72, Stephen Stills was a little crossroads. After the success of Buffalo Springfield and - above all - that of CSN / Y as yet could he aspire? Be recognized as a "serious" musician, maybe. And this is probably one of the reasons for the formation of his super Manassas group. An assembly of outstanding figures who had matured in groups such as the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Bros. An orchestra virtuoso capable of playing brilliantly in any style under what current musicologists call "Americana" or in any tout court style. So you will find on this double LP brings together in one CD: pure rock, folk-rock, Afro-Cuban, country, hillbilly, blues, etc, etc. Paradoxically, it is perhaps this creative freedom who was besides the great mistake of Stills. Unable to store music combo in a box preformatted, critics of the time were content to underestimate this record great pretext that it was too rock for a disc of folk, too country for rock ... you understand me. Yet this album is simply bright. When "rocke" it is heavy, laid-back and Southern through and through, with Stills, the bottleneck overflowing with feeling, which clearly revels in sharing the spotlight with the great Chris Hillman. And when the gang decides to rise, reaching aerial summits country dreamy as Johnny's Garden or Both of Us (Bound to Loose) before descending to earth for a stellar folk-rock (The Treasure). There is not one bad song on this record, but beware: the constant mood changes may confuse you at first. So, let this masterpiece time to implement naturally within you. A detail. Legend has it that two Brits gilt-edged have a hand in the dough: Bill Wyman and Paul McCartney would indeed passed easily give a hand to their Stephen buddy. A legend that could very well be based. Because in 72, Stills - which was not yet fallen head first into the powder - was truly one of the great masters of American music.
