Buffalo Springfield – Buffalo Springfield Again

Due in part to personnel problems which saw Bruce Palmer and Neil Young in and out of the group, Buffalo Springfield’s second album did not have as unified an approach as their debut, writes AllMusic.

Still, the group continued to make major strides in both their songwriting and arranging, and this record stands as the band’s greatest triumph, peaking at No. 44 on the Billboard Top LPs chart. As of 2012 the album was No. 188 on Rolling Stone‘s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Stephen Stills’ “Bluebird” and “Rock & Roll Woman” were masterful folk-rockers that should have been big hits (although they did manage to become small ones); his lesser-known contributions “Hung Upside Down” and the jazz-flavored “Everydays” were also first-rate. Young contributed the Rolling Stones-derived “Mr. Soul,” as well as the brilliant “Expecting to Fly” and “Broken Arrow,” both of which employed lush psychedelic textures and brooding, surrealistic lyrics that stretched rock conventions to their breaking point.

Richie Furay (who had not written any of the songs on the debut) takes tentative songwriting steps with three compositions, although only “A Child’s Claim to Fame,” with its memorable dobro hooks by James Burton, meets the standards of the material by Stills and Young; the cut also anticipates the country-rock direction of Furay’s post-Springfield band, Poco.

Analogue Production’s reissue skill makes this record sound killer. Mastered from the original tape by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. Double LP cut at 45 RPM, pressed at Quality Record Pressings, and housed in a Stoughton Printing tip-on old style gatefold jacket. That’s how you upgrade a classic.