Again

With Buffalo Springfield's 1966 debut, they didn't really perform anything revolutionary with their country/folk rock hybrid sound, and thus, went unrecognized by the casual rock and roll fan of the day. This was a shame, because the band's fusion of the styles proved to be one of the finest of its time. The band featured Stephen Stills and Neil Young, two future rock legends - and this is where their mainstream musical exposure began. The band followed up 1966's debut with their sophomore album the following year. Read on for my review of Buffalo Springfield Again.

Many rock and roll artists fall victim to the sophomore jinx, a condition in which an artist's second album fails to top their debut. Fortunately, Buffalo Springfield does not fall victim to this musical curse. In fact, their sophomore album is the finest release of their three-album career! Everything the first album did, this one does better (but that's not the say the first album was a bad album, because it wasn't.) Diversity was one of the greatest strengths of the band's first album, and once again, it manages to be a strength. From blues rock to bluegrass, from folk rock to mainstream oriented rock, the band covers more musical ground here than they did the first time around. Once again, Stephen Stills manages to be the hero of the day, serving up several fantastic compositions. One of the most interesting compositions he serves up is Everydays, a jazz-oriented rocker that is actually damn good! Neil Young also gets a bit more involved in the songwriting here, serving up his own share of tunes. Young's most popular composition would have to be Mr. Soul, a damn fine classic rocker. It's a shame that so many of these tunes go unrecognized, because every one is excellent in its own way. In the end, this is Buffalo Springfield's finest album overall.

To date (as of June 18, 2004), the only version of this album that is readily available on CD in America is the original issue. I'm really hoping the band decides to remaster this album, because the sound quality really could be better. And hopefully, if and when it's remastered, we get expanded liner notes and bonus tracks - many of the band's little rarities are not available outside their restrictively expensive box set.

Buffalo Springfield Again is an excellent sophomore effort from a band that is unfairly overlooked by so many rock and roll fans. If you only get one release from the band, I would have to recommend the Retrospective hits package, but if you don't like compilations and want to get one of the band's actual albums, this would be one to buy. No album captures the band in its prime the way this one does.

My own solution has been to purchase the 'Best of Buffalo Springfield - Retrospective' collection, which features two Stills' contributions to the 'BS Again' album, 'Bluebird' and 'Rock and Roll Woman', and four of Stills selections from the BS debut LP. I also purchased the bands swan song, 'Last Time Around' to pick up 5 more Stills numbers, in particular the classic 'Questions'. By acquiring these two discs I'm only missing two important Stills recordings, 'Pay the Price' from the debut LP, and 'Hung Upside Down' from 'BS Again'. In the process, I also acquired all of the pertinent Neil Young recordings with BS. Honestly, it's not worth it to me to wade through the rest of the fodder in order to hear those two songs.

'BS Again' is often heralded as the best of the Buffalo Springfield's 3 albums, but whatever distinction one is making between these releases doesn't amount to much. All three of the bands principle composers, Stills, Young, and Richie Furay, were only beginning to hone their talents, so the catalog is uneven throughout. The fact that none of these albums established the band is instructive, as is the fact that only one of their songs ('For What It's Worth')- which had to be grafted onto their first LP - ever cracked the Top 40. In my opinion, 'Last Time Around' is the best, and the debut LP comes in second.

There are only 4 songs on 'BS Again' that do it for me... 3 of Stills offerings, 'Bluebird', 'Rock and Roll Woman', and 'Hung Upside Down', and the Neil Young steamroller 'Mr. Soul'. The remainder, including Stills' 'Everydays' and Young's experimental endeavors 'Expecting To Fly' and 'Broken Arrow' pale in comparison to both artists later work, and only serve to illustrate why the band floundered.

If you're a Richie Furay fan, it may make sense to collect the three individual albums, as only one of his songs made it onto the 'Retrospective' collection. If you're budgeting your resources however, and not everything the Springfield did was essential to you, some serious tinkerin' is in order.

Stills no brilla como Young (imposible hacerlo) pero entrega inspiradas canciones, sobre todo Hung Upside Down, con ese envolvente sonido de su guitarra y lo mismo ocurre con Everydays, otro punto alto. Furay por su parte, está claramente por debajo, y su Good Time Boy (con ecos de James Brown) es lejos lo más flojo, pero se recupera con la tranquila y melancólica Sad Memory. Buffalo Springfield no sólo es legendario por haber tenido en sus filas a dos figuras como Young y Stills. Again es otra buenísima razón