** Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

LOOKING FORWARD

(Reprise)

Looking forward's a fine thing, but this reunion after an 11-year break doesn't pay enough respect to CSNY's past strengths. It was explosive four-part harmonies, great songwriting, and pithy-but-burning guitars that made albums like 1970's Déjà Vu and '71's 4-Way Street rock classics. Here only two songs, the bookends "Faith in Me" and "Sanibel," fully employ their mile-wide blend of voices. The writing's mostly laid-back and unmemorable. "Sanibel," despite its vocal grace, sounds like one of Jimmy Buffett's middle-aged slacker anthems. Only Young's "Looking Forward," Crosby's "Dream for Him," and Crosby and James Raymond's "Stand and Be Counted" measure up. The latter's especially potent, with a solid vocal hook and its rekindling of the political spirit that seethed within the culture that birthed the band. The guitars? They take a back seat in the overall scheme, bubbling just behind the drums in the mix of songs like "Seen Enough" when they should be pressed to the fore. Disappointing.

-- Ted Drozdowski