Good to know, my set is on the way from Salina, Kansas. When I used to play records I had the Classic Records and MFSL reissues which were my favorite but I haven't really found a CD release that I like.
I like the idea of the more high end package for this(mine is making its way from Germany to Australia so I won’t have it for a few weeks).If they were going to do this surely they could have added a few cents to production costs and designed individual covers for the discs rather than putting them in slots. And of course I have to complain yet again about there being no CD only option without the 12” frisbee.Always said I would never support this devious practice by giving it my money.However I really,really wanted this and it was only $US70 at JPC.
Spinning the LP version of the new 50th anniversary edition (1LP, 4 CDs). On first listen: More clarity--almost like a murky veil has been lifted from the recording. Good bass extension, though not as low and rumbling as I recall from the original (Music Hall 5.3 TT with Mojo cartridge, NAD amp and pre-amp and B&W 706 S2s and B&W sub). All in all, not bad, but not as ballsy as I remember it to be, though the bass is tight, tight, tight on "Our House." Haven't had time to listen to the CDs yet. Interesting that there's no 5.1 mix on Blu-ray. I do have the Quiex pressing and a 2nd generation pressing and will bust those out to do an A/B later. But on its own merits, this edition is holding up.
Nice set! Received mine from amazon yesterday and - despite a few quibbles - it is an impressive set. Fwiw, i do intend to claim the difference between pre-order and day-after pricing. The faux leather gatefold sleeve is really well-done, with a solid quality feel. LP and booklet are in the left-hand side, while the CDs are housed in recesses on the right. Not sure what folks think about these, but the discs seemed easy to remove with minimal chance of scuffing. But I am really disappointed they couldn’t / didn’t follow thru with the compact packaging of the solo / ‘74 sets - the consistency would have been really cool. So, while it is kinda crummy they didn’t provide the CD-only option, i gotta say - this Rhino-mandated(?) LP-CD format is really well-done. Great essay. However, also inconsistent with their prior archival releases is the complete lack of documentation for the tracks. No recording dates, no personnel. Kinda significant here, especially for the Stills material and whether there was intention or not for inclusion in Déjà Vu or for one of the projects where the tracks landed. (Makes me wonder if perhaps Nash was not fully-engaged on this, as i always assumed he was the stickler for the details who would hassle them through to execution.) Re the tracks themselves - sweet. My mac is down so i’ve not been able do my normal rip-for-mobile-headphone-immersive-listening. But going old school w CDs in the Forester (HK system), have listened to most of discs 2 and 3, and they do not disappoint. My initial thoughts when tracks were announced was that much of this material was not truly “new” but already “out there”, and that much of this was really beyond the making of Déjà Vu, and more about that time period when the solo projects were coming in rapid succession. Very enjoyable. Disc 2 is nice (are these called “demos” per designation on tape boxes?) but disc 3 is choice, with a lotta great near-finished tracks that coulda been contenders. Not to second-guess, but i will, a handful of these tracks could have been added for a really solid expanded 3-sided 50th release. Lee Shore (‘69 vocal), Laughing, Song w No Words (demo), Bluebird Revisited (yes, a great closer for a side 3) Birds (demo), Everday We Live (NY guitar)… Perhaps a bit Croz-heavy, but he was delivering some really great stuff, wasn’t he? And yes, @greektheatre, Crosby was on a roll - interesting thought, what if they would have had Crosby step up instead of waiting around for Neil? Capt Manyhands working studio arrangements for Crosby tracks? But, there did not seem to be much of a Crosby-Stills axis as there was the Crosby-Nash thing. Morever, think Croz really thrived on the looser San Fran community setting that spawned his remarkable first album.
Is there a detailed sessionography of CSNY around anywhere? I’d like to have a go at reordering the box tracks into chronological order.
There are no actual sleeves / CD covers of course, but there are 2 alternates of the cover shot, plus the LP cover for the RSD Alternates release.
Eagerly awaiting first A/B shoot-out by SH Forums member: New Rhino LP v. 2005 Classic 200g Quiex-SV-P vinyl, lacquers cut by Bernie. Thx in advance!
Just finished the whole thing, and I was struck by a thought -- What if CSN had simply decided "why don't we go on as three?" Now, part of that is probably the result of Neil pulling so much of his own stuff off the final product, so the set is very much tilted in the direction of the other members, but I think it's recognized that CSNY was really the result of an "arranged marriage" (some might even call it a "shotgun marriage") at the behest of talent agents and record companies. Originally, CSN were just looking for a backup keyboard player for touring, and somehow wound up with a singer-songwriter-guitarist with a talent and an ego at least as big as theirs as part of the core unit. And I think a lot of us, at the time Déjà Vu was first released, felt it sounded a little disjointed, like 2/3 of a CSN album and 1/3 a Neil Young solo album with backup vocals. (I remember a number of critics making the same point at its release.) What if, instead, they'd found a session player to fill the touring role, and what became this album had been merely the follow-up to the couch album, with the gaps in the tracklist taken up by some of the material we now hear on the other discs in this set? Personally, I have a bit of a paradoxical reaction to that thought: I think, had that happened, the result might have been an overall better, more consistent album. But I don't think it would have had the same impact (nor be getting a deluxe 50th anniversary set). However good it might have been, it simply would have been "CSN's second album," not a major event as "the debut album from the supergroup to end all supergroups" -- the hype from which was enough to ensure it would be a chart-topper and one of the most written-about albums of the year, putting it in the classic rock pantheon. In the end, I'm glad we have it in the form it is now. But you have to wonder how things would have turned out had it been otherwise.
I'm a huge fan of all 4 of them, but often wonder if CSN might have had an even more productive career had Neil not joined them. Maybe just Nils Lofgren instead?
Not completely sure about locations and timings based on what he was doing but NICKY HOPKINS would have fitted perfectly. He knew exactly what to play on a session and would have not written songs, but enhanced the songs by CSN.
I love the sound on the vinyl, but I have nothing to compare it to, this is my first Déjà Vu LP. Some notes: Ooooo, Stills' little wanky wah wah solo in "Carry On" is clear as a bell. And the first space between tracks is dead silent. It's virtually Hoffman-mastered because its crankable. A bit more, at least, than other vinyl I own. I'll make it to the CDs at some point. Starting side two of the LP, this slab o wax is pretty near dead silent. I don't know how Atlantic gets records pressed (or if Atlantic even still exists), but everything I have with the red/green label sounds great. I have four of the Led Zeppelin remastered LPs, same center label as this (I guess it's all Rhino), and just really great sounding to my ears.
Really! Certainly had the creds - from Who, Kinks, Beatles, Stones to QMS, Airplane, Garcia … remarkable career supporting English rock royalty and the cream of San Francisco!
Quite possible -- of course, it is equally plausible that, if they had remained a trio, they might have simply split up after the whole Rita Coolidge fiasco and gone their separate ways for good. From what I've read, it seems that Young had a lot to do with getting them to reunite for the 1974 tour and, while Human Highway never materialized, it seems that was the initial impetus that resulted in CSN reforming in the middle-late part of the decade. It's quite conceivable that, without NY, the other three might have never worked together again.
I actually had the same thought today while listening to the album and I ended up with the opposite conclusion. Admittedly I’m not the bigger NY fan...some of his stuff is okay but even some is his more popular stuff is hit or miss for me. I’d gladly jettison the 1/3 NY solo album for Couch Album 2.0 - even if sophomore albums tend to be less “exciting” I’m good with that and I still think it would have been a hell of an album and given much of the plaudits it’s gotten over the years. I just don’t believe NY’s tracks push it into the stratosphere. They just don’t compare with what the others brought to the album. For just another CSN album, I think the Boat album qualifies. I also am in the camp that thinks NY was one volatile personality too many for this group and it led to the ultimate implosion. Having 4 members led to factions. So even aside from the album itself, I’d have preferred it didn’t happen.
Just listened to the LP from the box set. Best I’ve ever heard this album sound, and I’ve had a few different LP and Cd Pressings. Man. Brought a tear to my eye to hear this, one of my all time favorite albums sound so great
who knows who they would have picked. they wanted a multi instrumentalist who could assist stills. thats why they wanted steve winwood at first
Yeah I have both, just getting ready to spin the 50th right now for the first listen. Might get around to comparing this week.