A sprawling masterpiece, akin to the Beatles' White Album, the Stones' Exile on Main St., or Wilco's Being There in its makeup, if not its sound. Rock, folk, blues, country, Latin, and bluegrass have all been styles touched on in Stephen Stills' career, and the skilled, energetic musicians he had gathered in Manassas played them all on this album. What could have been a disorganized mess in other hands, though, here all gelled together and formed a cohesive musical statement. The songs are thematically grouped: part one (side one on the original vinyl release) is titled "The Raven," and is a composite of rock and Latin sounds that the group would often perform in full live. "The Wilderness" mainly centers on country and bluegrass (Chris Hillman's and Al Perkins' talents coming to the forefront), with the track "So Begins the Task" later covered by Stills' old flame Judy Collins. Part three, "Consider" is largely folk and folk-rock. "Johnny's Garden," reportedly for the caretaker at Stills' English manor house and not for John Lennon as is often thought, is a particular highlight. Two other notables from the "Consider" section are "It Doesn't Matter" (later redone with different lyrics by the song's uncredited co-writer Rick Roberts on the first Firefall album) and "Move Around," which features some of the first synthesizer used in a rock context. The closing section, titled "Rock & Roll Is Here to Stay," is a rock and blues set with one of the landmarks of Manassas' short life, the epic "The Treasure." A sort of Zen-like meditation on love and "oneness," enlivened by the band's most inspired recorded playing it evolves into a bluesy groove washed in Stills' fierce electric slide playing. The delineation lines of the four themed song groupings aren't cut in stone, though, and one of the strengths of the album is that there is a lot of overlap in styles throughout. The CD reissue's remastered sound is excellent, though missed is the foldout poster and handwritten lyrics from the original vinyl release. Unfortunately, the album has been somewhat overlooked over the years, even though Stills considers it some of the best work he has done. Bill Wyman (who guested on "The Love Gangster") has said he would have quit the Rolling Stones to join Manassas.
D**N
Music
On time delivery, only regret it wasn't vynil
B**N
Had My Eye On This
For a while but it was too expensive and hard to find. So I waited and waited. Finally it was available at a reasonable price. Classic Stills with a whole host of incredible musicians. I don't have a lot of his solo stuff to compare it too. Suffice it to say that this is a very Good album that was well worth the price - and the wait. Glad I finally have it now! Cheers!
J**.
Manassas Has Always Been Superb!!!
I know this album so very well, I can play all of the songs on guitar, bass and pedal steel. I was lucky enough to see them live when they were on tour so many years ago, and it was like being in another time zone, on another planet. This album proves, once and for all, that Stills and his bandmates can really cook, and they did on this original double-vinyl album. The country rock sides are superb, with guest visits by Byron Berline on fiddle, and Chris Hillman playing some fine mandolin work. Al Perkins is on pedal steel and guitar, they all sing, and Fuzzy Samuels and righteous Joe Lala keep the rhythm section percolating with high energy. Hillman mentions on the CSN boxed set, that Stills was fun to play with, and when they "were on it" on certain nights during the 1972 touring of yesteryear, they were a force to be reckoned with. I always thought it was Stills' best band to work with, independent of Crosby, Nash and Young. In those years, Stills was going through a hard time with breaking up with Judy Collins, and it shows in his classic "And So Begins the Task." He also pays tribute to Jimi Hendrix and some of the country blues masters with his album-ending "Blues Man." When I saw them live, they had a huge mirror-ball glistening overhead while playing "The Treasure," and it was like being inside a country-opry house with rock music blaring expertly to all parties concerned. A highly recommended album for Stills' lovers. Stephen remains to this day, one of the most underated guitar players alive on the planet. This album shows off his wordsmithing skills his dominant guitar licks, and a band that simply smokes all the way through the album. Five stars, indeed! -James
J**N
One of Stephen Stills Best!
I'm not a musician but I have a few musician friends and they all told me that I need to get this recording and add it to my collection. After one listen, I know why...it's just a really great CD. It's stuff that probably never got much airplay but that doesn't mean much because radio is mostly used to sell things. Radio has never been an outlet for the creatively inspired unless of course you are listening to radio stations that hold fund drives rather than relying on merchandisers.This CD needs to be listened to as a whole. Don't put it in your five disc changer and listen to it with other CDs because you will dilute its strength and diminish its magic. Just listen to it by itself and it will all come together for you.Like I said in the beginning of this review, I'm not a musician so I'm not going to go into the technical side of the music, but I have to tell you that after hearing this CD I can fully understand why my musician friends were pretty amped up about the ability to make music.I am giving it four stars not because I don't feel that it's a classic or a must have but because there are some other recordings that if push came to shove I'd choose over this one...maybe I need to listen to it some more and who knows, maybe I'll end up giving it a five.
C**Y
Congas and Timbales Meet Pedal Steel Guitar
Though I've always been a huge fan of CSN and CSN&Y, somehow this record flew under my radar for many years. I was aware of Manassas but never took the time to listen - until now. What a superb effort on Stephen Stills part. I have to consider this to be as good an effort as anything he's ever recorded. An amazing accomplishment when you stop to think about it as he wrote or co-wrote some twenty songs in remarkably varying musical styles in the short period between his 1971 second solo outing and this record. What makes this album a milestone, in my opinion, is the unique marriage of country and latin musical styles. You wouldn't think congas and timbales would work with pedal steel guitar, but what an innovation. What make this more than just an elongated Stills album is the huge presence of Chris Hillman. He was the perfect foil for Stills to play off of. The vocal blend between him and Stills was excellent, so much that I didn't miss hearing Crosby and Nash singing with him. It's interesting though that "So Begins the Task" sounds very much like CSN and that "Bound to Fall" could have been taken from a Buffalo Springfield album. In any event, I highly recommend this album to anyone who wants to hear what great music used to sound like.
A**E
Just as good as it was when first released.
Timeless music. I completely wore this out on vinyl and multiple 8-track tapes back in the 70’s. After longing to hear it, and subsequently realizing just how worn out both of my vinyl copies were, I was happy to find a reasonably priced cd format available. It has taken up near-permanent residence in my car’s cd player. The whole thing flows seamlessly from one song to another, with a variety of styles that Stills & Co are so notorious for. All elements are crisp and distinct, and the whole journey is as impressive as when this first came out.
H**R
The "Missing Link" between great 1960s classic rock and everything that is good about music today...
The Missing Link between the classic folk/southern rock of the 60s and 70s, and the alt-folk, alt country/Americana of today, including Ryan Adams, Amos Lee, Lucinda, Gillian, Emmylou, Wilco, Calexico, Drive-by Truckers, Connor Oberst, Danny Lanois, Steve Earle, Alabama Shakes, Jayhawks, et. al. A wide-ranging, genre-smashing masterpiece, it's got everything great that we ever heard from Stephen Stills: his best and most soulful voice, his best guitar pickin', his best harmonies, his best steel guitar, his best wah-wah slide (years ahead of his Texas colleague, Joe Walsh). And his best songs. And he has plenty of help, including some of the most legendary musicians in the history of rock: Chris Hillman, Dallas Taylor, and yes, Bill Wyman of the Stones, who says he was close to leaving the bad boys of London for Manassas If I hadn't seen them live at a the Festival of Hope on Long Island in 1972 I would not have remembered, 40-plus years later (!!) that this music is desert island stuff, the core blood DNA of American music.
B**L
Exactly what I thought it was
Multiple genres, all sounds good. Like a best of CSN without egos and clashing tones.
J**
Great ‘70’s album
What a trip down Memory Lane! One of the greatest albums of the 1970’s, nothing beats the sound of Stephen Stills voice and that slide guitar!
P**R
Het cd hoesje had een scheur en wat beschadigingen op de leeskant
Leuke muziek alleen het cd hoesje had een scheur en wat beschadigingen op de leeskant
P**D
un chef d'oeuvre
une référence absolue dans la discographie de Stephen Stills, chris hillman & co; un chef d'oeuvre je vous dis!
K**I
Para coleccionista.
Excelente album de colección, todo el cd me gusto, muy bueno. El proceso de compra tanbien fue buena.
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2 months ago
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