Thursday, August 9, 2012

CSN-Daylight Again

Daylight Again
I was 18 years old when this album came out, so unlike others who were already contrasting the "aging hippies" with their younger days, I knew nothing of previous CSN. (Or of Crosby's drug problems for that matter.) I simply enjoyed "Wasted on the Way" and "Southern Cross" when listening to Casey Kasem's American Top 40, right alongside efforts by Michael Jackson. It never occurred to me that CSN was an "older" group ; I simply loved both of those songs, great singles then, great songs now. I think this goes to show how much more enjoyable music can be when we actually listen to it innocently for its own sake, rather than getting wrapped up into who's "in," "out," "old," or "young."

Anyhow, I officially became a true CSN fan in 1989 at 17, and listened to about half of the songs on this album tirelessly. I think half of the songs are great, if not flat out killer songs that represent CSN/Y at their best, while the other half are just weak filler that are not unlike what we have (sadly) come to expect from this band. The best moments here are "Delta" (my favorite CSN/Y song ever) the two previously mentioned singles, "Song for Susan," "You are Alive," "Might as Well Have a Good Time," and "Daylight Again." The rest I can do without, but anyone who has only listened to the two singles really should give this album another spin because there really are some gems here. These are the type of songs that to me are so soothing and beautiful and unique and eternal, that it's really hard for me to imagine the egos behind the scenes getting into their fights, etc. I experience such serenity when listening to CSN.

In the end I think there are three phases of CSN/Y studio albums : 1) Crosby Stills and Nash (1969) and Deja Vu (1970) - both killer albums from beginning to end 2) CSN (1977) and Daylight Again (1982) - 1/2 gems mixed with 1/2 junk 3) American Dream (1988) Live it Up (1990) After the Storm (1994) Looking Forward (1999) - almost entirely trash, some rare good moments in each at best.

Maybe this album seemed disappointing at the time relative to the first album in 1969 and Déjà Vu in 1970, but wouldn't CSN/Y fans do anything for something like this now? Can you imagine Stills once again managing to write something as good as "Southern Cross"? Why do they (CSNY) keep telling us that they think they are getting better? Even Crosby seems to be apologizing during the CSNY concerts when he explains that "we like the old songs too, but the new songs keep us alive."

Go for Daylight Again if you are in any way a fan of CSN's music. And pray that they will make an album like this again someday.

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