Although
Crosby, Stills & Nash had, in effect, been together for well over a decade when
Daylight Again (1982) was issued, it was only their third studio long-player of concurrently new material. Initially, the project began as a collaborative effort between
Stephen Stills (guitar/banjo/keyboards/percussion/vocals) and
Graham Nash (guitar/keyboards/percussion/vocals), as
David Crosby was descending into a self-induced state of perpetual drug dependency. However,
Crosby was included, although arguably in name alone, and his hauntingly lyrical "Delta" stands as one of his finest contributions. Perhaps the most telling element in the trio's state of affairs was the addition of
the Eagles'
Timothy B. Schmit and
CSN bandmember
Mike Finnigan (keyboards/vocals) on vocals throughout. Despite that obvious setback, the other two primary namesakes supply some genuine and uniformly excellent material to the proceedings. Among the most notable are
Nash's "Wasted on the Way" -- which was lyrically an ode to the status of the group's union -- and
Stills' collaboration with the Curtis Brothers on "Southern Cross." Both were extracted as singles and became among the best-known tracks not only on
Daylight Again, but also in the post-'60s
CSN canon. The disc also includes a few thoroughly affective ballads such as "Song for Susan" -- which
Nash wrote for his spouse -- and
Stills' equally emotive "You Are Alive." By contrast, the album's opener, "Turn Your Back on Love," as well as "Too Much Love to Hide" and "Since I Met You" are all up-tempo, full-throttle rockers co-composed by
Stills, and include some of the guitarist's most blistering fretwork under the
CSN moniker. The disc concludes with
Stills' lone solo composition on the album -- a two-part track marrying the newly penned Civil War elegy to a chorus of the 1970 anthem "Find the Cost of Freedom." Again,
Crosby's absence is noted with the incorporation of
Art Garfunkel's vocals where
Crosby's should have been.
Daylight Again is by no means as insipid as their next studio effort,
Live It Up (1990). In the wake of their eponymously titled debut and the
CSN (1977) follow-up, there is a notable change in the direction and quality of material. ~ Lindsay Planer