In 2006, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young reunited for the Freedom Of Speech Tour. In 2008, they premiere CSNY/D?j? Vu, a feature-length documentary based on that controversial tour. But the only place to hear in their ent... more »irety the impassioned performances in the film is on CSNY/D?j? Vu Live. A mix of CSNY classics and more recent antiwar material from Neil Young, CSNY/D?j? Vu Live marks the return to the socio-political stage of David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young in a musical d?j? vu. 16 tracks.« less
In 2006, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young reunited for the Freedom Of Speech Tour. In 2008, they premiere CSNY/D?j? Vu, a feature-length documentary based on that controversial tour. But the only place to hear in their entirety the impassioned performances in the film is on CSNY/D?j? Vu Live. A mix of CSNY classics and more recent antiwar material from Neil Young, CSNY/D?j? Vu Live marks the return to the socio-political stage of David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young in a musical d?j? vu. 16 tracks.
"I'll ignore the politics of previous reviews, though the tour had strong (and for me postitive) political impetus.
The music overall is very good, clearly Neil's driving and the boys respond. The mix at some points seems a little muddy both for the guitars and harmonies; other times not. And most of Neil's songs are straight up from "Living with War"; no reworks or extended jams a la Crazy Horse or 4 way street.
But what is here is good. Military Madness rocks and has two awesome (but short) Neil distortion workouts. I love Let's Impeach the Prez even if no different from studio. Deja Vu and Wooden Ships are resurrected magnificently. Crosby and Nash still sound great together! Ships also has some great guitar interplay. For What It's Worth does get an overhaul, kind of bluesy and heavier,which I like. My favorite from "Living with war" is Roger and Out and it is faithfully recreated here. Freedom and Children are both excellent; vocals very strong.
I would love some more guitar workouts (Wooden ships is great but brief), but overall this is a solid release. CSNY might have lost 1/2 a notch, it ain't 1969, but they still deliver. PS - check out photos! Stills looks like holy Hell!!!"
Best CSNY Ever?
Kenneth M. Goodman | Cleveland, Ohio United States | 07/28/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I don't want to be insulting, but if you dis this CD for purely political (not musical) reasons, you're being idiotic. This CD is fantastic, has heart and rocks surprisingly hard. My favorite tracks are Military Madness, Let's Impeach the President and the super rocking Shock and Awe. I enjoyed how, at the end of Let's Impeach the President, half of the audience boos.....and Mr. Young replies, "Thank you, freedom of speech." I was also surprised how well older songs like Deja Vu and Wooden Ships are performed...both excellently. Stephen Stills sounds & plays great on For What It's Worth...my only minor quibble with the CD is, I would've liked to hear more of Mr. Stills...but it doesn't matter. This CD is GREAT! If you're considering buying it but are hesitant due to the age of the performers or whatever, I urge you to ignore your hesitancy and get it. What a pleasant surprise it is."
Truly awful
William Merrill | San Antonio, TX United States | 10/02/2008
(1 out of 5 stars)
"As a fan of C/S/N/Y, I own dozens of albums by the four guys in various combinations and solo. Again in different combinations, I've seen them in concert several times and enjoyed the shows each time. But this Deja Vu Live CD is excrutiatingly bad. It's a bad recording, something like a third-rate soundboard mix. Their harmonies, once a trademark and a major reason I've liked their music, are at different volume levels so they don't sound balanced. (Ex., on the sadly poor version of "Find the Cost of Freedom," C is at about volume 4 out of 10, N is at a 6, S is a 3, and Y is a 7. So the harmonies aren't right at all.) The vocals, guitars, etc. are often very sloppy, I think possibly from boredom at having to play these songs for the five thousandth time or whatever. Stills has a terribly muttered and slurred way of singing "For What It's Worth" that made me cringe. And on and on. There are just too many problems with this CD for me to list them all!"
Freedom of Speech Alive & Well, so is the music.
James Harrison | Melbourne, Australia | 07/28/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is both an excellent live album and soundtrack of the film, the old boys are alive and well. The political content is upsetting a few people,apparently, and even more so considering it is coming from a Canadian(the songs attacking the government were written by Young), however the U.S promotes itself as leader of the Free World and should expect feedback from people of the free world. Fortunately most people understand this.
The record kicks off with the band and audience singing a rousing version of Crosby's "What Are Their Names?" Then Young's solo piano introduces the Living with war theme. "After the Garden" and Nash's "Military Madness" are followed by Young's "Let's Impeach The President" that concludes with much booing and heckling together with applause, about a 50/50 mix, and then Young's wry comment - "Thank you, freedom of speech".
The record contains several Crosby and Nash cuts from their back catalogue as well as Stills' "For What It's Worth" the remainder are from Young's Living With War CD's and the added vocals of CS&N give these new life.These guys still have wonderful voices, a crack band with Chad Cromwell, Rick Rosas, Ben Keith and Spooner Oldham and thought provoking lyrics that make this a very entertaining piece of music.
"
What's here is good
Martin | Prosper, TX | 07/29/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"While it's good to have some of CSNY's live show documented, it's seems like a little more could be made available. Yeah, Neil has assured that this "soundtrack" complements his documentary and it does. But, what about the rest of the songs peformed at the shows? CSNY was doing 2 1/2 or 3 hour show and trotting out a really excellent set. Hopefully, the team (Neil) will take the fans into consideration and make more available when the DVD is released. (What about a bonus DVD of one of the concerts to complement the documentary? That would be nice).