After the Storm (Crosby, Stills & Nash album)

After the Storm is the thirteenth album by Crosby, Stills & Nash, their fifth studio album in the trio configuration, released on Atlantic Records in 1994. It would be their last release on Atlantic, excepting reissues, for almost two decades. It peaked at No. 98 on the Billboard 200, the lowest charting position of their eight studio albums. It is also their lowest selling album, with sales near 200,000.[1]

After the Storm
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 16, 1994
RecordedJanuary 27 – July 1, 1994
GenreRock
Length45:56
LabelAtlantic
ProducerGlyn Johns
Crosby, Stills & Nash chronology
Carry On
(1991)
After the Storm
(1994)
Looking Forward
(1999)

Background and recording

CSN toured extensively in the early 1990s, playing over 200 shows from 1990 through 1992, but took a break in 1993.[2] In the interim since the group's previous album, 1990's Live It Up, Stills and Crosby had both issued solo albums, Stills Alone in 1991 and Crosby's Thousand Roads in 1993, while Nash had compiled the 1991 box set. With the 25th-anniversary of the release of their debut album approaching, the group reconvened to have an album in stores during 1994.[3]:277

The album was recorded at studios in the Los Angeles area. "Only Waiting For You," "Camera," "It Won't Go Away," "In My Life," "Bad Boyz," "After The Storm," and "Panama" were recorded at O'Henry Sound Studios in Burbank, California. "Unequal Love," "Till It Shines," and "These Empty Days" were recorded at Jackson Browne's Groove Masters in Santa Monica, California. "Find A Dream" and "Street To Lean On" were recorded at Ocean Way Studios in Hollywood.

Unlike the group's three previous albums, other than a Beatles cover all the compositions are by the principals with no outside writing contributions. The sessions were somewhat of a multi-generational affair, with Stills' children Jennifer and Christopher appearing as well as Ethan Johns, the son of the album's producer, Glyn Johns. Johns was the first producer to receive credit on a CSN album without the principals.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[4]
The Music Box[5]

To promote After the Storm, the group played almost 100 concerts in 1994 including Woodstock '94, and played both The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with David Letterman.[3]:287 However, according to Nash, even with the high visibility of the Woodstock anniversary festival and the television appearances, Atlantic did little in the way of promotion, which contributed to the album's low sales.[3]:287

The Music Box called After the Storm "the best thing Crosby, Stills, and Nash has released in a long, long time", saying that Stills' songwriting talents had been revitalized and Nash's performance was dramatically improved. The reviewer singled out "Camera", "It Won't Go Away", and "Unequal Love" as the highlights.[5] In contrast, a retrospective review in Allmusic opined that "Only 'These Empty Days' and the title cut, both from Graham Nash, have any of the old magic in them. The rest sounds like tracks made for solo discs that never saw the light of day and were combined in this form so as to sell product."[4]

Like those on Live It Up, none of these songs found a permanent place in the group's repertoire, with only "Unequal Love" and "After the Storm" revisited a handful of times beyond the 1994 tours.[6] On their 2011 tour without Stills, however, Crosby & Nash did perform "Camera".

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Lead VocalsLength
1."Only Waiting for You"Stephen StillsStills3:57
2."Find a Dream"Graham NashNash3:51
3."Camera"David Crosby, Stephen StillsCrosby4:18
4."Unequal Love"Graham NashNash4:44
5."Till It Shines"David CrosbyCrosby4:19
6."It Won't Go Away"Stephen StillsStills with Crosby4:17
7."These Empty Days"Graham Nash, David CrosbyStills with Crosby & Nash2:30
8."In My Life"John Lennon, Paul McCartneyCrosby, Stills & Nash2:20
9."Street to Lean On"David CrosbyCrosby3:36
10."Bad Boyz"Stephen StillsStills4:16
11."After the Storm"Graham NashNash3:34
12."Panama"Stephen StillsStills with Crosby & Nash4:15

Personnel

  • David Crosby – vocals; acoustic guitar on "Find a Dream" and "After the Storm"; national guitar on "After the Storm"
  • Stephen Stills – vocals; guitars all tracks except "Street to Lean On" and "After the Storm" bass on "Only Waiting for You" and "It Won't Go Away"; piano on "Only Waiting for You"
  • Graham Nash – vocals; acoustic guitar on "Find a Dream", "Unequal Love" and "After the Storm"; harmonica on "Find A Dream", "Unequal Love" and "In My Life" piano on "Find a Dream"
Additional personnel
  • Ethan Johns – drums on "Find a Dream", "Unequal Love", "Till It Shines", "These Empty Days", "In My Life", "Street to Lean On", "Bad Boyz" and "After the Storm"; percussion on "Find a Dream", "Unequal Love", "Till It Shines", "Bad Boyz" and "After the Storm"; guitars on "Find a Dream", "Till It Shines", "These Empty Days", "Street to Lean On" and "Bad Boyz"; mandocello on "In My Life"
  • Mike Finnigan – organ on "Only Waiting for You", "Till It Shines", "It Won't Go Away", "Street to Lean On" and "Bad Boyz"; synthesizer, vocals on "Only Waiting for You"
  • Chris Stills – high string acoustic guitar on "In My Life"; Spanish guitar on "Panama"; piano on "These Empty Days"
  • Michael Hedges – guitar on "Street to Lean On"
  • Craig Doerge – keyboards on "After the Storm"
  • Benmont TenchHammond B-3 on "Unequal Love"
  • Joe Rotondi – keyboards on "Panama"
  • James "Hutch" Hutchinson – bass on "Find a Dream", "Unequal Love", "Till It Shines", "These Empty Days" and "Street to Lean On"
  • Alexis Sklarevski – bass on "Camera", "Bad Boyz" and "Panama"
  • Daniel "Freebo" Friedberg – bass on "After the Storm"
  • Rick Marotta – drums on "It Won't Go Away" and "Bad Boyz"
  • Tris Imboden – drums on "Camera" and "Panama"
  • Jody Cortez – drums on "Only Waiting for You"
  • Rafael Padila – percussion on "Camera" and "Panama"
  • Lenny Castro – percussion on "Only Waiting for You"
  • Jen Stills – backing vocals on "After the Storm"

References

  1. "RIAA - Soundscan". Greasylakes. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  2. Setlist.fm website retrieved 23 August 2015
  3. Zimmer, Dave. Crosby, Stills & Nash The Biography. Da Capo Press 2000, ISBN 0-306-80974-5.
  4. After the Storm at AllMusic
  5. Metzger, John (July 1995). "Crosby, Stills, and Nash - After the Storm (Album Review)". Musicbox-online.com. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  6. Setlist.fm website retrieved 23 August 2015
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