If there is one record which sums up the long-lost hippie era, it has to be Dj Vu by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
We all thought it was massively important at the time, but the years have not treated this portentous, overblown chunk of woolly philosophy well.
Today Neil Young, the most talented of the quaint quartet by a mile, produces consistently urgent and relevant music, underpinned by his plaintive voice and raging guitar, while Stephen Stills maintains a wise and dignified silence.
David Crosby and Graham Nash, meanwhile, have ventured into the studio again - and the double CD Crosby/Nash is the predictable, and ultimately, depressing result.
The harmonies, of course, are gorgeous, but they cannot hide a paucity of ideas nor mask the dreadful lyrics. They Want It All, an old hippie's take on the Enron scandal, is particularly embarrassing.
Not surprisingly, the best track is How Does It Shine, in which the old codgers confine themselves to humming. Give me those old Byrds' and Hollies' classics any time.
Updated: 08:44 Thursday, August 26, 2004
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