Crosby, Stills & Nash (180 Gram Vinyl LP)

Crosby Stills & Nash | Format: Vinyl

Product Details

• Vinyl (November 10, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino Records
• ASIN: B002F3BOSM
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #111,404 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

As members of one of rock's first supergroups, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash helped define the Woodstock generation through their peerless harmonies, resonant songwriting and deep commitment to political and social causes. The Crosby, Stills & Nash triumvirate shot to immediate superstardom with the release of its self-titled debut LP, a sparkling set immortalizing the group's amazingly close, high harmonies. While elements of the record haven't dated well - Nash's Eastern-influenced musings on the hit 'Marrakesh Express' now seem more than a little silly, while the antiwar sentiments of 'Wooden Ships,' though well-intentioned, are rather hokey - the harmonies are absolutely timeless, and the best material remains rock-solid. Stills' gorgeous opener, 'Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,' in particular, is an epic love song remarkable in its musical and emotional intricacy, Nash's 'Pre-Road Downs' is buoyant folk-pop underpinned by light psychedelic textures, and Crosby's 'Long Time Gone' remains a potent indictment of the assassination of Robert Kennedy. A definitive document of its era. Tracks 1 Suite: Judy Blue Eyes 7:252 Marrakesh Express 2:393 Guinnevere 4:404 You Don't Have to Cry 2:455 Pre-Road Downs 3:016 Wooden Ships 5:297 Lady of the Island 2:398 Helplessly Hoping 2:419 Long Time Gone 4:1710 49 Bye-Byes 5:16

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your money on this inferior reissue!, November 30, 2009

By 

Steely (Norwood, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Crosby, Stills & Nash (180 Gram Vinyl LP) (Vinyl)

I pre-ordered the CSN 180 gram vinyl Rhino reissue two months before its announced release date and proceeded to wait for it with the highest of expectations. After all, it was reported to have been remastered and cut from the Original Analog Master Tapes by the legendary Bernie Grundman and pressed at the prestigious Pallas facility in Germany. And considering that Rhino had done such a terrific job with their vinyl reissues of the first two Chicago albums earlier this year, I figured how could this NOT be good?

Things started out well enough. The record arrived in timely fashion, curiously packed in a regular Amazon carton with NO BUBBLE WRAP or any other protective padding. How the delicate vinyl record made it all the way to my house unscathed and undamaged is beyond me...but somehow it did! I removed it from the box and admired it as I slowly peeled off the shrink wrap, amazed at how true the album artwork and labeling were to the original 1969 Atlantic issue. Even the included lyric sheet was a dead-on replica.

I slipped the record out of it's lined sleeve and inspected it, immediately noticing some surface irregularities which resembled small scuff marks. They were only on one side, but still, not what I wanted to see on a brand new record. If only that had been the worst of it! I placed the record on my turntable, gave it a quick swipe with my trusty Discwasher brush, and lowered the tonearm, waiting to be blown away by "Audiophile Quality" as proudly proclaimed by the big stick-on label on the plastic wrapping.

People, this reissue is NOT audiophile quality. In fact, it's not even good! There is NO high end! NONE! Everything from the high mids on up sounds like it was put through some kind of repressive electronic filter. None of the crispness and vitality of the classic 1969 issue carries over to the 2009 version. In fact, despite the years of wear and tear, my 40-year-old original LP absolutely BLOWS it away in terms of audio quality. It's not even close!

Bottom line: If you care at all about sound quality and fidelity, do NOT waste your money on this disappointing reissue. Find a used Atlantic SD-8229 original issue in decent condition at a fair price instead and you'll be much happier! My Rhino LP is going back!!

EDIT: I had originally given this product only one star ("I hate it") but I reconsidered and am now bumping it up to three stars ("It's OK"). Based on musical content alone I would give this album 4.5 stars. Unfortunately, the inferior audio quality significantly diminishes its worth!