AMG said so. I'm actually almost out of albums from that book that I haven't heard - most of my marked entries are soul / R&B albums that I haven't quite been in the mood for yet.
I was never so big on CSN w / w/o Y, but never actively disliked them either. Here, the whole thing is kind of smooth, in a good way at times, in a bad way at others. It reminds me a bit of Steely Dan actually, sounding so perfect that it's clearly a studio product and not a performance in any real sense. It robs the album of some of its soul when I listen closely (especially with the too-clean vocal harmonies), but it also does make the whole thing weirdly timeless and soothing when I let it get in my bones. Helpless mostly succeeds as a smooth soother, Almost Cut My Hair brings some much-needed ragged edge, and the title track has a bit of each. On the other end of the spectrum, Teach Your Children sounds like a parody. Actually end-of-line rhyming "why", "cry" and "sigh"? Sigh.
And so it goes. To my first-timer, 40-years-later ear, some of these sound timeless, but most of them sound a bit dated, and at least a little overblown. It's a perfectly enjoyable listen that I don't quite buy into the soul of. Worth having around as largely mellow, good time music, nothing that blows my mind 3/5
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