Jul 25 2023
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2
Music for people who clap when an airplane lands.
Neil Young is Mario, David Crosby is Luigi, and Stephen Stills is Toad. I will not elaborate further, but there are mountains of factual evidence to support my claim.
Four albums featuring this guy on a list like this is insanity. That's like four crusty phone videos by your drunk neighbor Ted on a "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" list.
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Jun 14 2024
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3
Imagine being Stephen Stills. You’re in Buffalo Springfield, responsible for many of their hits, you’re their leader, but there’s high tensions, due in no small part to creative differences between you and Neil Young. So the band breaks up and you start a new band with the guy from the Hollies and the guy from the Byrds that likes to write songs about threesomes.
You bust your ass recording a debut album where you play the majority of the instruments: a real tour-de-force showcase for your talents and it is massively successful, a smash hit.
What is your next move?
To fill out your arrangements live, you, for some reason, invite Neil Young, the guy who tried to take over to your last band, to join the band. There’s no way he’d do it again, right?
Young’s arrival brings even more success to the band: the follow up album you record with him goes to number 1, sells 8 million copies…but the recording sessions were full of conflict and you find yourself butting heads with Neil Young once again. There’s no way he’s going to do it again…try and take control from you over *your* band, right?
Neil Young: “I’ll fucken do it again”
Then, a month after your album is released, May 1970, the Kent State massacre happens. Neil Young walks into the woods and comes up with “Ohio”. You and the boys put some vocal harmonies over his song, which is more aggressive than anything else you’ve ever recorded. Your record company rushes the song out for release at the same time that “Teach your Children Well” is climbing the charts. You go on an extended tour that summer and by July 1970, CSNY is calling it quits.
So, you, Stephen Stills, start a solo career and have success, but your old foil, Neil Young is starting to have hit after hit, becoming a massive star. By the time 1974 rolls around and Young agrees to reunite CSNY for a stadium tour, he is the pretty much the main draw and a precedent has been set: CSNY only happens when Neil wants it to happen. The success of the band you started, the band whose career was started by the excellent record you toiled over in the studio, is now fully dependent on Neil Young being around to pull in a big payday and Neil has had no problem pulling the plug on CSNY at a moment’s notice. Sure, CSN can draw a crowd, but CSNY is another story and that’s how it’s going to go for the next 40 years.
Now, reader, I’m sure you’re feeling pretty bad for Stephen Stills. What an outcome for the guy who was supposed to be “it”. Don’t feel too bad…for starters, he’s got tons of money. He definitely treated Neil Young pretty poorly - to the extent that a few of his albums after this one have a Neil Young cover on them as a sort of mea culpa, but also…he managed to get one of Jimi Hendrix’s last solos captured on tape for this album (Good Times Old Times) and then proceeded to bury parts of it under his own organ playing (that’s not a euphemism, get your mind out of the gutter).
If you’re still feeling bad for Stills after all that, go ahead and listen to his 1978 album, “Thoroughfare Gap”. Any good will you still had for the man will evaporate in no time - Seriously, you owe it to yourself, as means of better understanding Stephen Stills, to hear “You Can’t Dance Alone” and especially “Can’t Get No Booty”.
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Oct 15 2023
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5
I am a stereotype but sometimes that's okay.
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Nov 10 2023
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2
A timely companion to After The Gold Rush earlier in the week. Went into this with low expectations, as I have thought Love The One You're With to be a weird and terrible song since I saw Bucks Fizz perform it at Thorpe Park randomly over 35 years ago (disappointingly instead of their current hit at the time which was a real banger, even without any ripped skirts). But I digress: LTOYW is awful here too, the rest isn't as bad although run-of-the-mill, '70s singer/songwriter stuff. Go Back Home is pretty good. Stills seems to be the least interesting of the CSNY set, but I've heard worse solo albums. Yawn
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Nov 10 2023
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4
Stephen Stills' Stephen Stills hung out with me on my drives to and from my first day of work on this continent, amiably addled company on the way in, something of a guardian angel through the scary rainstorm coming home. Just a very easy album to get on with, hang-out yacht rock. The tunes are laid back, as are the jams - long enough to get absorbed in, short enough to swerve tedium. It's more a vehicle for eyes-closed emotional vibes than for melodies. Earnest, sincere and hopeful, this is music I would once have despised, mistaking doomed idealism for complacency.
What the heck is the percussion doing on the opening Bucks Fizz song? Whatever it is, I like it! ‘Love the One You’re With’, I can imagine Clapton hiding behind his heroin beard when Stills was playing that back to him. This list always leads me back to Clapton, my Anti-Mecca.
And Neil Young, my hairy Vatican. With one eye to Si's review, this is not as good as 'After the Gold Rush', but better than Young's songs on 'Deja Vu'.
On that subject, this record has inspired an idea to reenact the making of Robert Altman’s “The Big Sleep”, with Stephen Stills as Philip Marlowe/Elliott Gould, Graham Nash as gangster Marty Augustine, David Crosby as Sterling Hayden/Roger Wade/Hemingway, Rita Coolidge as Eileen, John Lennon and Yoko Ono as Robert Altman, and special guest star Eric Clapton as Terry Lennox, whom will be shot by Stills at the climax. Neil Young will play the naked hippy girls living across from Stills. As too many of the cast are already dead, this will have to be a written exercise. The twist ending is a final shot of Crosby/Hayden rising back out of the night sea, eyes black, described in Hemingway barks.
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Jul 13 2023
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4
3.5
considering i expected to really dislike this, i was pleasantly surprised. the first half was definitely stronger than the latter in my opinion but it was overall very pleasant background music while i was getting ready. church was my favourite it made me quite happy to listen to.
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Nov 10 2024
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3
Is it bad? No. But is it good? Also, no.
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Jul 05 2024
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3
At times good, at times less good.
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Jun 24 2024
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4
No. 205/1001
Love the One You're With 4/5
Do for the Others 4/5
Church 4/5
Old Times Good Times 3/5
Go Back Home 3/5
Sit Yourself Down 4/5
To a Flame 4/5
Black Queen 3/5
Cherokee 3/5
We Are Not Hopeless 4/5
Average: 3,6
Nothing groundbreaking. But am enjoyable folk-rock album.
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Jun 12 2023
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4
Okay
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Oct 10 2024
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2
Guitar work is great but the song structure is just so...straightforward. Feels like an album full of studio musicians propping up a talented guitarist.
Some really abrupt endings. Cherokee into We Are Not Helpless is jarring.
Fav Track: Love the One You're With
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Jul 31 2024
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2
Right, I literally don't know who he is. I'm not being stupid or anything, but I physically don't know who Stephen Stills is. He could be the leader of the Special Boat Squadron Service.
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Mar 25 2025
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5
Haven't heard this before. Starts off with a classic, super-catchy track that everyone knows and continues with great songs throughout. Sometimes it seems hard to tell where CSN(Y) ends and the solo records begin. This is a little bit like that to me.
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Mar 25 2025
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5
What an absolutely stacked personnel list for this album! Aside from 2 tracks being essentially CSN, Hendrix, Clapton Booker T, AND Ringo were all on here!? The songs were fun to listen too. They were both funky and sweet and sound very of the time. “Go back home” was the highlight for me though the first track is a classic. In retrospect, since I’m going 5 here I should have done the same for OK Computer.
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Mar 12 2025
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5
decent album, funky rock, very listenable
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Feb 24 2025
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5
vier bis fünf
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Feb 09 2025
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5
4.6 - Bit of me, not gonna lie
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Jan 22 2025
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5
I've never heard this before, as I usually stick to CSN&Y stuff.
What a voice. Lovely harmonies and enjoy the bluesy, gospel soul sound on songs like Church. Bit of a Joe Cocker sound on it. I was quite surprised by this as it’s a lot more pacey and rocky than I was expecting. I thought it would be more acoustic folky ditties, but it gets quite shreddy and funky at times. Old Times, Good Times and Go Back Home are great examples of this and feature Hendrix and Clapton providing solos, respectively.
Enjoyed nearly every song here but To a Flame was a bit of damp squib after a belting first half of the album.
Overall, this is excellent and I’ll be diving into more of the CSN solo work.
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Jan 16 2025
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5
Un gran placer el tiempo que pase con este álbum, un gran placer
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Dec 19 2024
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5
Awesome
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Dec 13 2024
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5
Really great album. Heavy on the blues with some great folky lyrics.
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Nov 15 2024
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5
Rock me to sleep, Steve.
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Nov 14 2024
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5
Delightfully jammy. It’s got that classic CSN palette, but applied in a looser way. I dig it.
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Oct 30 2024
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5
peak folk rock. Core rock instrumentals without getting too loud. amazing album from start to finish
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Oct 30 2024
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5
loved this album, very soft melodie’s
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Oct 14 2024
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5
Damn, I expected soft and tender just from seeing the album cover, instead I got rich, thoughtful and expressive. I resonated with this album on an emotional level. Stills' musical choices on the album hit home quite right. He also knows how to keep the tempo going throughout the album. His amazing feel for composing and lyricism really shines in this solo debut album. It was also amazing to read about his inspiration wrought from Jimi Hendrix and his regret of not making a full album with the man.
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Sep 20 2024
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5
Where has this been all my life? The songs on this album vary between great and excellent. Stephen Stills possesses a brilliant voice, awesome songwriting ability, AND he is a top notch guitarist.
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Sep 18 2024
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5
Quite enjoyable.
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Aug 18 2024
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5
If you can't listen to the album you love, honey, love the album you're with. And I did today. One I've never listened to, but so good!
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Aug 18 2024
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5
Super-duper!!
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Aug 18 2024
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5
Outstanding. Please play Love the One You’re With at my funeral. Thanks.
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Aug 18 2024
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5
What an exceptional album… didn’t realize how Stephen Stills played all those instruments… didn’t realize Rita Coolidge busted up CSNY… didn’t realize that the song “Love The One You’re With” - a fantastically realistic love song - came from such a great album.
Just terrific!
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Aug 16 2024
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5
Such familiar sound. Feels like I've known him forever without eer knowing who it was. Great album
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Aug 11 2024
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5
Favorite Track: Go Back Home
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Jul 30 2024
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5
..Ja fanfaairt soivat..
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Jul 11 2024
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5
Well now. Another confirmation for me that this list is a delightful use of my time. I absolutely loved this. Funky, rocky gospel nonsense with someone talking to God on a Hammond? just take my money
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Jun 28 2024
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5
JAMS
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Jun 25 2024
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5
Still one of the best albums of all time. It is incredibly varied with consistent high quality. Stills is a formidable singer, guitarist, songwriter and overall musician.
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May 12 2024
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5
this was a lovely surprise
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May 06 2024
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5
Absolutely great - every song was remarkable. I had heard of Stills just from Crosby, Stills & Nash but never actually listened to him separately. Will definitely add to my favourites and listen to it again.
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Apr 17 2024
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5
great album i love the acoustic feel mixed with the gospel additions on some of the tracks. lyrics go from so so to really good so they even out. the blues fusion with roots notes is perfect. best songs: church, love the one you’re with, we are not helpless
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Mar 13 2024
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5
Hat Spaß gemacht
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Jan 29 2024
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5
Engaging and fun. Great album… Stephen jumped up to my top rated artists.
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Jan 25 2024
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5
BL: I've heard the name Steven Stills be mentioned a few times but never really got the chance to dig into him in any particular way so will be excited to hear this record.
AL: I loved this record a lot. The perfect mix between emotional ballads and more traditionally upbeat story writing. Highly worth the listen, stylistically nothing mindblowing especially for the time. But the musicianship and lyricism was highly worth the listen. Also a special mention to a very cool (but very 70s) cover art
FT: "Love the One You're With", "Church", "To a Flame", "We Are Not Helpless"
5/5
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Jan 21 2024
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5
Slow and beautiful
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Jan 19 2024
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5
great
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Jan 14 2024
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5
This was a complete surprise. I knew Love the One You’re With and I thought the rest would just be him noodling.
This whole record maintains the heights of its first track. This is great 70s blues and keep an amazing momentum throughout
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Jan 08 2024
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5
Soup for the soul.
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Dec 28 2023
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5
My First «play on repeat»-album! Right up my alley, and this will be a stater in my collection. Awesome songwriting, great musicianship, and a whole album I enjoyed from start to end.
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Dec 15 2023
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5
Aika kova. Ei ihan kympin kokonaisuus, mut kai tää silti viiteen tähteen pyöristyy. Folkkia, countria, bluesia, gospelia.. kaikki 70-luvun saundeilla ja menolla.
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Dec 13 2023
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5
Liked this wayyyy more than I thought I would, thought it'd just be cool songwriting but the amount of different styles and themes across this album while still remaining super cohesive is fantastic. Cool asf
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Dec 06 2023
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5
A nice album from an incredible songwriter. I wish he had more songs to make this album a little longer, though.
4.7/5
Favorite: “Sit Yourself Down”
Least Favorite: “Cherokee”
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Dec 05 2023
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5
Hendrix and Clapton as features on the same record is pretty incredible. Then you’re gonna flute it up another notch on Cherokee? Get out of town
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Dec 05 2023
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5
Didn't really care for his collab work with Bing Crosby and Ogden Nash, but this album kinda slaps.
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Nov 03 2023
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5
Really enjoyed that album and there are definitely some songs, i will enjoy further on. Never heard of Stephen Stills before, but his lyrics and guitar skills are outstanding and top class. I am really glad now, having joined this 1001 gen app.
My top 3 in a particular order are:
1) Do for the Others
2) Go Back Home (awesome song concerning the sequences of e guitar, bass and piano. Outstanding e guitar solo btw)
3) Black Queen (really enjoyed the country style guitar parts)
4.8
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Nov 03 2023
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5
Significant contributer to the rock genre. I‘m loving the blues and rock combinations in the songs. Knew him already from CSN(&Y). Love their songs too.
Personal Top3 in no order:
Old Times Good Times
Go Back Home
Black Queen
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Oct 15 2023
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5
One of the first vinyls I bought because it was easily obtainable at thrift stores. It kicks ass. Love the whole thing still to this day
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Sep 27 2023
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5
Great record.
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Sep 22 2023
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5
Man this was really great. Great arrangement, vocals, songs, and not horribly dated like much of the stuff of the era. Very strong from start to finish. 9/10.
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Sep 08 2023
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5
I enjoyed that hell out of this. Really good songwriting, delightful performances, and great production. There's such a good blues vibe here. It's chill but still energetic.
I can't really find anything bad to say about this one. Over the corse of the relatively short album it steadily rose from a 4 to a 5-star album. That's despite the saxophones and jazz flute, mind you. The guitar work on "Black Queen" alone is enough to overcome a half-dozen saxophone solos. Which is good because "Cherokee" pushes my limits on both.
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Sep 04 2023
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5
4.95/5 je reexoute. Très bon e chanson d'un super artiste.
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Jul 21 2023
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5
I thought this would be mostly Americana songs in the vein of Love the One You're With, but it was very eclectic. Some blues, soul, and funk mixed in. And I enjoyed reading about and listening for the other notable musicians who contributed, like Ringo and Hendrix.
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Jul 18 2023
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5
Pleasant surprise. A little more three dimensional than CSN, a little more 'rawk.'
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Jul 01 2023
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5
Can't do much better than Stephen Stills.
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Jun 26 2023
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5
What a tremendous album from the Stills of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Album standouts include Love The One Your With, Do For Others, Old Times Good Times, Go Back Home, Cherokee, and We Are Not Helpless.
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Jun 25 2023
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5
All those years I thought that voice belonged to David Crosby
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Jun 16 2023
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5
Something about this type of music that just soothes my soul!
Just good old classic folk rock with some awesome harder guitar riffs in there. And backing guitar in sone tracks by Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and other legends! This is a great album.
Listen again: yes
Purchase for my collection: yes
Favourite Song: Love The One You’re With
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Mar 30 2025
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4
I found it pretty decent. I’d never heard of this artist before.
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Mar 27 2025
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4
Love love love. The richness of the production, the choirs, the little hits of strings ontop of some killer guitar maje this top tier. Church is a new favourite song and cant wait to find more of his stuff.
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Mar 25 2025
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4
While not as mind blowing as some of the stuff Crosby, Stills, and Nash (and Young) did together, it’s a solid album. The closing of Go Back Home in particular great
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Mar 24 2025
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4
it was pretty good i really liked all of the guitar licks. i was confused for a minute because a lot of the tracks sounded familiar to me and the guitar playing before i realized that was because jimi hendrix and eric clapton played the electric guitars in the album. i probably should have listened to it at like a more preferable time because i just listened to it in the shower. but it was still good, not the best i’ve heard but better than most.
my favorites were “church(pt. of someone), “old times good times,” “go back home,” and “black queen (lp)-version.” 🖤
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Mar 17 2025
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4
Pretty fine folk rock. Not entirely my jam, but better than the stuff I’ve been giving 3 to lately, so I guess I have to round up to 5.
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Mar 14 2025
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4
The leadoff track, Love the One You’re With is definitely the most well known piece here but I think it is a pretty empty song. Catchy melody and chorus but lightweight. Thankfully, the rest of the album is more interesting. It shows Stills range from folky, singer-songwriter tunes to more funky blues and hard rock.
Favorite songs: We are Not Helpless, Go Back Home, Old Times Good Times and Love the One You’re With (it’s an earworm). Least favorite: To a flame. It’s that ethereal 70s dreamy soft rock type of song that does nothing for me and never will.
Overall an enjoyable experience.
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Mar 09 2025
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4
Pleasantly surprised by this one - considering my lukewarm reception to CSNY, I wasn't expecting much, but it turns out when he's doing his own thing Stephen Stills goes hard! A couple of these are probably going to make several of my playlists now, thanks for the suggestion 1001 albums!
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Mar 06 2025
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4
I love the more gospel-y parts, like on We Are Not Helpless. The man is a stellar guitarist and songwriter and I loved a lot of this. But I wonder why gospel songs by a white dude from the 70s made it to this list, and not actual gospel
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Mar 05 2025
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4
Just a solid album, could listen on repeat
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Mar 04 2025
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4
A decent listen - you really can't go too far wrong slapping a gospel choir into some classic rock, can you?
Fave tracks - "Love the One You're With" and "Church (Part of Someone)"
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Feb 27 2025
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4
Mr. Stills of Crosby, Stills, and Nash. He has a beautiful voice and is a talented instrumentalist with the guitar and piano. This was a pleasant album though I must say this also seemed like an odd pull from his work.
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Feb 26 2025
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4
This was good! I’m pretty much burned out on classic rock at this point but I can’t deny this was a good album.
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Feb 23 2025
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4
Warm and earnest and lively, occasionally soaring. Quaity is strong throughout but "Do for Others" and "Church" "To a Flame" and "Sit Yourself Down" and "We Are Not Helpless" are best of lot. The presence of all these all-stars barely moves the needle on what's a strong effort throughout from a dude who no one seems to like (or maybe just had the worst coke habit of all these cats) and is thus largely overrated today.
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Feb 22 2025
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4
A pretty solid album. I do think that some of these songs are missing the presence of Crosby, Nash, and sometimes Young.
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Feb 20 2025
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4
7.5/10. Really really good album and had me vibing for the majority. Fantastic variety on this album and the crispest guitar playing I've heard in a while. The tunes had great feel to them and were very memorable especially the iconic 'Love the one you're with'. I think it tailed off very slightly towards the end and just missed that oomph to make it a five, but it really was up there.
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Feb 20 2025
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4
4.5? Really enjoying this!
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Feb 20 2025
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4
This is pretty peak dad music. The shredding on Black Queen rips and it sounds like a song from the 90s done by like Pearl Jam or someone.
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Feb 14 2025
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4
This is a really cool album that shows what Still brought to CSNY. He creates a very distinctive sound that is present across the CSNY albums and is present in its unfiltered form here. Just a really solid album with great music and lyrics all the way through
4/5
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Feb 13 2025
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4
I had NO IDEA Stephen Stills was one of the members of "Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young." That is so cool. I really really liked this album. The solo in "Old Times Good Times" slaps. The electric guitar parts shock me, but fit so well. "Love the One You're With" is a CLASSIC. His voice is really enjoyable to listen to. The horn sections are tight too. This was a great listen. This album just feels like one right out of the 70s. Actual rating is a 4.25
Liked Songs: "Love the One You're With" , "Church (Pt. of Someone)" , "Old Times Good Times" , "Sit Yourself Down" , "Black Queen" , "Cherokee"
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Feb 09 2025
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4
73/100. Stephen Stills’ self-titled debut is a solid record. It has a warm, uplifting feel that makes for an enjoyable listen. The guitar work is well-crafted, and the use of choral backing vocals adds a rich, layered texture to the sound.
While it doesn’t necessarily break new ground, it’s a well-executed and confident debut that showcases Stills’ talents.
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Feb 07 2025
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4
Anyone in the Crosby stills Nash young cinematic universe is a friend of mine
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Feb 06 2025
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4
Still a solid album 55 years later. Love the One You're With still hits hard.
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Jan 30 2025
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4
I haven't listen to this album in a long time. I forgot how much I enjoyed it. Great studio musicians and arrangements.
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Jan 30 2025
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4
I think I'm at a 3.5, but it gets the bump just because it sounds so good.
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Jan 22 2025
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4
Thought it was going to be shite but got much better as it went on. Low 4
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Jan 20 2025
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4
Had this on rotation for a few days seeing which individual songs stand out but it just hangs together really well as an album. I love the overall sound and Stills' guitar playing is excellent throughout. The second half shifts between styles in a bit of a strange way, I feel like I'd have played with the tracklisting if it was up to me. I already enjoyed the CSNY I've had so far so I'm definitely going to dig a little deeper into Stills' catalogue.
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Jan 19 2025
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4
It opens with a classic, swinging, uplifting piece of Hippy Soul, Love The One You're With, and maintains a decent standard throughout. I will happily go back to this one.
4 stars
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Jan 16 2025
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4
Church is my fav. Gol. So good. Go back home. Good hell I love it. Dang. I liked this a bunch.
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Jan 15 2025
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4
Great rock album - sounds really 70s for being released in 1970. Worth looking up all the people he got to play on this one
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Jan 13 2025
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4
I really liked this. I was expecting a folk-ish, singer-songwriter album, which it was. That isn't really one of my genres but I haven't explored it much. I like this because there are small hints of other genres as well.
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Jan 12 2025
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4
Vraiment dans les mêmes eaux que CSN&Y ou encore Crosby ou Young solo (évidemment). Mais j'ai préféré cet album à celui de Crosby et beaucoup de Young aussi. Je peux bien croire qu'il était une force majeure derrière le super groupe mentionné plus tôt. 7/10
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Jan 10 2025
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4
Wavers a little over the course of the album but underlying is an absolute desire for perfection. Every note has conviction. Hendrix, Clapton and Starr just helping out on some tracks is testament to Stills talent
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Jan 09 2025
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4
4.25
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