Stephen Stills: Stills

Stephen Stills: Stills

Album #249 - June 1975

Episode date - July 2, 2025

The Top 500 of The Top 40
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    Stephen Stills was responsible for creating (or being part of) some of the best ‘classic’ rock albums for a ten-year run from 1966-1975, which is to say that “Stills” is his last release that could qualify as a true ‘classic’.

    Some would even argue that this album does not stand with his best work, but I would argue that perspective with vigor, because I think this may the best work he’s ever done. There is a focus to the songs on “Stills” that holds them together. The fundamental theme is of a man struggling for peace of mind while warily embracing his newfound luck in love. When this marriage went south in only a few short years, so did the open sensibility that made “Stills” such an attractive album.

    His subsequent perspective would become much darker, and sometimes even a bit creepy. Songs like “Dark Star” and “Make Love to You” sound outright lecherous, which I found disconcerting after this ambivalent embrace of love. At his best, Stills is a romantic, and here he allows us to take peek into his soul at a time when he also seemed to be at his most vulnerable. He consistently addresses the passage of time throughout the album (“Turn Back the Pages,” My Favorite Changes,” “As I Come of Age”) while wearing his heart on his sleeve. He sounds like he really wants to be happy, but is uncertain of his fate, and that sense of push and pull is what makes “Stills” a very intriguing listen.

    Featured Tracks:

    Turn Back the Pages

    My Favorite Changes

    My Angel

    In the Way

    Love Story

    To Mama from Christopher and the Old Man

    First Things First

    New Mama

    As I Come of Age

    Shuffle Just as Bad

    Cold Cold World

    Myth of Sisyphus

    June 1975 - Billboard Charted #19

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