CSN is a
Crosby, Stills & Nash album released in 1977, the fifth album by the group, and the first without
Neil Young since his entry into the band. It peaked at #2 on the
Billboard Top Pop Albums chart; two singles taken from the album, Nash's "
Just A Song Before I Go" and Stills' "Fair Game" peaked at #7 and #43 respectively on the
Billboard Hot 100.
In the interim since their last studio album of original material (1970's
Déjà Vu),
Crosby and
Nash had recorded three albums as a
duo.
Stills pursued other projects, including a short career with
Manassas and an album and tour with
Young.
CSN featured strong writing from all three members, the last time for seventeen years that the band would compose songs and handle vocals without major assistance from outside sources. The production of the album fit in well with the ruling aesthetic of the time as featured in other blockbusters such as the
Eagles' Hotel California,
Fleetwood Mac's Rumours: well-crafted, melodic songs played with precision and balance, essaying the personal travails of the authors.
Many of Stills' songs on the album echo his marital problems, with "Dark Star" returning to the Latin rhythms he had favored all the way back to his
Buffalo Springfield days. Crosby continued the existential probings consistent with much of his past work, and Nash offered a vision of an LSD experience that he had in Winchester Cathedral with "Cathedral". Many tracks were sweetened...
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