Album: David Crosby & Graham Nash

Crosby / Nash, SANCTUARY

Can it really be almost three decades since Crosby and Nash last released an album (1975's Wind on the Water)? Since then, the Croz has freebased away a fortune, served time, gone through rehab and had a liver transplant, while Nash has become involved in photography and art-book publishing. Periodically, both men have also participated in various CSN/Y reunions, none of which has impressed as much as this double-album, which contains some of the most memorable material (and best performances) of their careers. They're helped by Crosby's son James Raymond, who plays keyboards and co-writes several of the songs, most notably the opening "Lay Me Down", which recalls the halcyon days of CSN. Their political dander is well up on songs such as the anti-Enron diatribe "They Want It All" and "Don't Dig Here", about the nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain; but there's a strain of gentler reflections in "Luck Dragon", "Through Here Quite Often", "Milky Way Tonight" and "Samurai". There are also songs for departed friends such as "Michael (Hedges Here)" and a pensive piece inspired by the Vietnam Monument, "Live on (the Wall)". Sensitively played and beautifully recorded, Crosby/ Nash rolls back the years with unexpected grace and charm.