It was a critical comeback for Stills and continued his commercial success by being certified Gold only a month after being released and peaking at number 4 on the US charts.

This allowed Stills to record the album around the clock, waking up band members in the early hours of the morning when an idea struck.

Al Perkins and Dallas Taylor had a rule where they would not perform any more than seven takes for a single track, so often Stills would stay in the studio editing after having released the band at 4 or 5 am.

[2] The band then flew to Stills' house in London in January 1972 to finish recording and mixing the album and to rehearse for an upcoming tour starting in March 1972.

Side 1, The Raven, is a composite of rock and Latin sounds that the group would often perform in full live exactly as presented on the album, including the segues that connected several of the songs.

Side 2, The Wilderness, mainly centers on country and bluegrass, and features Chris Hillman on mandolin and fiddler Byron Berline.

Chris Hillman was singled out as an "importance in the success of Manassas and in the comeback of Stills, he can't be over-stressed [...] He's a masterful musician whether he's playing bass, guitar, or mandolin, and his boyishly pure, uncolored voice can carry a lot of emotional weight.".

[17] In positive reviews, Record World called it "music of the highest order",[18] Cash Box said it will "convince you of Stills' worth",[19] and Billboard said it "offers loads of class material".

They play them like the Grateful Dead, with a sincerity and ability that one does not always detect in the work of those exclusively involved in the original idiom".

[26] All tracks are written by Stephen Stills, except where indicatedManassas Additional players Technical Special thanks to Bruce Berry & Guillermo Giachetti, Daniel J. Campbell, Michael John Bowen, Michael O'Hara Garcia, Buddy P. Zoloth, Edward Astrin & Ahmet Ertegun position position Year-end album charts

[45] John Sebastian, Fred Neil guest & Graham Nash guest on 22 July Stephen Stills Manassas: In Concert – broadcast on 16 Nov 1972 Manassas Tour setlist Typical tour set list All songs written by Stephen Stills, except where noted.