Crosby Stills & Nash - Live It Up

often lightweight, with very slick production, but mostly well-written

Released in June of 1990, CSN's "Live It Up" album usually takes a beating from big fans of the group, and it's understandable in a sense, but the criticism also seems unfair and excessive.

Admittedly, based on this album, it seems CSN have almost completely forgotten how to rock out. Apart from the album-opening title track and "If Anybody Had A Heart"--the latter of which has a lame, overblown beamed-in bridge--not one track even remotely qualifies as a rocker. And even in regard to those two, the title track, written and largely played by Joe Vitale, is driven by a mid-'80s synth riff (the liner notes indicate it was actually recorded in February of 1986); and "If Anybody Had A Heart", written by J.D Souther and Danny Kortchmar, is a jarringly sugary pop-rock ballad (with wannabe-hard-rocker Kortchmar most likely responsible for the aforementioned bridge section).

There's also one more song that wasn't at all written by the group, the listenable-but-generic pop-rock tune "Straight Line", written by Tony Beard. There's also a co-write from, of all people, REO Speedwagon's Kevin Cronin on "Haven't We Lost Enough?".

"Yours and Mine" and "Arrows" would have sounded right at home on Sting's debut solo album, and it's no wonder, because both of them feature Branford Marsalis adding his instantly recognizable soprano sax ornamentation. "Arrows" has a strikingly similar feel as the Sting song "Children's Crusade".

All that said, most listeners seem to feel the group had lost their edge at this point.

When you get right down to it though, the album mostly works. The title track, even if it is a bit strained lyrically, is undeniably catchy and energetic (the chorus, with its echo-y effect, amusingly recalls "Walking On The Moon" by the Police). Stills' "Tomboy" is fun and amusingly lightweight, despite the lyrical twist at the end. "Haven't We Lost Enough?" is an excellent, edgy lost-love number with just Stills on acoustic guitar and vocals and the others joining in on harmonies. "Yours And Mine", despite some distractingly unimaginative sax work from Marsalis, has a surging chorus and is a powerful statement about teens/pre-teens with a predisposition toward violence. Co-written by Nash, "(Got To Keep) Open" is Stills' token Latin-pop number, and it's an irresistible, uplifting feel-good tune. The downbeat "House Of Broken Dreams", with its simple-but-engaging acoustic riff, is a no-nonsense Nash ballad, haunting and extremely moving. The pensive "Arrows", written Crosby and the late Michael Hedges, is a beautifully melodic, flowing, 3/4 time adult contemporary ballad.

Unfortunately, the album ends in fairly weak fashion with the overwrought 'epic' "After The Dolphin" which, with its added soundbytes from news clips, presages Neil Young's "Let's Impeach The President".

Still though, the positives definitely outweight the negatives of "Live It Up". This is a highly recommended album, and with so many dirt cheap copies floating around, this CD should be considered a steal for CSN fans who don't already have it.

(P.S. Granted, the album cover, along with the back cover of the insert, is appalling--who the heck's idea was it to have hot dogs all over the place?? Ick!) May 15, 2007

Their weakest album

This is Crosby, Stills, & Nash's weakest album. They venture too far into pop and not enough rock on this one. The most interesting song on it is "After The Dolphin" where Nash seems to try to remake the C&N classic "Last Whale". All-in-all, this is a very forgettable album. Recommended for hardcore CSN fans only. April 3, 2007

A lost album

Not many folks give CSN much credit for this album. Lost hippie cred writing into the 90s? No mega-classics? Aging voices? Despite these issues, the album isn't really that bad. They carry their protest through the decade of greed, and the first two songs: Live it Up and If Anybody Had a Heart are both worthy of their prior panthenon of art. February 19, 2007

Crosby Stills and Nash haven't produced a bad album...

this one included. The reviews here are absurd. I gave this deserving album five stars to counter-balance all of the overly negative one-star reviews.

This is a good album--as least as good as "American Dream", "After the Storm" or "Looking Forward". There is some great material here--even the title track "Live It Up" which I love!

I'm not sure the reviewers here have gotten past the horrid cover, admittedly a mistake. The music is much better than the cover, believe me.

Frankly, the album was a big surprise for me. My expectations were low (thanks to that blasted cover!) so I was pleasantly surprised by the music.

January 28, 2007

The Worst Ever

What were Crosby, Stills, and Nash thinking? This is awful record. As another review has mentioned, they were only supposed to be releasing live discs and such at this time. It was 1990 and they released this barfbag of an album. It is made under the influence of drugs, alcohol, and constipation. Need I go on? April 23, 2006

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