måndag 19 Jan 2009, 15:50

Buffalo Springfield - Buffalo Springfield Again

First things first: this is a fantastic album!

But then… it is so hard to discuss. Mainly because it isn't really an album, but rather a compilation of three great songwriters: Neil Young (finally finally!), Stephen Stills and Richie Furay (didn't know him actually). You would think that because they are together in a group, they try to adjust their songs a little bit so that the album has some coherence. Not :) The only coherence you can find here is the first song that is sampled in the last song (sung by Dewey Martin, the drummer, instead of Neil Young).

Does an album need coherence? No, not really when it is as good as this. It just takes some time to get into it.

So, the music? Neil Young is already being the Neil Young he will become (some songs are also used on his later albums) with Mr. Soul being the best song on the album. But the slow Expecting To Fly is also really beautiful (There you stood on the edge of your feather, expecting to fly) and the ending track Broken Arrow is a slightly genius piece of music. Oh yes, I love Neil Young, and I always will :)

Stephen Stills and Richie Furay also have great songwriting talent, Richie Furay a little bit more to the country (see A Child's Claim To Fame ) side of music (but then again not, see Good Time Boy ). Aaargh! This is an album that simply can't be described because it has so much variation and so many singers (4) and so many styles. But it is all a bit in the rock-folk area, I can say that. Ha!

I'll just keep it short: this album doesn't bore for one second and features absolutely fantastic songs. And that's all I'll say about it.

(Allemaal fantastisch maar nog meer fantastischer zijn: Mr. Soul , Everydays , Hung Upside Down , Good Time Boy , Broken Arrow )

PS: Put Sad Memory as an extra song on Calexico's Garden Ruin, and you wouldn't even notice it is a different singer. Richie Furay sounds exactly the same as Joey Burns! (well, turned round actually)