Déjà Vu
by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

They have built upon the foundations they laid down on their debut release and created a fantastic blend of folk and rock that sounds so great to listen to. Not only have the original trio improved upon their performances and song writing they have also added the powerhouse that is Neil Young whose voice adds an additional edge to the music. He really shines on Helpless and makes it probably my favourite song on the record. Every song brings something to the album as well which makes it a very consistent listen as there is quality on display at all times. The music flies by as it is just so smooth and has this togetherness feel that makes you never lose interest in the record and there is just so much to love on here. Overall, this is one of the greatest folk rock albums ever made which has 4 of the greatest artists in the genre coming together to create something very special. (Edited)

Crosby, Stills & Nash released their first album very succesful in 1969, and in 1970 with the addition of Neil Young they were ready to release a second album, "Deja Vu".

The three original members were all experienced songwriters and great singers, and with Neil Young on top of the hat, it could hardly go wrong; and It did not.

All four members contribute two songs each. Moreover, the two old friends from Buffalo Springfield, Stills and Young together wrote the finale number, "Everybody I Love You". Finall they recorded a cover-version of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock" . The Woodstock Festival was an event the four members took an active part in.

There is a lot to go for on this album, not least the beautiful harmony vocal arrangements. The songwriting is also of very high class. Both Nash's contributions are among the best he has written, "Our House" is great and "Teach Your Children" has probably already become a classic, covered by several other artists

Both Neil Young's songs are also very fine - in particular the very moving to "Helpless".

Still's upbeat "Carry On" is a perfect opening number. A complex composition that shows many different facets of the group. His quiet acoustic "4 and 20" is a sweet little song and one of the simplest on the album.

I've always had it a bit difficult with David Crosby's songs. They often seem somewhat convoluted. "Almost Cut My Hair" is a blues-like number, very well arranged, but with corny hippie-like lyrics. The titletrack is more unconventional - again with a somewhat pretentious lyrics.

The closing-track "Everybody I Love You" - sounds much like a Steve Stills number, almost as good as the opening-track.

"Woodstock" is probably the most rocking song on the album - strong but perhaps not as interesting as the group's own original songs.

From calsper 03/25/2015 00:45 | #137737 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

F A N T A S T I C .

flat out one of my favorite albums of all time.

The production and songwriting is so good on this - they spend more than 1000 hours recording this pearl (Edited)

One of the few successuful super-groups, BEA underrates this massively, only 15th best album of 1970 is harsh especially when neil young's solo album is n°1 this is quite strange. Anyway ultimately, who cares. (Edited)

From paladisiac TOP 100 COMMENTER 12/08/2011 22:38 | #32319 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Fine, layered harmonies atop warm acoustic guitars drenched in thick, rich songwriting. Folk music or not, this is some good stuff. There's also some inflections of southern rock ("almost cut my hair") and country ("teach your children") that inject variety on music that was pretty good by itself. They could've been the first hippies with song titles like "woodstock", "almost cut my hair" and "country girl". "helpless", a down-trodden sing-along, sounds like prime, top-of-his-game neil young. almost all tunes are folk-rock killers. The rapid-fire vocals in "deja vu" sound eerily like yes. (Edited)