So Far
It's tempting to follow the post-Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young career of Neil Young and underestimate this early band as a lighter, commercial diversion. But their fourth album, a concise retrospective of highlights, remains a sweeping '60s document, full of pastoral optimism and the virtues of (even today) spectacular-sounding harmonies. These songs continue to dominate AOR radio, and the best--the searing "Ohio" (written after the Kent State massacre), the utopian "Woodstock," and the ominous, graceful "Wooden Ships," the band's best performance--have an artful, mystical sweetness.--Roy Francis Kasten