Buffalo Springfield is the stuff of which legends are made. All the individuals in the group went on to great stardom or creativity - Neil Young, especially, became a acknowledged giant of rock music. The other members (Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, Jim Messina) would also achieve much (with Crosby Stills & Nash, Poco, and Loggins & Messina, respectively), but, with hindsight, their accomplishments during their time in Buffalo Springfield were probably their musical zenith. Unfortunately, Young and Stills both had mammoth egos, and the group made just three albums before they reached critical mass and blew apart. Those three albums, though (along with the Parsons-Burrito-Byrds oeuvre), defined country rock.

The debut, Buffalo Springfield (1966, also available in a deluxe version offering remastered stereo and mono mixes) bore their signature tune, Still's protest song "For What It's Worth," plus the less foreboding "Sit Down I Think I Love You". Their second, most fully realized LP, Buffalo Springfield Again (1967), includes Young's "Mr. Soul" and Stills' "Bluebird." The finale Last Time Around (1968) - recorded after Neil Young departed - is a bit of a comedown, indicating the sonorous route most of the band would subsequently follow. Nevertheless, "On The Way Home," "I Am A Child," and "Kind Woman" are great songs.

While Retrospective (1969) is a nice wrap-up, the individual albums have all been sharply remastered and are a better purchase - after all, there's just three of them.... I found Buffalo Springfield's much-ballyhooed, 4-CD Box Set (2001) to be something of an overblown mess. Filled mainly with rare and unreleased treasures, it mysteriously includes just the first two studio albums, forcing fans to buy the third separately. And, the one cut the box absolutely should have had - a magnificent, nine-minute take of "Bluebird" never released on CD - is absent. Sheesh... supposedly, Stills wanted it that way.