Manassas

This album was a pretty normal experience. Maybe I was expecting too much from it. It's not bad, definitively, but even the "experimental" part sounds just like old and classic rock and roll

Typical decent 70s soft rock album, not as outstanding as other albums however

3 songs in... really good. I find CSN a little soft for my tastes (though I do like/appreciate them) so I was expecting this to be similar but it's much harder blues rock. ... Spoke a bit too soon - got real folksy-ballady right after that. LOL. Still, can't complain too much - it's very pretty. Turns out the four sides have different themes. Side B was the most CSN and probably my least favorite, but not by any means bad - just personal preference here.

I know that I tend to complain about the same-y sound of a lot of 70s music, and this is no different, but there's a different energy to this.

First time hearing this double album. Real mix of rock, blues, folk, folk rock etc. Pretty much anything you'd expect from an early 70's rocker. Pretty good discovery. Best Tracks: Song of Love, Johnny's Garden, Blues Man

Местами мне казалось что этот альбом не знает каким быть. Некоторые кантри песни не вписывались в общее звучание. В целом есть реально интересные композиции, хотя иногда и микс вокала подводил, но исполнение было отличным.

Not my jam overall, but a good example of the style. Last two songs with more of a blues/funk vibe were excellent.

It's a country rock album. It doesn't do too much special, but maybe that's all you need. It's got a twangy lead guitar, the singer's voice is nice and country, and the cowbell is definitely present in some songs. Favorite track: Don't Look at My Shadow

non-distracting, very good for a background!

I like the concept of the double album split into 4 parts. Especially as a vinyl release, side A being my favourite. Reading about the hectic recording sessions was also very interesting.

Bluesy folksy rock from the 70s. 21 songs... Most not my taste... but great bass Playlist: Right Now It Doesn't Matter The Treasure - Take One

Not bad, blues rock bluegrass.

Some great songs but is quite relentless and becomes blurred very quickly and hard to distinguish from a lot of other 70’s rock albums.

Lots a great songs but more than a few I wasn’t too fussed as with so many double albums you begin to wonder what could have been cut

Enjoyed it, but can scarcely remember it.

A sprawling masterpiece, akin to the Beatles' White Album, the Stones' Exile on Main St., or Wilco's Being There in its makeup, if not its sound. Rock, folk, blues, country, Latin, and bluegrass have all been styles touched on in Stephen Stills' career, and the skilled, energetic musicians he had gathered in Manassas played them all on this album. What could have been a disorganized mess in other hands, though, here all gelled together and formed a cohesive musical statement.

Ok but a bit samey after a while.

this is about as country as you can get in places

The Rolling Stone's bass player said he would've quit the band to join Manassas. The musicians' musician supergroup. In 2011 I found this record in Tacoma for $1. I thought it was good then and think it's good now. Double record, each of the 4 sides has a different theme and a heady name for each: the Raven, the Wilderness, Consider, and the Chicago Bears. B

Not bad, but not life-changing either.

mr stills was unable to move me to action with his combinatio of musical notes and words that were aligned wtih those ntoes. I feel weird. I am not sure what but it was the music that did not cause it. I give this seventeen flying dinasours

I liked this album, though I am not sure that I think it's anything too special. I liked the vibes and the sound for sure

Started out like an alternate dimension Credence and I was into it, then got too twangy

yea this album is good and polished, I am just not finding anything that i would latch on to. Those blues man is great tune.

Probs a 3.5 - good easy listening

1972, country Rock, 71min zu lang

The album is clearly made by some talented dudes but it's very long and none of the songs had the je ne sais quoi to hook me.

was actually pretty good, but would probably use as background music

loved The Treasure - that was a nice surprise, for sure. another great snapshot of its time

Pretty good. A little bland if I'm being honest. 2.5 stars, rounding up to 3.

Not too bad

Even stuff. Liked it.

Enjoyed the classic sound

Ambitious but comes across kinda bland. The country flavored songs are the weakest and that material should've been a separate album. Think I like side 3 best.

Supergroup? At first I thought I'd rate it higher, but the later tracks dragged for me. Some of the later stylings of songs didn't do as much as the ones at the start. An interesting Wikipedia read on the process, though. 3.5 down to 3.

nice listening music

Very chill, up my tempo. At times bit outdated

Good 70s rock

This was alright, nothing too amazing. A good chill listen, but that's about it.

Blues parts were great. Not so much the country!

very middle of the road for what it is and also too long

Hey Stephen, get an editor. Somewhere buried underneath all the mediocre is a good songwriter, I’m sure, but I can’t get over the mediocrity of it all, especially given his well known ego. I made it to song 7 before I even looked at the track listing. This album is over an hour?! Just a big ugh.

Too long man ... too long

Het probleem met teveel (goede) muzikanten laten meespelen op je nummers is dat ze zo vakkundig alles plamuren en polijsten, dat je niet meer doorhebt dat je nummers eigenlijk maar bagger en formulatisch zijn.

matig

nog maar is een vergetelijke 70's rock band. Helemaal niet mijn ding, maar ergens diep Texas zijn er sowieso rednecks die hier helemaal geil van worden.

This was fine but I listened to the entire thing and nothing really stood out.

Man kan sagtens mærke hvor vigtig han er for lyden i Crosby Stills and Nash, som jeg elsker, men det her var sgu et maraton

Der var et par helt fine numre men den var dælme lang!

This one was perfectly nice, but nothing groundbreaking for me. I love a lot of his stuff with CSN&Y but this one wasn't a standout

No tässähän oli blue, folk ja country vaikutteita. Näin nopeasti laskettuna. Onko liika liikaa?

Другий альбом Стівена Стіллза у цьому списку. І хоча перший мені не дуже сподобався, цей виявився ще гірше, бо тут дофіга кантрі (такого як я не люблю) + йде він більше години.

Oof. Who'd have thunk that 1/3 of CSN and sometimes Y would be this meh? Did this get on the list just due to its pedigree? 2 stars at best. And that's only because I'd probably not say much if one of my older friends put it on to enjoy for themselves. Just let it happen.

Blues rock fibre just rips straight through me, leaving no lasting impression positive or negative. Stephen Stills had the gaul to put his name on the cover twice but not enough discernment to create a record with truly captivating songs. Boring!

Stephen steals your time with this polished yet very dull work

Eh maybe an ok song near the end. Very background music

It’s pleasant. Not ground breaking.

It was pretty awful Americana. He made a conscious effort to jump between genres, yet it all felt pretty half-hearted. I don't think it really stood the test of time.

Fairly dull music that seems to be uninspired despite all the clear effort that has gone in.

After sitting through 72 minutes of Eminem, I get 71 minutes of early-70s country-rock. The first 5 tracks are mediocre blues-rock, followed by a few tracks of mediocre country, then going into a set of pop ballads before going back to the blues-rock style. They don't exactly nail any of these styles, instead doing all of them in such a way that they don't really leave a mark on the listener. Instead, you just get an overlong dad rock record with no real significance at all. Lyrics are just as mediocre as the music itself, so it doesn't even have that. It's just a boring time-waster of a record, despite not being bad per se.

Prima rustig niet geweldig

After what felt like an eternity of listening to the first track, i decided to check how long it was. I discovered that i was already listening to track 3. This album felt like a studio jam sesh, but each song felt so much like the same that they blended too well into eachother

This is a whole lot of easy listening. I don't need that much.

Was alright but had enough long before the album finally ended

It took me about 10 tries and 3 days to finally get through this album. Way too honky tonk country at times. Boring at other times. I'm not a huge CSNY fan, and thus I'm probably not the target audience for a Stills solo album, even if it's technically a band with a self titled album. No.

Not for me

It's... fine. If it had been a single album, I might have gone to 'a pleasant but not that memorable' three stars but it had no business being this long.

Album was fine. Just not my tune. 2.5/5

Notable Textzeile: From reality it seems I've strayed Tired of all the silly games I play Just as everythings going fine Ich glaub ein Kriterium das ich bei mir entdeckt habe ist: es gibt Alben bei denen ich Pause mache wenn ich länger als 20 Sekunden das Zimmer verlasse weil ich denke ich werde was verpassen (was auch immer – was lustiges, was bescheuertes, was interessantes). Und es gibt Alben bei denen das nicht der Fall ist weil ich nach 2 Songs eine Ahnung habe dass die Songs von Anfang bis Ende ähnlich sein werden. Dies ist ein Album der zweiten Kategorie. Auch davon gibt es welche die mir sehr gut gefallen, wenn das Grundrezept interessant genug ist. Das ist hier nicht der Fall. Das ist viel zu lang und langweilig. Immerhin aber auch nicht nervig.

Also, wenn ich das live beim Day drinking in einer Bar irgendwo in den Staaten hören würde, fände ich das nicht schlecht - da spielt eine Band schönen folkigen Americana Rock, der nach 70s und CSNY klingt. Brauche ich das sonst? Nö. Bin ich gerade Day drinking. Auch nö. Deshalb

1001 Album das man hören muss, bevor man mit einem Grashalm in den Sonnenuntergang reitet.

Yawn, another CS&N contribution selected by the fanboy. Its OK, but nothing more than that. Meh.

It might not be fair to pick this particular review for this whinge - however... Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young - and their many other projects - are way too dominant on this list. So far I've counted 18 albums that feature 1 or more members. Nearly 2% of the list is these guys - which may not sound like that much, but I think that at least 1% of that could have been opened up to some other artists/genres. I'm pretty tired of this bland folky rock - I get it was influential and important at the time, we get it, 18 albums though? Shut up.

didnt really like it that much

This album didn’t jump out at me, sounded like others I have heard

A family tedious mostly blues rock album that is about as beige of a 70s blues rock album as there is. When it does explore other sub-genres, it does a fairly mediocre job of it. Played in the pocket, but no genius movements forward in any of the sub-genres. Occasional moments of groove, like on the track "The Love Gangster". Exceptional instrumental performances. The band lives in the pocket, but bland, and the lyrics might be good or bad, but as they are completely indistinguishable from anything else that is going on, who cares? I think you've probably got to a be a big blues rock / country rock fan or an axe head to truly enjoy this. A double album length is also asking a bit too much patience from the average listener. I'm not convinced that this is an essential album for a list like this. Far too much representation by the various arrangements of CSNY on this list already. A rating of 2 for the engineering, production, and in the pocket performance, but nothing more. Since everyone else is afraid to say it, I'll say what no one else will. The only thing that was peak in the 70s was the divorce and drug use. It certainly wasn't the peak of music and I would argue it wasn't the peak of film or tv either. The whole decade is a bit overrated.

Toooo long and bland. 2/5

This album is drunk. Such a weird collection of styles on one album which may work for some artists but didn't work for me on this one. Maybe he needed the entire CSN&Y to focus and pull it together

Dreadfully long and despite covering a fair amount of stylistic ground not that interesting to me. Being a third of CSN seems to temper his less pleasant musical tendencies and is quite enough for me, thanks.

Some songs are OK, but it borders on folk, gospel and country, where some of the songs really don't work for me.

Plodding.

This is way too long but a pleasant enough listen

Actually wasn't too bad for soundtracking a long walk. Nice mood to it. I've listened to much worse 70s albums on here so far.

Too sprawling and inconsistent

This album was not necessarily bad, but it just kept going and wasn't for me. There is some really good stuff here, but it is a little too country for me. Liked Songs: "Song of Love" , "Rock and Roll Crazies / Cuban Bluegrass" , "Jet Set (Sigh)" , "Anyway" , "Don't Look at My Shadow" , "It Doesn't Matter" , "How Far" , "The Love Gangster" , "What to Do" , "Right Now"

the problem with CSNY wasn't that it needed to be bluesier.

A bit of a pleasant surprise but barely. Better than Crosby I guess. That must count for something.

The sound of a guy who knows how to play a guitar, but doesn't know what to play.

Too much country sound

It is a style of music I like, but I don't feel like this is executed very well, or at least others do it better. 2.5

So Stephen Sills makes five appearances on this 1001 albums list. No question his first album with Crosby and Nash is deserving, and that trio gets even better when they add Neil Young for their second album. His earlier work with Young in Buffalo Springfield is also absolutely deserving on inclusion. An argument can even be made that his self-titled solo debut might squeak in, if only on the strength of "Love the One You're With." But there's no "Love the One Your With" on THIS mess of a double album. Trim this back to 10 tracks and make it a single album, and I'd almost certainly rate it one star higher than this. But I'm still not convinced I'd include it on ANY list of albums people MUST hear before they die.

Country blues rock.

The fuck does Stephen Stills have two albums on this list for?! If you ever find yourself in some odd damn position where you must listen to a Stephen Stills album, this one is longer than the one where he's singing to a stuffed giraffe in the snow, but not as painful. Pick your poison .

Not really my thing.

First time listening to Stills' solo (?) music I think. Some songs here were ok but in general it was way too long and not very interesting. Meh 2/5

Generic 70s hippie mush. Future editions of the book need a reassessment of the ground it covers. As well as the two big groups he was in Stills gets two solo records but the representation of the whole of 70s Jamaican reggae is incredibly sparse. Or you could have a Betty Davis album. Or if you want to be more obvious a later James Brown album. Anything but this poor example of an already well represented genre.

Not flattered by following the brilliant No Other by Gene Clark, a much less well known harmoniser who also went solo. The overlong album length only serves to reduce the impact further. Has some moments, but all sort of fades into a wash of harmonies and slide guitar.

Album trop long et pas assez entraînant. On se lasse assez vite et aucun enjeu n'apparaît de tout l'album. Note : 2 A réécouter : Non

oh, well. well done, but once again, not my cup of tea. too coutriesk.

Manassas - “album you must hear” my ass. It started quite bluesy (and was pretty mid at it) but then country joined the sound..sorry, just no.

Not for me, I don't like the classic rock sounds, and I really don't like the country and blues stuff.

I like the album cover (don’t know why) and the bad are really tight but it went on for so long. I preferred the Latin-tinged songs to the blues-y ones (bit of blues overload at the moment). Too much of a good thing is bad, too much of this is worse.

Don’t mind the more rootsy elements that this had, the addition on the fiddle and other instruments was a nice change but besides that positive, this left me feeling very little. I’m finding that particularly after this run of blues albums, that it’s not the genre for me.

One of the albums of all time

Album was a nice mix of blues, country, and even some bluegrass songs, albeit the songs were not memorable and the album was way too long.

This was much too long for what it was. No individual member of CSN(Y) stands out on their own to me. Sorry Steve

I saw how long it was and then went to go check to see what the bonus tracks were and, to my horror, there are no bonus tracks and the album is just actually that long. At least a decent amount of it is pretty good. But it’s offset by sheer volume. I looked during “Move Around” and got genuinely angry that there were 5 more songs left.

Didn't get to the end of this one...it is a bit long, TBH, and, to be frank, pretty boring.

Mostly 70s standard southern folk with a few songs that deviate in pleasant ways. The stuff that drifted from their regular sound was the best.

..

i liked it doesn't matter

Gets pretty interesting during The Treasure, which is song 20 of this 21-track album

Too bad it's not a single LP of Side A and D.

I like Stephen Stills. I do not like 72 minutes of Stephen Stills.

If I could make a short album out of the moments I liked, there’s something here. There’s some great guitar on this record. I genuinely enjoyed “Both of Us (Bound to Lose)” and “Move Around” quite a bit. If I could keep one jammier moment it would be “The Treasure - Take 1” which showcases a lot of the strengths of these musicians. I just wish there wasn’t so much dull country rock, straightforward blues, and hillbilly nonsense mixed in. It made the album a chore to listen to, and something I mostly didn’t like.

Mellow folk-rock, with a country twinge. Not much imagination. The musicians are tight but his voice seems to have very little range. All the songs are similar, which makes the double-album length very unnecessary. It probably could have been a three star album if I wasn’t ready for it to be over half way through it.

Forgettable

Very similar album in sound to "Stephen Stills" but thsi one didn't grab me like the other did. "Don't Look at My Shadow was the only song that impressed me out of the 21 tracks

Average 70s rock/blues jams, and lots (too much) of it. Nothing really stood out to me. Listenable, but forgettable without any knockout hooks or riffs. Frankly, I think his was the most boring voice in CSN(Y).

Showing his knack for creating great melodies and building strong song structure.

On paper, this album should be exactly up my alley but I just didn’t vibe with it. I appreciate what it was trying to do though.

Groupe inconnu. La première face de disque présente un Blues Rock pas désagréable (+1). La seconde de la country/folk sans intérêt (-1), que j'ai dû passer. La troisième est plutôt pop, sans rien d'original. Et la quatrième revient à un blues rock (+1). Le tout est beaucoup trop long ! Pas de seconde écoute envisagée. =>2/5

Još jedan u nizu duplih albuma za koje apsolutno nije bilo potrebe da budu dupli jer je tu jedna ponavljajuća ideja ukupno.

More like Molasses... Let's see, each side of this long, boring album has its own "genre", if you will, but somehow, it sounds the same. Whether it's Slow Rock, Folk Rock, Country, Hard Rock, Pop, it's the same, and quite frankly, it doesn't seem to end. It's not much longer than it hour, but it seemed like I was listening to this album for a day. At least there are SOME redeeming qualities scattered throughout slog. Favorite Track: "The Treasure(Take One)".

i cant say its not good but its a complete snoozefest

Listened for about a half hour. It was ok but there was no reason to go on.

Too much hippy. Too much country.

Couldn't possibly listen to an hour of this, especially not today when I did not have a spare hour. Inoffensive, though.

J’avais hâte que ça finisse! 2,5/5

meh

an album of filler. Jet Set kinda bluesy though. didnt enjoy it and as an album it just sounds like a boring The Smoker you Drink (which cam out around the same time) so not sure about its unique contribution to music.

yeeehaaah - i say while entering the saloon l'album c'est genre un seul son une seule vibe, c'est pas mauvais mais pas bien non plus

Colorado is a good song, the rest sounds just like CSN, who I'm not a fan of at all.

Nothing special, felt more like background noise but i was able to get through this one!

Ehh midelphia

Not the best technical recording and I think the album suffered a bit from feeling sort of flat. The instrumentation is clearly great and the gang harmony is intricate but it gets lost in the squash a touch. There are some solid lyrics in here but maybe it just isn't my speed?

Folk. 2/5

Mediocre 70’s rock and too much of it. There is some good playing but it doesn’t save the songs. The only track I really liked was “Bound To Fall” and was unsurprised to learn that was the one song Stills himself didn’t sing.

Quite enjoyable really

#216/1001. Apparently Mr. Stills forced the band to do multi-day non-stop sessions and called the producer in the middle of the night to test some idea. Here is one phonecall: Ring…ringggg…(repeat 30 times) … ”whatthe…” ”Hi producer, it’s me, Steve! Listen there is one idea I’d like to try out, come over to the studio!” ”What the fuck, it is 4 am” ”Yes yes, but it’s a really cool thing” ”Don’t say it is like last week’s idea of playing some 12 bar blues” ”…weell…” ”?” ”yes, but this time we also put in some lame latin percussion in!” ”Beep beep beep beep…” Ok, this now sorted out of the way, some other opinions about the album: - I've never heard or known about it before - It sounds too American - it is way too long - it jumps from style to style so it feels like at least three albums - The third part (the most psychedelic before the blues reprise) is most interesting -what the ff is with these americana people always singing about gypsy women? I mean did they ever evwn meet one? And why are they always devilish and heartstealers?

Nothing memorable about this. NPC music. At least that's the only bad thing I can say about it, I guess.

(45/100)

Pretty forgettable.

So long. so little going on

It’s amazing that a man who has spent so much of his life in proximity of Neil Young could never learn a thing or two about writing good songs. So. Very. Bland.

2.5 Nothing wrong with it, but it did not catch my attention either. I liked the guitar parts towards the end, especially in The Treasure. I might raise the rating up to three someday if I'm feeling less harsh.

Competent, well played dad rock. Comparisons with Exile On Main St. do it no favours.

Peak self-indulgent boomer sludge.

I tried. The less country songs aren't that bad, but the majority are.

I like Crosby Stills and Nash, why would I want to hear the solo work of the middle child

Well, that was 72 minutes I won't get back. This is a double album where a country rock bloke jams with his mates in obsessive studio sessions and makes a rather boring record.

I am a fan of CSN (and Y), but even I feel there are way too many albums on this list from all but Neil Young from that group. If I’m counting correctly, this is my fifth with Stephen Stills and I haven’t gotten Deja Vu yet (I’m sure it’s there). I’ve never listened to this record before. I forgot it even existed to be honest. After playing it today (in a few sittings) I feel I’ll never listen again. Only one song is being saved to a playlist (Colorado) and weirdly it’s from my least favorite side which is The Wilderness. There were some decent songs here and there, but it was just all too much in the end. And I also don’t need to hear him pretend to have a Southern drawl or a true blues man’s voice either.

Manassas alas is Gasless crevasses. Banjo, ego, and blow.

No me ha gustado, muy generico, ni me motiva a explayarme, otra vez en mala racha.

Not really my style of music. After a while all the songs blur together and sound the same.

Fairly unexciting run of the mill stuff for this genre however did quite like The Treasure - Take One

A bit of rock, bit of country, and a heap of 70s! Nothing grabbed me.

fine but why is this a double album

A bit of America twang guitar, forgettable

This was a decent album, if a bit overlong. It was also consistent with how I feel about other solo albums by various artists named Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young: if these guys worked together they could probably make some pretty good music. Favorite track: "The Treasure - Take One"

I don't think anything from the CSNY stable will really grab me. This has so ok moments but I don't think I'll be coming back to it.

Prefer this to all the Young so far.

Dull and inoffensive but another one I just can't fathom why it's on the list. I don't care who's in the band.

It's not a "must hear" album experience if you start wondering when it'll be over and you're only on track 10 of 21. I doubt the author loves all 21 tracks, or even half of them. An extremely uninspired process of just recording everything with no trace of a cutting table. They needed to pick 8 tracks we could love and go with that. It felt like many tracks ended on a lazy fade out, which is complete BS in 1972. Maybe 20% of this album had moments of grooves, riffs, or progressions that got me bobbing my head. The rest of it had me struggling to either feel focused or hyped, and dying to switch back to an album Innervisions by Stevie Wonder so I could feel something. It's firmly a 2/5 experience, which I didn't need to hear before dying. I submitted this review after 15 tracks, because I couldn't forgive this effort even if the final 6 tracks are incredible.

Blind album, know the artist. I didn't really expect anything other than what this album had in terms of tone and style and I did not like this soft folk rock style very much to begin with.

A nice listen but just not my vibe. Some lovely soft songs with a great sound and tone. Just not for me.

What a complete nothingburger of an album. In my opinion, all the music made by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, both collectively and individually is very redundant with only a couple of exceptions. It is not bad in any way, but it just very quickly becomes background sound to me. There aren't really any things standing out on the album. It was pretty long but it did not feel any longer than it did, so I cannot give it a 1/5 rating. It will be a very very low 2/5.

I didn't find it terrible, just super generic, including the lyrics. Sure there is musical talent here...but it is just so MEH!! I agree with some comments like "something my conservative in-laws would listen to," or "it's verryyyy long." And then comes the fiddles and don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for good fiddling, but even the country part is missing something!!

I believe Stephen Stills appears more often than any other artist on the original album list. Here's hoping you like him, too! ✅✅✅ Colorado

This was absolutely fine

Not my bag. This fucker is so insufferable he basically ruined Elvis Costello's career (look it up).

The balls to make your debut album a double album is crazy. Too crazy because this was too long and I just didn’t care. Fairly average southern rock that didn’t warrant being a double album. Fuck off

A few good songs, but mostly quite boring and unremarkable

Where is Neil Young when you need him?

well sung, well played, well produced just doesn’t connect with me.

I think that was maybe less interesting than the previous one...

Boring album, only a couple of highlights. I'm more of a Neil Young kind of person.

This was a good example of a decent band I just have no interest. I found the music just kept fading from my attention, but I has no problem with the sound in general

Second top review made me hate women again. Doesn't mean I disagree though

This album is like eating reheated Detroit style pizza at 9am in the work break room.

Too long for an album that never really leaves first gear.

hhhhh i know that the california country rock sound of this time is something i'll praise and praise again but this one falls flat for me. songwriting is very forgettable and other than the occasional bluegrass flair, little stuck out to me deserves to be one of the 1001? there's a lot of CSNY on this list even if you exclude Neil Young's solo work so i dont think it *needs* to be here. but if i had to pick one Stephen Stills album i would pick this and then go "wait, why do i need solo Stills?"

Eh mid

meh

meh, 2 stars

I can't remember the last time I was this bored by music. It's like someone challenged him to write 21 versions of the same song. This is the white rice of music. Not good not bad, just boring AF.

# 543 : Manassas by Stephen Mills Manassas – A Musical Road Trip with Too Many Pit Stops I don’t love it, I don’t hate it—Manassas is like that overly chatty Uber driver who insists on playing his mixtape of country-blues-rock throwbacks. It’s long. Like, really long. And while it’s not offensively bad, it feels like it’s trying to be everything at once: country, blues, rock, folk… maybe even a bit of cosmic cowboy. The result? It’s not terrible—just aggressively unremarkable. There are a few catchy tunes scattered throughout, like forgotten snacks in the glove compartment. But most of it is generic, sleepy, and about as memorable as yesterday’s weather. You won’t be humming any of these tracks in the shower—unless your shower is stuck in 1972. In short: not a disaster, just a musical shrug. If you’re into sprawling double albums that sound like a jam session at a dusty truck stop, this might be your vibe. Otherwise, you’re probably better off skipping the detour. If you have to listen to this, look out for : Song of Love Listened: 11/08/2025

Great bass sound. Like many double albums, it would have benefitted from being a single album.

So while I was listening to this album, I was doing something else and forgot the album was even playing when I hit play on another album to check something out… I didn’t even know what song I last listened to, so I figured subconsciously I didn’t want to listen anymore, and therefore didn’t bother finishing it.

Naming your band after a famous Confederate battle in the American Civil War is certainly a flex, but after reading the stories of how the band were made to work on multiple takes of tracks in marathon studio sessions, perhaps Stephen Stills thinks that slavery was a fine idea? Anyhoo, the resulting double album is a bit of a sprawling mess of different genres, but the best section for me is found on side 2 (or whatever the digital equivalent is) which features some nice bluegrass and country sounds amidst the 70s soft rock.

I was not particularly found of what he did with Crosby, Nash and Young, and left by himself (well, with other talented musicians) is no better. Too dull, too soft, too country. And waaay too long.

seems like a wannabe album. not bad but there's much stronger similar sounds both from around that time and more current.

I didn't dislike it but i also didn't love it. Very mid.

Anything CSNY (or its components thereof) has so far been pretty mid for me. Not bad, but doesn't do it for me. 2* Highlights: the end of jet set

boring

Boring

I miss Crosby, Nash, and sometimes Young. This is pleasant to listen to, but I don’t remember most of it. Side 4 was pretty good and I liked Colorado, but I don’t see myself returning to the vast majority of these tracks.

Really not great, no risks at all

and i thought i loved man asses... To be honest, theres probably an album in this style out there i would enjoy, but this is not really doing it. maybe with more edge or a weird sense of humour. hell, a better singer would be a nice start.

Not bad, but didn't quite grow in my heart. Best tracks: Jesus Gave Love Away For Free Colorado 2/5

Enjoyed the album. Took a long time to get through it. Probably won't listen through again but who knows.

meh not bad! i got bored halfway thru the album tho

Folkrock, dobbeltalbum, solid guitar

Sadly this album did nothing for me. The moments I liked were drowned out by filler and mediocre tracks. I gave this album several full listens cause I respect the amount of musical ability and talent that’s in this album. And production wise, this album is as clean as the inside of a container or tide. It’s very musically relaxing and enjoyable but the vocals and lyrics do nothing for me at all. I just found the album as a whole really boring.

Bit all over the place

I just couldn't finish this. This album is all over the place and whilst I admire albums that try to conceptually do something interesting with the form of an album, this just didn't cohere for me. It doesn't help that I find Stephen Stills voice just really uninteresting - and at least on the version I listened to it was often kind of buried in the mix.

This is so not my kind of thing. I hate CSN/CSNY and can't really think of a reason to listen to Buffalo Springfield. And the whole southern/country/rock blending, it's just not for me. I mean there is some good instrumentation and particularly some good guitar parts on this record but for some reason it just doesn't click with me. Maybe because it just sounds so much like a product of it's time. I don't think that's a necessarily bad thing, but it doesn't really seem to have anything new or different to offer. I liked a song here and there from this album but wouldn't seek it out or play it again in full. I found myself hoping it was almost over only to look and see that I wasn't even halfway through. 2.5/5 and rounding down because even though there were some great sounding guitars here and there, I was bored of it much too quickly.

Too much CSN and their offshoots on here. It’s all the same!

1972! alright so this album is average in my opinion. nothing significantly grabs my attention but i am not wanting to turn it off. I am content with just having it as background music. i have also never heard of steven stills before- getting a lot of new music artists recently through here!

One of the most unforgettable albums I've ever listened to. Made absolutely zero impression on me.

Folky rock, almost country. It's enjoyable, but doesn't feel super special.

ok?

Low 2,

Blues garbage

I went from thinking “hey, this album isn’t as bad as I was anticipating” to “bleh, this album is really dragging.”

Given by the fact I tried 5 different times to try and finish this album and just could not manage to ever focus past the 3rd song I think speaks enough to my review of this album. It’s not good. It’s basic and it’s bland 70s folk rock. Which is normally my thing, I frickin love Bob Dylan, but this did not interest me in any way. It really isn’t objectively bad music though so I won’t give it 1 star but it just wasn’t for me so for that I’ll go with 2 instead. I’ll be a generous and merciful reviewer today ig.

I got absolutely nothing out of this album, sorry Steve!

This was enjoyable enough. Can't see myself going back to it, and it's about twice as long as it needs to be, but a good time was had

Not my thing

As someone who's been to Manassass a lot, I feel qualified to say the album and place have a lot in common; the longer you stay the more boring it gets. But for real, this album starts off decent (like a low 3), it has some nice grooves, but as soon as they start breaking out the honky tonk crap I completely checkout. Could have been a low 3 if they made it a 1 disc album without the honky tonk. Mid 2.

Как бы окэй, но я очень устал по итогу. Довольно разнообразно, но как будто бы плоско. Лучшая песня - So Begins The Task.

nah

Found it kind of boring.

Just ok. All over the map. Very 70s sounding. Sounded like b-sides and way too long.

Plain white bread of music

I feel like there’s this whole period from the mid-60s to mid-70s that prioritized blues based rock and it’s a real “I guess you had to be there” vibe for me. It’s not that I think it’s bad. There’s good musicianship on display. I just stop caring after three or four songs. And this goes on for over an hour. 2.5/5

Was looking forward to this as over the years have developed liking for CSN and solo stuff. But this reminds me why I never liked Blue Grass Country rock at the time. Did nothing for me at all. 2/5 12/3/25

Listening to this album allows us to hear Stills’ hard charging blues influence on CS&N. There are some good songs here — classic Stephen Stills funky guitar licks & a great rhythm section. His voice sounds good, though I’m surprised he had an old man tamber even this early in his career. But there are some duds on this album too — several not great “country” songs. And even the better songs sound familiar at this point. Maybe this is where the Stephen Stills sound started (?) but it’s a well trodden path. As an album, it’s a 2 for me.

Ohyayyyy, another 70's "classic." First track has quite the jam-band vibe; I can taste the flat festival beer and smell the ditch weed already. Track two was a fun blues number but the THC kicked in by track four and I began nodding off... good and typical for its time and genre.

Stephen Stills with Crosby, Nash, and Young is amazing. By himself, he's too soft for my tastes.

Thoroughly disappointed with the lack of man asses.

I'm sure somebody likes it. Just tired of this 70s whining.

Pretty self-indulgent double album consisting more of jams than noteworthy songwriting. Some nice guitar from Stills, but it honestly gets lost in a wide variety of blandness.

There are enough good songs on Manassas to make it a great album. Unfortunately they’re drowned in just as many unnecessary ones. Stills and co went full-out here - it’s too much and the end result is a way too long album and not enough outstanding ideas to warrant it.

Tentatively giving this a 2 because, yikes, I was not vibing with this at all today. I do think in the right frame of mind I might enjoy it more. Even so, entirely too bloated.

Hit or miss songs with more misses than hits. I was expecting to like this album more than I did but it was not the folkish sound I expected from Stills. I understand he may have been trying to experiment in different areas but it’s not what I enjoy.

Bland folky bluesy country rock. 4/10

just too long man

Would be great at half the length

Musicianship was solid but this sounded like a massive ego trip. This did not need to be a double album.

First? 2,5/5 Again? 2/5

what a shizo record. there are decent rock songs living alongside horrible country jesus hymns. what do i do now?

Okay, Boomer.

Not important

So a double album, a solo album, and a lack of pure talent, not a great start. I will say that this indeed is not terrible. I like the fact that's more like 4 EPs. It's like a 2.45 for me.

Idk. Long. Largely forgettable. Music was okay though

pretty generic stuff from the 70s

I don’t know what to say. This is a really annoying record. Or maybe it’s just a bad one.

There’s certainly things here I enjoy but… it’s a bit much of the same innit? Like this is all super listenable but it would have been perfectly serviceable as a single album, when it reaches that double phase it’s really not that interesting.

I gave Stills’ debut solo album a ‘possibly-slightly-harsh 2.5 stars’, and I’m tempted to do the same here. Over the 21 tracks there were moments that piqued my interest, but there were also plenty that piqued my disinterest - especially the country rock plodders. None of it prompted any strong emotional or physical reactions in me.

Wholesome, sluggish, far too bloody long.

It’s fine for what it is. It’s well made. But I genuinely dislike this genre of 70s southern rock. It’s nice he tried to throw in some Santana moves. But white boys with twangy guitars are too suspicious to enjoy.

A double LP from the 70's .... yay.... I liked the slide guitar but it wasn't anything special.

A long album with a lot of similar sounding songs

4.5/10. A whole lot of nothing for a double album. This puts the "ass" in "Manassas".

Seems like most popular rock artists of the 1970's, they've made a hit song, added it to the first track of the album, and then immediately run out of ideas and proceed to fill the rest of the album with country rock slop. The worst of which being Fallen Eagle. It's not to say that this album is bad per sey, there's some quality songs on here. It's just that this sounds like a knockoff Eagles, but even more creatively void. This album is way too generic for my tastes. Not only did they run out of ideas, they decided in their infinite wisdom to make this album dreadfully long so you had to suffer through it gruellingly. I was aiming at a 3 for this one, but fuck me it was a gruelling sit through towards the end. I had to take a break to be able to listen to the last 3 songs. Learn to pace your fucking music out, guys.

So fucking boring 3/10

Ihan todella tylsä vaikka kuinka on eri (americana-)genrejä. Liian siloteltu.

The stuff truck commercials are made of. Decent road trip tunes. Not really into the bluegrass jam kinda thing but it's fine. Is Stills even that good of a singer though, really?

I'm not looking forward to thi. but sure. a wall of really annoying music. 2s

Boo the tears of bullshit.

There's probably a decent album hiding in here somewhere. Would be better with a bit more editing, a bit less fiddle, a bit less country and a bit more David Crosby.

Has it finished yet? Not he's just going on about his mate Johnny's garden... Not objectively bad, but I just don't liked it.

My first exposure to Stephen Stills was watching the Americana Music Awards with my dad when I was around 15. He was receiving some sort of lifetime achievement award, and the ceremony closed with him performing Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” with a giant band for about ten solid minutes. For What It’s Worth is a pleasant (if overrated) song, and I was willing to go for it. Then the performance started, and I quickly realized this band was going to attempt to go full Americana and mix at least five genres together—rock and roll, folk, country, psychedelia, blues, and bluegrass were all there, and most of them were not welcome. As the band riffed on and on, as countless white man blues guitar solos rained down, and as old man Stephen Stills kept wailing the by-then meaningless hook (“STOP HEY WUT’S THAT SOUND? ERRYBODY LOOK WHAT’S GOING DOWN!”), I became so utterly disgusted that I resolved never to watch the Americana Music Awards again. Listening to this album, whether fairly or not, reminded me of that experience. There are a few songs I like here, but it’s just a big fat messy hodgepodge that goes on way too long for its own good. Best song: Colorado?

1.8 no standout songs, it was fine but nothing I will every intentionally listen to again

I think I liked Stills stuff in Buffalo Springfield, and the odd CSN+Y thing. I know nothing about his solo career at all. So this is a double album split into 4 parts, I'll split my notes into 4 parts. Part 1- rock - unmemorable. Part 2- Bluegrass - well it's just bluegrass, which is fun, but these are also unmemorable. Also half of it isn't bluegrass. So Begins the Task stands out. Part 3- Folk rock - sounds like Van Occupanther, Midlake obviously were fans of this. It Doesn't Matter is decent. Part 4- Blues Rock - if I'm honest I didn't twig when this changed over from part 3. It's still just more Midlakey folk rock with no standout tunes really. Oh halfway through the treasure it goes Bluesy and worse. Overall, nah.

Es pasable cuando se dedica al rock, pero es mucho menos cuando se pasa al folk o al country

Eine andere review sagts besser: "Like a comfortable, stable boyfriend who is always consistent and dependable, and theres nothing so wrong with the way he looks and he has a decent job and he treats you right, but for some reason you still cant help but feel like something's missing"

The definition of mid. There is absolutely nothing special about this album. The instrumentals are technically good, but don’t make me feel anything, and the singing isn’t good, but it’s not bad enough to warrant talking about. Plus, this is a double album. And no, the second half doesn’t really differentiate itself from the first at all.

Gear: Meze 109 PRO Artwork: 👨🏿🧔🏻‍♂️👨🏻👨🏻👨🏻👨🏻‍🦱👨🏻 Production: 😐🙂👌 Music: 🎸✊...⌛...⌛...🥱🤷🏻‍♂️ Rating: ⌛⌛/5

Yikes, this is really not very good.

Meh. I’ve had Limp Bitzkit and Kid Rock on this journey. Nothing is as bad as that. This is excessive and boring. 2/5

I don't smoke and I don't drink scotch nor do I work on the ranch. This album isn't for me.

Some fairly good blues. Like an ok version of CCR. Didn't leave an impression on me

I really didn't like this album. All of the songs either sound like 1) budget versions of songs that other soft rock bands have done, or 2) waaaaaaaay too country for me. And it wasn't even that country - I think Stephen stills adds this almost twang to his voice when singing certain songs and I was NOT about it. This 1+ hour album was definitely a struggle to get through. Adding 1 star for the few songs I did enjoy, even if it was mostly for the instrumentals.

Easy listening, was fine

Pretty good, especially if your already familiar with CSN. Surprising amount of range here also. Folk rock is not usually my go to though.

Suurin osa levystä kohtuullisen joutavaa ja seassa pari kevyttä leiskautusta. Turhauttavan pitkä ja kokonaisuus pakkasella.

Had some fun tracks but overall didn’t catch my attention

Some albums work as a double album, and do not feel as long as they are. Manassas started to feel it was lasting too long at around the fourth song. Pretty much everything sounds the same throughout.

2.5

Too country/folky for me. It's not bad by any means, but I didn't enjoy it.

Not actively unpleasant, except Fallen Eagle and Jesus Gave Love Away for Free. None were really my favorite. There's nothing interesting, influential, or superlative to put this album onto this list.

Wikipedia says this is split into 4 “thematic sides”. It just sounds like a double album that did not need to exist.

Chill with the double album, just cut this thing into 10 tracks and it would be so much better

Kind of like the stuff with Neil Young but without Neil Young's annoying voice. Vocals aren't like, great here, but they don't annoy me. Guitar work is great. I wish this was an instrumental album, it would be way better. Damn it I was listening to the wrong album. Manassas later became the name of the group, and released another album. OK listening to the correct album. It's like ok I guess. Too long. Some good parts, mostly pretty dull.

Useful point to remind myself that the star rating system is not really fit for purpose. How *i* feel about an album has little to nothing to do with its independent merits. Most of the time, anyway. w/r/t this: heartfelt I think, ponderous I know. I did have high hopes for about half of the opening track but after that it was a bit of a slog.

This album is basically two parts, and it starts out pretty good, with a solid 3, focusing more on psychedelic rock if you will, and in the second part it descends to mediocre country music which is a 1 for me. With all of that said, the final score makes perfect sense if you ask me.

too gd long.... avg mix of blues / country... prob a 3 but im in a bad mood. 2/5. not a fan

Completely fascinating how Stephen Stills clearly had a ton of musical ideas working in this and still somehow barely managed to write any interesting songs.

Not for me

oh boy a double album from the 70s with a genre that im indifferent to! surely i will have a fun time this listen; a surprise that that i ended up not enjoying this album. ill admit side a was pretty ok, hits here and there. but holy shit was side b c d (ok d was kind of ok but still eh) a total snoozefest. if this album was just side a and c ok cool ig albums ok. double album of this though guh. over the course of the listen my score went from anticipating a 3 to dropping down to a 2. i was just tired after the listen. anyway yea its a 2 personal favs: song of love, both of us

Neil Young can get away with doing this kind of boring stuff because he's got a weird distinctive voice

Look, I didn't dislike this as much as I thought I would. But I feel it doesn't bring anything new to this genre, I feel like I've heard it be done before but better. Not to mention it's incredibly bloated, 21 tracks is absolutely absurd. Fav songs: - Song of Love - Both of Us - Johnny's Garden

Didn’t really get in to it

Bar music, bluesy blues bar music, bar music where they do the square dance every Saturday night. Too long bar music. 4/10

A no

Look, its ok. But its nothing that you haven't heard in Crosby Still and Nash. Country blues with a nice voice.

2.5?