The material on Manassas is a wildly varied set of genres that, nonetheless, feels cohesive to itself. The album's four sides are each split into its own segment or style with an individual name - considering that each of these sides generally adheres to one genre or style, I like to think of Manassas as four miniature albums packed into one release. Side A, The Raven, is largely made up of rock with hints of latin rhythms and psychedelia; Side B, The Wilderness, is a pure country rock and bluegrass record through and through; Side C's Consider leans heavily on the tradition of folk and folk rock; Side D ends it off with Rock & Roll Is Here to Stay, a collection of rock and blues tunes. It's a diverse bunch, but they all flow within each other pretty well and do more than enough to showcase Stephen Stills' diverse songwriting ability. All of these experiments work, and not just because Stills is a capable songwriter who can shift his lyrical style if need be; Manassas is a tight fucking group. Largely made up of notable session musicians from the likes of drummer Dallas Taylor to guitarist Al Perkins to former Byrd Chris Hillman, combining this much talent into one group certainly yields a great sounding record, best shown on some of the more powerful moments - the soaring opener "Song of Love," the driving rhythm of "Jet Set (Sigh)" or the lengthy penultimate track "The Treasure - Take One" showcase the energy of the band best. Everybody is pulling their weight the best they can, although I have a feeling that Chris Hillman is one of the more significant people at the heart here - I'm willing to bet that he's the reason most of the country stuff works as well as it does. The Flying Burrito Bros. will do that to ya.
As I've previously mentioned, Manassas is a varied album, and generally the most impressive thing about it, outside of the length, is just how well most of it works. It's clean, confident, and unwavering the face of genre change after genre change. Stephen Stills' songwriting also melds beautifully with whatever he's tackling next, even if it does veer a little bit closely to parody on the country side - even still, it's mostly some light-hearted fun. That isn't to say it's all a fluid work. Obviously at an hour long, it's a bit of a lengthy project, and some of the atmosphere or vibe isn't as consistent at points - Side C is probably the weakest in terms of consistency and overall feel, to the point where the best thing on the side is the rockin' "Love Gangster," co-written by The Rolling Stones' Bill Wyman. Generally, it could be argued that the second disc is a good deal weaker than the first disc, as it takes Side D a bit of time to build momentum, which is to say that we're finally rolling after the first verse of "Right Now." Really, the weakest aspect of this record is the mixing. I saw quite a few reviews that mention Stills being buried in the mix at points, and while it's not an issue that plagues the album, it's more than apparent on some songs - rule of thumb here is that the heavier the song, the more buried Steve is, with some exceptions. It's hard to complain at many points on this record though, especially when he's cutting a better country record than Sweetheart of the Rodeo on Side B.
While Manassas is a supremely lengthy, diverse, and maybe overambitious, it still proves to be Stephen Stills' triumph of his solo career. The Manassas band is remarkably tight and versatile, able to mold and morph themselves into any style or genre that Stephen Stills sees as appropriate for his compositions - considering that every musician here is a session player, perhaps that's not as surprising. Nevertheless, the album's wide-eyed ambition and diversity all works in its favor, and it helps that Stills has penned some of his greatest songs yet on this record. A massive statement, but a commendable and enjoyable one.
RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯
Listen to Manassas.
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