Buffalo Springfield Again
Here's where Stephen Stills and Neil Young's on-and-off partnership fell apart for the first time. The liner notes to BS's debut album had announced, "Steve is the leader, but we all are" and described Neil Young as "hot and cold," which in retrospect seems like a warning. Young appears to have at least one foot out the door already, the ambitious "Broken Arrow" and "Expecting to Fly" clearly pointing toward a solo career. And for all the timeless excellence of Young's "Mr. Soul," it's Stills's "Bluebird" that definesBuffalo Springfield Again, much as his "For What It's Worth" defined its predecessor. In one song, the group demonstrates astonishing versatility (from rock to folk to bluegrass), without the saccharine touches that mar Stills's post-Springfield work. But for all their considerable recorded achievements, Buffalo Springfield always felt like a band that never reached its potential.--David Wolf