Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Crosby, Stills & Nash's eponymous debut album marks the point where rock music transitions from the heady explorations of the 1960s into the burnished self-reflections of the 1970s. Upon its release in 1969, the album ushered in a new era, one where revolutions turned inward as the music got quieter and softer, creating a soundtrack for a generation easing into adulthood. Maturation looms large in the collective work of David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash, who were occasionally joined by Stills' former Buffalo Springfield bandmate Neil Young, who was added to help fill out the band's sound as they headed out on tour that wound up shattering all previous records for ticket sales. CSN(&Y) made music for grown-ups during their '70s heyday, an aesthetic that eventually evolved from folk-rock into adult contemporary pop in the 1980s. The transition wasn't necessarily smooth. The members often quarreled, splitting into side projects -- Crosby and Nash worked as a duo for a while, Stills led a band called Manassas for a spell in the '70s -- but Crosby, Stills & Nash always reunited (sometimes with the assistance of Young), as the chemistry and cultural impact they had as a group proved to hard to resist.