The Beatles.
Greatest Hits however neglects too many things to make it great. It ignores the enormous contributions of Neil Young. Without Neil Young’s amazing “Country Girl” and “Helpless”, Déjà Vu wouldn’t have excelled beyond their first release. The four part harmonies only helped to better the three part harmonies that were so integral to their sound. The other thing missing is acknowledgement that their second album was their peak. Songs like “Shadow Captain” and “See The Changes” should not be on a best of disc. Yes, there are CSN songs post-Déjà Vu which are worthwhile, but they don’t seem to pick them too well.
By 1973 Stephen Stills’ voice went hoarse and started to sound pretty bad. His songwriting seemed to slip down a steep hill. “Southern Cross” and “See The Changes” are terrible examples of what the band was able to do later in their career. The biggest problem on Greatest Hits is in the song selection.
For every three great songs on this CD, there is an average or bad one. Nash’s “Cathedral” is a standout song that gets frequent play. Lyrics such as, “Too many people have died in the name of Christ for anyone to heed the call” has always stuck with me. Crosby’s “Guinevere” is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. Stills’ “Helplessly Hoping” gets me so absorbed in the three part harmonies that I can’t focus on anything else when I listen to that song, and I don’t want to.
Someone new to CSN should start with their self-titled debut. Greatest Hits is really for the fiftysomethings who remember listening to these songs on the radio or never upgraded their vinyl copies to CD. Most of those people will be happy that there is a skip button as they probably don’t know half of the songs.