6. Buffalo SpringfieldRetrospective: The Best Of Buffalo Springfield

I have to be honest I love Buffalo Springfield but they never really put a decent album out. They only made two proper albums, and both those are a bit weak, and the third one was cobbled together. When you put the best bits in one place though you get something extraordinary. I know Retrospective is a compilation, which is completely cheating, but in a weird way it sums up what Buffalo Springfield are in my mind. I first heard them in 1988 on a compilation tape and they were kind of the ultimate band for me, the template of how to be just about the music. When they good they were very, very good but when they were bad they were just middling. There was no superstar member, no Morrison, Lennon or Reed. As an early songwriter finding my own voice they were really, really influential. For me it was always about being in a band and it took me a long time to get used to the idea of performing on my own. To a degree I still feel slightly uncomfortable with it even today.