4/5 Really good !
  by gil (france)
This is CSN at is best wooden music. Graham Nash made a great work choosing the tracks : 4 by Crosby, 4 by Stills, 4 by Nash. Only one is actually a real CSN demo (Marrakesh express) but all the performances are so great, the choice of tracks and the flaw so good, that it's a worthy new addition in the CSN catalogue. And actualy one of it's best. Enjoy !

3/5 Unexpected Ambivalence
  by R. McCalla (SF Bay Area)
I love CSN, and have almost every album from David, Stephen, Graham and Neil, together or separate. Just Roll Tape is one of my very favorites, as is Massey Hall. As such, I was thrilled to learn of this release. I eagerly bought it looking forward to a new three or four month obsession, leading into the 9/18/09 concert (for which I scored 7th row seats). I was surprised to find that "Demos" really doesn't make the high grade.

"Demos" is worth getting, but it lacks the real inspiriation of Just Roll Tape and Massey Hall, in my opinion. The sound quality is very good, and I think Graham did a nice job of weaving together tracks in the proper order, etc. David's "Voyage" was more satisfying than "Demos." If Just Roll Tape had the sound quality of "Demos," it would be perfect. Massey Hall IS perfect in both sound quality and inspiration. I would recommend those other three before you buy "Demos."

I just wanted the hard-core fans to know that this album is "just OK," not something over which you need get yourself in a frenzy.

5/5 The real CS&N
  by Back to the music (Michigan)
I've been listening to Crosby, Stills & Nash since their first release in 1969 in vinyl. I played that record over and over until the lyrics became indelible (I'm sure I'll still be singing these songs at the age of 90). Demo shows what I already knew from seeing CS&N live, as well as the members of the group solo or in various combination over the years. These guys are musicians. They created beautiful melodies, lyrics, and accompaniments and their voices are, well, something channeled from who-knows-where. I liked this CD from the first cut through the last. If you want to hear an acoustic Crosby, Stills, and Nash, without the adornments, this is a great album for you.

5/5 tremendous
  by OH Packerfan (Cincinnati, OH United States)
there are some excellent reviews here that i really can't improve on. this is a better set than Just Roll Tape by Stills, just due to the variety. i also think there is substantially less hiss, at least on most tracks. i was going to write separately to nominate graham nash as the hero of this effort. after all, he (& longtime CSN buddy joel bernstein) produced this. and graham contributed one of only two songs that feature any harmony singing at all, "Marakesh Express", which i like way better than the studio version, the anthem "Chicago" (the only piano-driven song), and the absolutely fabulous "Sleep Song". But, no wait, I have to nominate crosby, because his voice sounds just so sweet, & this contains an almost-same-as-the-studio-version-but-just-enough-different version of "Music is Love" from his 1st solo album (best thing on that disk), & 3 very different versions of his other tracks, "Almost Cut my Hair," "Deja Vu", & especially "Long Time Gone". But no, wait, it has to be stills, especially for his musical accompaniment of cros on Long Time Gone". that song is COMPLETELY re-imagined, & has a tremendous funky groove that, even after following these guys for nearly 40 years, i didn't know these guys had in them. stills also provides solid versions of all of his tracks, including the well known "Love the One YOu're With", and "Singing Call" (which showed up on one of the Manassas albums) and especially "My Love is a Gentle Thing". Well, they are all wonderful.

as others have noted, the signature of CSN was the harmonizing, particularly of crosby & nash. that is almost entirely absent here, so newbies be warned. that said, exactly who is a newbie to csn at this point? any real fan will want to hear these songs in their stripped down, unpolished, primordial forms.

4/5 The Name is True, "DEMOS", just that!
  by The "Reviewer" (Hialeah Gardens, Fl.)
For fans that are not die hard fans, this CD will be hard to like. The songs are awesome, "Almost Cut My Hair" & "Deja Vous" are gems but for the newer fans, post 2000, the rest of the CD will confuse them but that's just my opinion and I like the way they were put out on album much better than the way presented on "DEMOS", hence the title!