Random Review 2011 #2 Crosby Stills & Nash - Greatest Hits

Column 2 Shelf 12 CD1 (C2S12CD1) Brings me to Crosby Stills & Nash Greatest Hits. so here is what I know about the collective. Graham Nash was in The Hollies, David Crosby has been in jail, for drugs or fireman offences, (or both), he has donated sperm to Melissa Etheridge (she may turn up in this column in the future) to have 2 children, and they have all recorded solo and also as CSNY, the Y being Neil Young.

So they you go that is the abridged gossip relating to the album but I'm sure that I could write a book on the life and times of these 3 guys (and I suspect many have) but lets talk about the music.

After getting into Neil Young In started to read about the Californian music scene of the 1970's specifically what was know as the Lauren Canyon scene which included The Eagles, Neil Young, and Joni Mitchell among others.

Prior to buying this the CD I didn't think I would know any of the tracks but I suspect unless you haven't had a TV set for the last 10 years you will have heard Our House www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZtJWJe_K_w as it was used for some building society advert in order to encourage us to switch mortgages or run madly into their offices with a wheel barrow of cash!

What you get on this CD is 19 tracks from 4 albums, the most famous of which is Deja Vu. Checking the CD insert it's notable that most of the tracks are written by one of the individuals and only a couple of tracks are co-written. They share lead vocals however this doesn't disjoint the album as all the songs share the beautiful harmonies that these guys were famous for. The track Guinnevere sounds like Midlake or I should say that Midlake sound a lot like the track Guinnevere, as the track out dates Midlake by some 25 years or more, but the medieval melodies are very similar. The quality of the songs is very high and you get the feeling that these guys really enjoyed what they were doing. Marrakesh Express seems to be one of the more popular tunes but it's Suite: Judy Blues Eyes that opens the CD that really gets me, a stunning 6.30 minutes of pure magic.

If you like The Eagles there will be lots to like here and also Crowded House fans might enjoy this.

Marks 8/10