Illegal Stills

Stephen Stills

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 20, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1976
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00000256S
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #162,398 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Regal... Illegal, April 18, 2004

By	running_man (Chesterfield Twp., MI) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This is the finest album Donnie Dacus ever made. Unfortunately
it's suppose to be a Stephen Stills album, and as such it is only
mediocre. So the value of the album lies somewhere between
those two standards.

Dacus' contributions to the work are extensive, and in some
respects exemplary. He collaborates with Stills in composing
four songs, and writes another with Stills' wife, Veronique
Sanson. It's to his credit that three of these numbers, `Midnight
In Paris', `Closer To You', and `Soldier', are some of the better
compositions on the disc. Dacus, formerly of the band Spirit,
also contrbutes lead and background vocals and fine guitar work.
He is a worthy protege and second guitar foil for Stills.

But one wonders why such a talented and accomplished artist
such as Stills even needed a protege. Part of the answer lies in Stephen's
declining output as a composer. In his biography `Shakey", Neil
Young notes that he resisted overtures from Stills, David Crosby

and Graham Nash during their 1974 tour to release a second
CSNY disc simply because the others were not generating any
new material. He states that he "couldn't believe they were
finished". While none of them were "finished", in retrospect it
is clear that Neil recognized their diminishing output, especially
in comparison to his own.

In addition, it seems Stephen lost his grip on the folk, country,
and blues based rock, as well as the wah-pedal trademark
guitar sound that he had parlayed into so much success.
"Illegal" is dominated by the power-pop sound more suited
to Dacus, who would go on to play in power-pop groups
such as Chicago and Badfinger in the late 1970's and early
1980's, while Stephen joined forces again with Crosby and
Nash for 2 successful albums and a couple even less
successful than `Illegal' attempts to resurrect his solo career.

`Illegal' only features one classic Stills tune, `Buyin' Time',
an indictment of the failed economic policies of Richard
Nixon and Gerald Ford. Stills began performing the song
in mid-1975 as an acoustic number, but this studio version
really rocks the Casbah. His cover of Young's `The Loner'
is also a hot tune, but was bound to pale in comparison to
Young's pristine version. The closer, `Circlin', was first
performed on the brief Stills-Young Band tour in the summer
of 1976, and is an upbeat, interesting number. `Soldier' is
a gutsy protest song in the aftermath of Vietnam. Stills
offers his requisite Latin-hued number in `No Me Neigas',
but it is only a shadow of other Latino songs from Stills
such as `Cuban Bluegrass'. `Stateline Blues' seems to
lack the grit, and as Stills himself said in `Bluesman', "the
blues is pain, the way men cry, like tired rain...", to be
considered a `true' blues song. It is a fun song about
gambling, though Stills did a better take on the same
topic with 1970's `Black Queen'. `Ring Of Love' is
filler, a song Stills himself describes in the liner notes as
one "Donnie pulled...out of his past". Shouldn't be part
of a Stills CD.

There are interesting comments included from Stills on
the makings and origins of each song, as well as lyrics.
While `Illegal' is certainly a departure from the formula
that made Stills one of the premier artists in rock from
1966 to 1976, it contains enough quality material to
be considered essential to Stills fans. For the more
casual listener, there are many Stephen Stills releases

that would be a more desirable purchase, especially
the first Manassas CD, his first solo album, and his
early collaborations with Crosby, Nash and Young.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stills' Most Underrated Album, November 5, 2001

By	Eric R. Last "misterrockobscurities" (San Bruno, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a big fan of Steve Stills, I've long felt that he never received his due as a solo artist from rock critics in general. In fact, the vitriol which some professional reviewers have used in deriding his solo efforts is perplexing to me. But of all Stills' albums, none has been as unfairly maligned as "Illegal Stills". This album should have been recognized for what it was: an unmistakable statement from a great artist that, contrary to popular opinion, his skills had not diminished one bit. "Ring of Love" and "Circlin'" would have sounded right at home on top 40 radio, while "Soldier" was haunting and "The Loner" blew Neil Young's version of the song out of the water. The band is hot, the songs are excellent, the arrangements are imaginative, and on the whole this compares very favorably with the two Stills albums that get all the accolades - the debut, and the first Manassas album.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not his first album to start with but don't overlook, November 19, 2001

By	Hawke and Dove "Hawke and Dove" (Scottsdale, Arizona United States) - See all my reviews

Start with his first debut, then Manassas (first one) and then #2 and then "Live" and his 1975 "Stills". This album reminds me of the band "Gentle Giant" who's many albums are mediocre/unmemorable at first listen but then get better and better with each repeated play. For those expecting early classic Stills', this album does not deliver. But this album shows Still's ability to adapt to arrangements with higher production and he gets a little help from his friends (a few songs were not written by him) including a redo of Neil Young's "The Longer". At times, this reminds me of what the Eagles were doing on their "Long Run" album but maybe not to the same success they experienced. My favorite would have to be the soley accoustic "Stateline Blues" and the latin-influenced "No Me Niegas" with it's catchy riffs. I agree that this album is not as strong as his previous works (the over instrumentation at times drowns out his guitar-work and the music/lyrics tend to be much lighter natured than on his previous works) but it's still better than most of the popular music by artists that were coming out in the 80's and 90's. If you really like Stills first few albums, you should get this but don't expect the same. If you found his first few albums so-so, then you're best to skip.