Neil Young is not exactly the most neutral person in the world. His discography is filled with jagged guitar solos, caustic finger pointing, lawsuit-causing genre jumps, and a fierce artistic integrity. Even among his listeners, there is no middle ground. Those who love him love him fiercely and without apology. Everyone else can’t stand him.

So anyone who thought tossing him into Crosby, Stills & Nash would keep the boat from tipping doesn’t know who they’re dealing with.

The pastoral folk rife with close harmonies and chiming acoustic guitars is still here, but it’s crowded by more aggressive, bluesier tunes sung more by individual singers than a collective polyphony. Young may have only written two and a half of the songs, but his lead guitar menaces everything else around him on the rest of the group’s songs. Crosby and Stills seem to have picked up on his roughness too, particularly on the hard rocking Almost Cut My Hair and the ominous 4+20 (which could have been about five minutes longer if you ask me). Meanwhile, Graham Nash does all he can to keep the group rooted in their debut, bringing the two peaceful songs on the record: Teach Your Children (as seen on The Office) and Our House, an ode to domesticity. While these songs would have fit nicely on their previous record, here they distract from the riots around them, sounding like label-mandated singles.

After listening to this album, it’s no surprise that Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young all released solo records the following year. While their debut sounds like the work of three people with a singular vision, Deja Vu sounds like four people playing eachother’s very different songs–more White Album than Abbey Road.