CSN&Y;: 2nd-Class Reunion

**”AMERICAN DREAM.” Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Atlantic.

“Deja Vu” all over again? Not even close. More like “Quadrophenia II”--four distinct personalities, seemingly at odds musically, brought together again. The goal? Maybe to try to reclaim the status as the Fab Four of the Woodstock nation, at least judging by all the peace and love vs. the big bad government stuff on this record. Sorry, guys.

Of course, it was that same formula that seemed so special on CSN&Y;’s first go-’round 18 years ago. Then again, maybe it was just the mood of the times that made the earth-toned sounds of early CSN&Y; seem magical.

CSN&Y;, 1988 Edition, breaks down thusly: an erratic Young, an indifferent Stills, a saccharine Nash and--surprise--a renewed Crosby, who turns out to be the sole improvement over CSN&Y;, Early ‘70s Edition. Never does this feel like a real group effort--each of the four pretty much handles his own songs, with the group harmonies tagged on apparently just to show they all actually worked together. It’s not that the original was any more of a coherent group effort, but it just doesn’t hang together as well this time out.

Not surprisingly it is Young, the most forceful musical personality of the four, who dominates (he wrote or co-wrote seven of the album’s 14 tracks). They’re not great Young songs (best is the folkie “Feel Your Love,” which makes the most of the harmonies), but in contrast to Stills’ faceless offerings and Nash’s three cloying entrees--enough already with the simplistic environmental anthems!--they’re passable.

Crosby, back from the near-dead (his publishing company is listed as “Stay Straight Music”), fares best. His pounding “Nighttime for the Generals” is a routine conspiracy theory tract, but he belts it out so hard that it more than gets by. The big winner, though, is “Compass,” in which the singer--his once-considerable vocal powers fully regained--revives the dreamy/jazzy sound that’s been his trademark since the Byrds’ “Renaissance Faire.” It’s such an effective piece about Crosby’s recent emergence from his drug haze, he should have saved it for his upcoming solo album. It probably would have found better company there.