"Deja Vu" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (March, 1970)

Dad's Take:

In case Crosby, Stills & Nash weren't an amazing enough supergroup, they upped their game on their second album by adding Neil Young. The result is one of the truly great records of the period. Of any period. This thing plays like a greatest hits album, only it's not. "Carry On," "Teach Your Children," "Helpless," "Woodstock," "Our House"--it's greater than a greatest hits package.

In addition to the big hits, the album contains many gems. At the top of the list for me is the great David Crosby jam, "Almost Cut My Hair." It's practically an anthem for me.

You're not going to go wrong with any songs on this record. Crosby, Stills and Nash are all great musicians and songwriters with amazing harmonies. If they lacked anything on their first album, it might have been a little bit of edginess. Neil Young adds a ton of that with his guitar and voice and just his Neil Youngness.

Everybody has hit full stride in this album. David Crosby contributes the aforementioned "Almost Cut My Hair" and the incredible title track. Stephen Stills shows is writing chops on "Carry On" and "4+20." Grahama Nash contributes two of the group's biggest hits with "Teach Your Children" and "Our House." As for Neil Young, he almost steals the show with songs like "Helpless" and "Country Girl," as well as his guitar work throughout the record. It's not hard to tell whose songs are whose, but all are made even better by the group's contributions.

The album is a great combination of folk harmony and classic rock. This is one of those rare discs that approaches perfection. The only problem is that it's too short. I don't want it to end.

I don't even want to write about it. I just want to listen and dig it.

Brad's Take:

I was excited to dive into another album by these guys. I liked their debut so much that I went out and bought it on vinyl so I could listen to it the way everyone else did back when it was originally released. It sounds great. And now, after listening to this Deja Vu, I might have to go out and find this on wax too.

Everything I loved from their first album is here. The perfect vocal harmonies, the rockin' guitar riffs, the beautiful acoustic guitars, etc. These songs range from energetic to calming, and it doesn't sound at all forced. It feels so natural. It's pretty crazy that these 4 songwriters could mesh so well together and always be on the same pages.

I really enjoyed the addition of Neil Young. "Helpless" is a great song. I liked the piano in it a lot. And now, anytime my brothers are acting helpless, I can sing the chorus to them: "Helpless, helpless, helplessss." Where has this song been my whole life?

There isn't a song on here that I didn't like. The fact that they could totally nail their sophomore record really says something about this band. This truly is a super group, and they knew exactly how to mesh their superpowers together to win.