It's Not Sam . . . It's The Beatles! (Sort Of)

The Good: Some great covers of songs by the Beatles
The Bad: Nothing explosively brilliant in the reinterpretations
The Basics: In a remarkably average musical outing, decent artists are paired with a song by The Beatles that will not challenge them and they rise to the occasion.


I remember watching and enjoying I Am Sam (reviewed here!), but truth be told, I do not recall anything especially wonderful about the soundtrack while the movie was going on. I mean, Batman Returns, The Last of the Mohicans and The Empire Strike Back all had soundtracks that had (at least moments) tracks that were instantly recognizable or truly resonated with me. So, as I've been looking up more music on some of my favorite artists (Heather Nova, Sarah McLachlan, etc.) I kept seeing "Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture I Am Sam" coming up in my searches and I was a little surprised. It became something I figured I might as well pick up and give a spin.

With seventeen tracks, clocking in at 55 minutes, this album is a celebration of the music of The Beatles. Seventeen different artists each covered a different Beatles song. Truth be told, none of the tracks sparked a single memory from the movie, which as I understand used the cover versions of the Beatles songs because Michael Jackson was charging $300,000 for use of each original track. So, this review will instead focus on I Am Sam (the soundtrack album) as an album independent endeavor.

It's dull. It's not entirely bad or anything, but it is dull. All seventeen tracks are simply the individual artists singing songs by The Beatles. This is a special disappointment for me as a fan of Heather Nova. Heather Nova does a cover of Bruce Springsteen's classic "I'm On Fire" on her live album Wonderlust (reviewed here!). What makes her cover different from an artist simply singing another artist's song is that Nova makes the song her own, changing the gender of the subject of the song, changing the pace and basically reinterpreting or recreating the song. Perhaps the best cover song I've ever heard was Sophie B. Hawkins's reimagining of Bob Dylan's "I Want You" from her debut album (reviewed here!). It was such a profoundly different song that when I first heard Dylan's hokey honky-tonk original I was baffled. I said, "I recognize the words, but this song is terrible! What is it?!" Hawkins completely reimagines the song and she owns it. So profound is her version, she owns it!

There is nothing remotely close to that on I Am Sam. This is not so much artists "covering" the Beatles as they are singing the songs of the group. They don't interpret, they don't add their own flavor, they don't have the zest of the artist performing the song. So, for example, Eddie Vedder sings "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" and it doesn't push his range, it does not challenge him and he does not challenge it. He keeps it safe and Beatle-esque. Song after song, it's current artists singing Beatles songs. They aren't performing them, they're just singing them. Were I that Simon guy from "American Idol," I'd likely be more succinct and say "It's pure karaoke!"

And it is. All seventeen tracks are perfectly chosen to fit the artist who sings them. So, for example, "Blackbird" sounds perfectly natural coming from Sarah McLachlan and The Black Crowes singing "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" sounds like they've been singing it forever. Honestly, if Eddie Vedder was going to sing a song by The Beatles, "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" would have been one of the three I'd figure he would do and do well. If, that is, I was trying to match artists to a song they already sound like.

Even Heather Nova doing "We Can Work It Out" has the feel of fitting her range and ability. So, in short, I Am Sam has the songs, but it's nothing terribly new. One spin for the novelty of hearing the songs by the Beatles performed by artists you care about will likely do it for you.

The only real exception is Nick Cave singing "Let It Be." Cave does not make significant changes to the song, but he sings the song with his distinct baritone and sense of rhythm (he puts some stops in throughout the song that seem very much him). As I understand it, the European version has three additional tracks, including Cave singing George Harrison's "Here Comes The Sun." I would have liked to hear that.

But, as I said, this is a very safe album. This is Nick Cave singing "Let It Be," not "Octopus's Garden." This has Sheryl Crow singing "Mother Nature's Son," not They Might Be Giants covering "Yellow Submarine." It's a collection of safe songs performed safely by safe artists (how about a NIN - or Marliyn Manson - cover of "Revolution" or "Help!") and in that way, it's a serious disappointment. I'm not much of a fan of either NIN or Manson, but it strikes me that if one wants to hear something really covered, truly reinterpreted, you can't go with safe artists that fit the exact mold of the song you want played. And I Am Sam is all very safe pairings.

I pretty much never do this, but here's what the album consists of:
Aimee Mann and Michael Penn - "Two of Us"
Sarah McLachlan - "Blackbird"
Rufus Wainright - "Across The Universe"
The Wallflowers - "I'm Looking Through You"
Eddie Vedder - "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away"
Ben Harper - "Strawberry Fields Forever"
Sheryl Crow - "Mother Nature's Son"
Ben Folds - "Golden Slumbers"
The Vines - "I'm Only Sleeping"
Stereophonics - "Don't Let Me Down"
The Black Crowes - "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"
Chocolate Genius - "Julia"
Heather Nova - "We Can Work It Out"
Howie Day - "Help!"
Paul Westerberg - "Nowhere Man"
Grandaddy - "Revolution"
Nick Cave - "Let It Be"

If you are obsessed with any of those artists or any of those songs, that's who and what is on this album. The truth is, if you have a favorite artist on this list, odds are there is a way to legally download an individual track to get just the artist/song you want. It's probably a better investment than buying the album. That is, unless you like unremarkable karaoke of the Beatles.

Ironically, there's not a single Beatles cover by Oasis here (Oasis is always being compared in the media to the Beatles and has done several covers of Beatles songs), but then if there had been, I've a pretty good idea what track it would have been. The best song is "Let It Be" (sorry Heather!) and the low point is "Julia." I'm going to go cleanse my palate with Dar Williams's cover of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" (from My Better Self, reviewed here!) and try to remember what it's like when an artist takes a known work and does something surprising with it.

For other soundtrack reviews, please visit my takes on:
Watchmen 2-track single
Songs In The Key Of Springfield from The Simpsons
Dead Man Walking Soundtrack

5/10

For other music reviews, please visit my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Elevator Music Crow: Pickin' On Sheryl Crow Might Be A Tribute, But It's Bad.

The Good: Adequate instrumentals
The Bad: Guts the resonance and impact of most of Crow's songs, SHORT
The Basics: An instrumental tribute to Sheryl Crow takes her memorable pop-rock songs and makes them upbeat country numbers on Pickin’ On Sheryl Crow: A Tribute.


Sometimes, I encounter something that is so bad that it becomes very easy to pan, but very hard to find enough to write about to make it worth my while (all those who argue for brevity in my reviews, here you go!). In the case of Pickin’ On Sheryl Crow: A Tribute, I instantly came up with my analogy. For those who have seen the Family Guy: Blue Harvest Star Wars parody (reviewed here!) there is an easy way to analogize Pickin’ On Sheryl Crow - when Peter, Chris and Brian are in the elevator headed to the detention level, there is an upbeat elevator muzak version of the Imperial March that completely guts the resonance of the original track. That is how the entire album Pickin’ On Sheryl Crow: A Tribute is.

Sheryl Crow was my Artist Of The Month with Shania Twain and the library that supplies me with most of my titles just managed to get in the tribute album and the irony here is that this has a much more country-music flavor to it than the original works. Quite simply, Pickin’ On Sheryl Crow: A Tribute is one dozen songs that Sheryl Crow made popular done as instrumental music pieces. As a result, there are none of Crow's (or anyone else's) lyrics, no vocals and all of the instrumentals are dominated by instruments that were not associated with the original songs.

With twelve tracks, clocking out at 44:40, Pickin’ On Sheryl Crow: A Tribute might be a tribute to Sheryl Crow, but it is not the best, nor is it in anyway remotely faithful. The album includes recognizable Sheryl Crow songs like "All I Wanna Do," "If It Makes You Happy," and "My Favorite Mistake" as instrumental-only tracks. But alongside the recognizable songs are Sheryl Crow songs that were never popular - and after having spent a month listening to her music, some of these aren't even recognizable! - like "Sweet Rosalyn," "Redemption Day," and "Solidify." Sheryl Crow was not involved in any way with the production of this album or the genesis of the music after her writing the tunes originally.

Pickin’ On Sheryl Crow: A Tribute is performed largely by the musicians Brent Truitt, Dennis Crouch, Earl Palmer, Rock Savage, Richard Bailey, Tim Crouch, and Lee Hanover. Seldom do all of the artists appear on the same track, but generally they work to recreate the instrumental accompaniment of Sheryl Crow on the mandolin, dobro, banjo and fiddle. For sure, there are acoustic guitars and limited percussion, but the primary instruments are the ones more associated with Country music. In fact, the only real surprise about this album is the absence of the pedal steel. The instrumentalists play the instruments adequately in that they hit the notes and the songs are recognizable for those who have heard the Sheryl Crow originals on the radio or her albums.

There are two fundamental problems with Pickin’ On Sheryl Crow: A Tribute, though. The primary problem is that these instrumentals gut the emotional intent and resonance of many of the original songs. Take, for example, "My Favorite Mistake." On this album, it appears with an upbeat mandolin replacing Crow's vocals. While the original song has a deep, moody progression that is agonizing to listen to (it's a great breakup or tormented "let's stay together" song), the version on this album is peppy and energetic. It's a fun song and it lacks any resonance. It is flighty and unmemorable; it is the elevator music version of the "Imperial March." The original emotional intent or even musical memorability of the originals of "My Favorite Mistake," "Anything But Down," "It Don't Hurt," and "Everyday Is A Winding Road" are robbed by these energetic reinterpretations that seem to prioritize getting the listener to dance or move as opposed to actually feel anything deep or passionate.

In fact, the only song that actually maintains the semblance of the original version's intent - outside "All I Wanna Do," which was upbeat to begin with - is "Strong Enough." On that song, Crow's vocals are replaced with a fiddle and it works surprisingly well to make the song emotional. The song has the same heartbreaking impact that the original does. Unfortunately, that is the only cover this group dares to not pep up.

The second problem with the album is that the musicians either run out of works to play (which is strange given how short the album is) or they reveal a lack of originality in Crow's original works. The third track, "Sweet Rosalyn" includes a callback to the refrain of "Anything But Down," which precedes it! It is weird because all of a sudden, the prior song's theme is there in the middle of the current song!

Largely, though, this is an attempt by an instrumental group to cash in on Sheryl Crow's name by playing her songs in a way that is upbeat, energetic and utterly unworth the listener's time and attention. Well, unless they are trapped in an elevator and want inoffensive, lyricless music to distract them from their predicament.

The best track is "Strong Enough," the rest of the album is not worth listening to.

For other works actually by Sheryl Crow, please visit my reviews of:
Tuesday Night Music Club
Sheryl Crow
The Globe Sessions
C’Mon, C’Mon
The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow
Wildflower
Hits And Rarities
Detours

2.5/10

For other music reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

On Par With The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow, Hits And Rarities Satisfies!

The Good: Good lyrics, Good vocals, Decent mix, Good length, Generally good instrumental accompaniment.
The Bad: Some repetition, Question of necessity
The Basics: An impressive enough compilation, Hits And Rarities is a two-disc set that eliminates the need for fans to hunt down obscure singles or import albums.


In the rush to make a quick buck off artists in their arsenals, many record companies produce "Best Of" albums for artists well before they have had enough legitimate hits to warrant such compilations. There are some where the compilations become simple condensing the two albums a one-hit wonder produced before the artist fades forever into obscurity. Such is not the case with Sheryl Crow, yet The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow might have seemed premature when it was released in 2003 given that it took hits from four albums she had released at that time. What might seem odd to fans and radio-only fans is that Crow released only one more album before her record company put out Hits & Rarities. Given how the album in between (Wildflower) had limited success commercially, one has to wonder about how essential Hits And Rarities truly was.

That said, Hits And Rarities, available with a free bonus disc, does offer some things that The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow did not. In addition to the song "Wildflower," which would not have been available for the prior compilation, Crow replaces her Kid Rock duet with her Sting duet (yea!) and has the decency not to crowd the album up with two remarkably similar versions of "The First Cut Is The Deepest." Instead, A&M releases a slightly different mix of recognizable songs by Sheryl Crow alongside several tracks that have not been available on albums, certainly not in the U.S. Fans who do not want to have to buy obscure soundtracks or hunt down imports will do well to find a copy of Hits And Rarities as it includes such songs as "Always On Your Side" (performed with Sting), "Sweet Child Of Mine" (which fans who bought the initial release of "The Globe Sessions" were screwed out of), and Sheryl Crow's James Bond theme, "Tomorrow Never Dies." The second disc has alternate versions of songs like "Run, Baby, Run" and "Leaving Las Vegas" as well as several live versions of more obscure songs.

With two discs and a total of thirty tracks, Hits And Rarities offers a lot for one's Sheryl Crow-loving dollar. The first disc has eighteen songs occupying 79:17 and the second disc has a dozen songs taking up 61:36. The thirty-song compilation duplicates four songs on the second disc, but the second disc version are alternate cuts that enhance the listener's view of Sheryl Crow's music. And this album is mostly the musical vision of Sheryl Crow; Crow wrote eight of the songs, co-wrote nineteen and the remaining three are cover songs - Yusuf Islam's "The First Cut Is The Deepest," Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child Of Mine" and Eric Clapton's "Keep On Growing."

In addition to writing or co-writing almost all of the songs, Crow provides the lead vocals on all of the songs. She also plays at least one instrument on each track. As well she produced or co-produced about a dozen of the songs. The album was compiled without any apparent involvement from the artist, but it does seem to be a good mix of songs that illustrate Crow's musical talents and vision.

The thing about Hits And Rarities is it truly does have all of Crow's recognizable hits alongside a decent number of rare tracks or songs that have clear sentimental value to the artist, like Crow's first track from her debut, "Run, Baby, Run," which appears in its studio and and orchestra-backed forms. This album does what the best "Best Of" albums do, though, in that it provides a good mix of the recognizable and songs that challenge the listener to expand their knowledge of an artist. While The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow did that through songs that did better on the Country or Adult Contemporary charts (like "Home" and "There Goes The Neighborhood"), Hits And Rarities seems to be more of a reward for fans who have the common albums but do not want the expense of hunting down the rare singles or Japanese import albums. Indeed, the bonus disc makes her rare import "Live From Budokan" almost unnecessary as five of the tracks are from that obscure import.

That said, Crow does include some great songs which never gained the mainstream popularity they deserved. She gives listeners "I Shall Believe" from Tuesday Night Music Club which is arguably one of her most beautiful songs that never cut it as a single in the United States.

The first disc of Hits And Rarities is a highly-refined, well-produced album with content that is largely familiar to those who listened to pop-rock stations in the 1990s. Songs like "All I Wanna Do," "My Favorite Mistake," "Soak Up The Sun," "Everyday Is A Winding Road" and "A Change Would Do You Good" fill up the album with tracks that most of us can sing along to. In fact, the only noticeable omission is "Anything But Down," which did not make it into this compilation, just as it was neglected for The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow. And while the first album has vocally and instrumentally refined tracks, the bonus disc is made up of live versions of songs like "Steve McQueen," "Subway Ride," and "Riverwide," which are more obscure or previously unreleased songs.

For those who have not heard of Sheryl Crow, Crow is a pop-rock artist who makes guitar and keyboard-driven tracks in a style that has more of a rock and roll flavor than the generic pop-rock coming out of the late-1990s. Percussion and guitars keep beats on songs like "Light In Your Eyes" as Crow bleats out her lyrics in an alto voice which has an occasionally dusty quality to it. Crow tends to pick one range and stays in it as opposed to going all over the scales. As a result, higher, slower ballads like "I Shall Believe" sound very different from her lower vocals on "Leaving Las Vegas" where she performs lower and faster.

On almost all of the tracks, Crow is performing her own lyrics and she manages to have most of them produced in front of her instrumental accompaniment. Only on a few songs, like the more epic "Tomorrow Never Dies," which accompanied the film of the same name, have Crow being drown out or competing with heavy instruments. As a result, when she sings her lines like "Your friends are sorry for me / They watch you pretend to adore me / But I'm no fool to this game / Now here comes your secret lover / She'd be unlike any other / Until your guilt goes up in flames / Did you know when you go / It's the perfect ending / To the bad day I'd gotten used to spending / When you go all I know is / You're my favorite mistake" ("My Favorite Mistake"), she is able to infuse each word with a real sense of wrenching pain that is appropriate for the lyrics.

What robs this two-disc compilation of perfection? First, I'm not a huge fan of albums where the same songs are duplicated, even if the versions on the bonus disc truly are produced to have a very different sound. Second, for all of her creativity, Sheryl Crow does have some limitations as a singer-songwriter. Most notably, the music that accompanies "C'mon, C'mon" is virtually identical - especially in the opening notes - to that of "The First Cut Is The Deepest." Having heard a load of talented female singer-songwriters - or any singer-songwriters! - I know this is not impossible to do, even when one has enough of a repertoire to release multiple "best of" albums.

Still, this is a good compilation album and offers fans of the radio hits a more extensive collection to appreciate Sheryl Crow with. And for fans who have shelled out for her full albums, Hits And Rarities offers a way to get a good mix and something extra without having to hunt the world over.

The best tracks are "I Shall Believe" (Disc 1) and the live version of "The Difficult Kind" (Disc 2) and the low points are the unimpressive "Tomorrow Never Dies" (Disc 1) and the underwhelming live version of "You're An Original" (Disc 2).

For other works by Sheryl Crow, please visit my reviews of:
Tuesday Night Music Club
Sheryl Crow
The Globe Sessions
C’Mon, C’Mon
The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow
Wildflower
Detours


8/10

For other music reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Sheryl Crow Underwhelming Wildflower Is Unremarkable On Too Many Levels.

The Good: Vocals are good, A few lyrics
The Bad: Instrumental accompaniment is utterly unremarkable, SHORT!
The Basics: Unremarkable in virtually every way, Wildflower is a letdown to those who like Sheryl Crow for how bland it is overall.


As I near the bottom of the month and the end of my exploration of the works of Shania Twain and Sheryl Crow, I find myself considering Sheryl Crow's album Wildflower. All I truly knew about Wildflower was that it was released after Sheryl Crow's definitive "best of" album and that when Media Play was going out of business in my area, the album they still had at the very end by the caseload was Wildflower. I swear, right before the franchise went bust, they bought into Sheryl Crow big and this might have been one of the most clearanced albums of 2005/6.

Now, after listening to Wildflower a dozen times, I suspect that only those who bought the album on clearance truly were thrilled with their purchase. The album is surprisingly short for a compact disc, surprisingly uncomplicated in its instrumentals and lyrically is equally average-at-best. In fact, the album - whose greatest hit is "Good Is Good" - is utterly forgettable outside the track "Perfect Lie" as Sheryl Crow sounds mellow and bored with herself on the album.

With only eleven songs, clocking out at 46:41, Wildflower is another Sheryl Crow album that is a collaborative effort for the artist. In fact, more than any other album since her debut, Sheryl Crow works with others on this album. Crow wrote only four of the songs on her own and the other seven are co-written by her long-time instrumentalists John Shanks and Jeff Trott, who also act as co-producers on the album with Crow. While Sheryl Crow performs all of the lead vocals - in that regard, this is very much Sheryl Crow's work - she shares the instrumental duties with Shanks and Trott, so the album is more like the collaborative works of the trio than just the musical vision of Sheryl Crow.

The problem with Wildflower is that the songs are generally dull and the sound of the album is slow and mushy. The rock edge of Sheryl Crow is largely lost to a mix of quiet ballads ("Chances Are") and indistinct anthems ("Perfect Lie") which are completely forgettable after one is done listening to the album and the songs on it. So, for example, Sheryl Crow's song "Good Is Good" has her vocals dominating the song to such an extent that after a day and a half of listening to this album on high replay, I cannot honestly say if she is simply harmonizing to a very quiet tune or if the instrumentals to that song are something completely different. After that song, the tracks are almost all quiet guitar tracks without any memorable tune or theme to them.

On this album, Crow does seem eager to get more credibility as a Country-pop artist as opposed to a pop-rock artist where she gained her initial popularity. Songs like the title track and "I Don't Want To Know" have more of a Country-pop tradition with the quiet, folksy tune and the use of the pedal steel. Crow is lighter sounding with her instrumentals and - ironically for me - her use of the pedal steel fits into an assumed paradigm that if the pedal steel is used, the song is Country, not rock. The use of other instrumentation does not make the album significantly better or even more memorable. This is a quiet, slow album.

The forgettable nature of Wildflower is accented by Crow's vocals. On songs like “Wildflower,” she stretches to the highest pitches she is able and the result is a wispier, quieter vocal that sounds more like Merril Bainbridge than Sheryl Crow. She harmonizes with herself on "Lifetimes" in such a way that makes one why she bothered to hire Liz Phair for background vocals for "Soak Up The Sun" on her album before this one. But on this album, Sheryl Crow deserves some real credit for the fact that she does stretch her vocals to more of a soprano range than she usually does. This album has her growing vocally.

Unfortunately, she does not seem to have all that much to say on Wildflower. On one of the most poppy tracks on the album - the result of the keyboards and production as opposed to Crow's vocals - she sings melancholy lines with a narcoleptic quality that is made worse by the particularly uninspired refrain. For one who has rocked, the rather unchallenging rhyme scheme from the lines "We could live lifetimes in a single day / No matter what you do / I love you anyway / You say you feel lost inside, well I get lonely, too / Even in the worst of times, I give my best to you" ("Lifetimes"). Crow's rhymes are largely predictable on this album and that is disappointing.

Moreover, on several songs, she sets up her lines to be unfortunately obvious. In "Letter To God," she uses the word "test," before ending a line with "East," setting up an obvious "west" to close the subsequent line. Too many of the lines in that song are either predictable in bland ways or rhyme with lines that make the seasoned music listener cringe.

This is not to say the entire album is a wash on the lyrics. On "Perfect Lie," Crow has a wonderful sense of emotion when she sings "Help, help is on the way / That's what they all say / It's a thing that they don't know / 'Cause I, I know everything / And maybe it's just a ring / But that won't make me let it go / Look at your face it doesn't look like it did / You give away everything now that your here / You, you want to be only / To never get lonely / So you opened up your arms and let me in . . ." ("Perfect Lie"). On that song, Crow has a pretty wonderful sense of imagery that works beautifully for her.

Unfortunately, that is the exception to the rule on Wildflower. The vast majority of the songs are flat-out boring and the album has a repetitive, indistinct quality to it that makes it easy to pass by.

For other works by Sheryl Crow, please visit my reviews of:
Tuesday Night Music Club
Sheryl Crow
The Globe Sessions
C’Mon, C’Mon
The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow
Detours

4.5/10

For other music reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

C'Mon, C'Mon: Even Sheryl Crow Has A Terribly Indistinct Album!

The Good: One or two interesting tunes.
The Bad: Terrible rhymes, Uninspired guitarwork, Short
The Basics: Arguably the worst album Sheryl Crow ever produced, Sheryl Crow is accompanied by many friends on an unmemorable musical odyssey.


Sheryl Crow has, if anything, surprised me as my Artist Of The Month. Her albums are more consistent than I originally thought they would be and I have generally enjoyed her works. As I find myself spinning her last few albums, I am left looking toward my next Artist Of The Month and I was nowhere near as happy about that as one might suspect until I came across Crow's album C'Mon, C'Mon.

C'Mon, C'Mon is the Sheryl Crow album probably best known for her song "Soak Up The Sun" and the album is largely pop-rock and it is boring. This album is, by a fair margin, the worst Sheryl Crow album I've yet heard and I came to the album without any bias. In fact, the only songs I knew from the album were the first two; "Steve McQueen" (which I liked) and "Soak Up The Sun." C'Mon, C'Mon is obvious pop-rock with little statement, originality or even hooks to keep one listening to it. After the generic rock of "Steve McQueen" (which would have fit in better on The Globe Sessions or Sheryl Crow) the album becomes sugary and pop-heavy in ways that are thoroughly unmemorable. Indeed, were it not for the massive replayings of "Soak Up The Sun" when that was released as a single, there would not be a single track on C'Mon, C'Mon that would be memorable.

With thirteen songs, clocking out at 56:32, Sheryl Crow's C'Mon, C'Mon is derivative, poorly written and performed with average-at-best vocals. Unfortunately for her, Sheryl Crow bears the brunt of the responsibility for this album and as such, the credit or blame is hers. Crow wrote five of the songs and co-wrote the other eight. She performs all of the lead vocals and she plays instruments - piano, guitars, bass, even marraccas - on every track. As well, she produced the album, though three of the songs were co-produced with her collaborative artists. Still, this seems to be largely the vision of Sheryl Crow.

One of the big problems, though, is this album - more than any of Crow's other works - seems dependent upon the collaborations of others. Don Henley appears on "It's So Easy" and the song is much more a duet than it is credited with. Stevie Nicks lends her very recognizable backing vocals to "C'mon, C'mon" (the single) and "Diamond Road." Indeed, Crow relies on friends on many of the tracks, including Emmylou Harris, Natalie Maines, and Lenny Kravitz. Even Gwyneth Paltrow appears for backing vocals on a song ("It's Only Love")! The issue here is not that Crow relies on her friends to beef up the album, but rather that the result is not to create anything extraordinary. In fact, Liz Phair's vocal contribution to "Soak Up The Sun" adds nothing great and the songs Crow has guest vocalists backing or supporting her on do little other than hide her own mediocre vocals on the album. This album showcases little of Crow's range and she does not articulate anything incredibly well on C'Mon, C'Mon.

Instrumentally, this is probably Crow's least ambitious album to date, as well. Even her debut was less obviously straightforward pop-rock. C'Mon, C'Mon is largely guitar, bass, and drums, track after track after track. "Over You" has a slightly more anthemic sound to it, but it is essentially the same three instruments produced to sound bigger and deeper. The overall sound and feel of the album is generic guitar and bass-driven pop-rock which is utterly unmemorable.

Thematically, C'Mon, C'Mon lacks any real social commentary or insight into anything essentially human. This is a sunny album that is mostly fluff, of little substance and of little consequence. The songs are upbeat sounding and by the end of the album, one has a generally upbeat feeling, but it is one that comes with little memory of what one has heard. This is a classic indistinct album; no matter how many times I listen to it, it becomes background music and leaves no impression. Crow has no lines which stick out and the overall feeling of the album is that she is not saying anything important.

What she does say, Crow says over and over again. Indeed, part of what makes "Soak Up The Sun" such an annoying radio track is that the dippy refrain is repeated so many times with that hypnotic tune and lines that are just canned. Unfortunately, this is not the only song on the album like that. "You're An Original," for example, has a terrible rhyme scheme. On that, Crow sings without any sense of irony "Give us what you got / Girl you got a lot / Seems you got an / Itch that's scratching / Lay it like it plays / Play it like it lays / All your Easter eggs are hatching / In your Cadillac/ Reaching for your jack / There's nothing we can tell you / Just a little queen / Dirty mouth and mean / There's nothing we can sell you" ("You're An Original"). Before this, there was no evidence that Crow was stuck at the Dr. Seuss School Of Rhyming, but there it is.

In addition to the indistinct vocals and lack of instrumental hook, C'Mon, C'Mon is hampered by songs and sounds that are derivative. The title track, for example, sounds remarkably like "The First Cut Is The Deepest" when it opens and Crow sounds like Melissa Etheridge when she begins singing on that song. "Diamond Road" has a singsong melody to it that is annoyingly familiar as well and the guitarwork that opens "It's Only Love" sounds suspiciously like the opening to "I Hope You Dance."

At the end of it all, C'Mon, C'Mon is just an easy album to pass by because it lacks substance and originality. Those looking for a good Sheryl Crow or pop-rock experience will find better options . . . pretty much anywhere.

The best track is "Steve McQueen," the rest of the album is entirely forgettable.

For other works by Sheryl Crow, please visit my reviews of:
Tuesday Night Music Club
Sheryl Crow
The Globe Sessions
The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow
Detours

3.5/10

For other music reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

| | |

When Sheryl Crow Is Funky, Murky And Dark, She Makes A Great Album: The Globe Sessions.

The Good: Generally decent lyrics, Very repeatable, Good instrumentals, Memorable vocals and tunes
The Bad: Derivative in places, Somewhat repetitive musically
The Basics: Articulate and musically interesting, Sheryl Crow has an enduring hit with The Globe Sessions that deserves the praise heaped upon it.


As my current Artist Of The Month, I have felt a little disappointed in myself for not being more enthusiastic about some of Sheryl Crow's earlier works. Truth be told, Sheryl Crow has records that are far more average than extraordinary. In the case of Sheryl Crow, she and her management got it very much right when they put together her compilation album The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow. And while I might have thought it was somewhat silly at the time, given how little of a body of work Crow had at the time, she mixes her popular with the best she had at the time remarkably well on that album.

As a result, it is somewhat surprising that I have so much to laud from Crow's album The Globe Sessions. Indeed, had it not been for the fact that her song "There Goes The Neighborhood," which I never heard when the album was ascendant, was on The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow I am sure I would have been pleasantly surprised by it and the sheer number of wonderful songs on this album. Oddly, her compilation album omits her song "Anything But Down," which alone makes The Globe Sessions worth recommending. It is also worth noting that there are at least two versions of The Globe Sessions, one of which includes Crow's cover of "Sweet Child Of Mine." I had access to the original recording, not the one with that cover, so . . .

The Globe Sessions has eleven songs occupying just under an hour (59:29) of music and represents Sheryl Crow's musical and thematic sensibilities. The album is a very pure rock and roll album and Crow wrote six of the songs, co-wrote four of the others and performs a cover of Bob Dylan's "Mississippi." Crow performs a slew of instruments, including guitars, bass, Hammond B-3 organs, percussion and harmonica on the album. On each track, she is credited with playing at least one instrument, though most of them have her playing two to three. Crow also produced the album, so this is very much her musical vision and style being depicted on the album.

For the most part, The Globe Sessions has a classic rock and roll sensibility to it, though some of the songs harken back to a time when there was a Country influence in rock ("It Don't Hurt"). Recognizable tracks that charted on the pop-rock charts include "My Favorite Mistake" and "Anything But Down" and they are indicative of a more moody Sheryl Crow than she presented on her two prior albums. As well, they illustrate a serious side of Crow that she has been developing since the first recording. On this album, Crow uses more bass and percussion and the album rocks.

In fact, the thing that sets The Globe Sessions apart from her two earlier outings is that there are no light, pop songs on the album. "My Favorite Mistake" might have a lilting guitar, but it is depressing and moody. "The Difficult Kind," which could be a post-apocalyptic frontier campfire song, is quiet and sad, but not at all "pop." Similarly "Am I Getting Through (Part I & II)" is dark and sad.

"Am I Getting Through (Part I & II)" illustrates possibly the sole weakness on The Globe Sessions. That song bears a strong resemblance musically to "Stairway To Heaven" and the fact that Crow seems to be derivative of other, obvious classic rock influences is somewhat disappointing. Moreover, instrumentally "My Favorite Mistake," "Anything But Down" and the quirky and wonderful "There Goes The Neighborhood" are all very similar. That said, Crow largely makes an effort to overcome the limitations of being a guitar-dominated album. The end of "Am I Getting Through" has an annoying telephone noise (I swear, it gets me every time!) but it does show some creativity and breaks up the potentially obvious guitar sound well. Some of the songs, like the end of "Am I Getting Through" actually have Crow sounding derivative of more contemporary artists, in that case the guitars sound remarkably like those of Oasis.

Vocally, Crow sounds very pure throughout The Globe Sessions. She is raucous on "My Favorite Mistake," sincere on "Mississippi" and vulnerable on "The Difficult Kind." She tends to stay in her lower range, though on songs like "Everything But Down" and "Riverwide," she goes higher. Crow has the ability to traverse the range from smoky to high remarkably well and on The Globe Sessions, she seems to feel free to soar that way.

Lyrically, The Globe Sessions is generally dark and about endings. Her songs are largely about people and relationships that simply do not fit. Her song "My Favorite Mistake" makes that obvious, but the album hits an all new high of lows when Crow sings "Maybe I'm not your perfect kind / Maybe I'm not what you had in mind / Maybe we're just killing time / You with your silky words / And your eyes of green and blue / You with your steel beliefs / That don't match anything you do / It was so much easier before you became you / You don't bring me anything but down" ("Anything But Down"). Crow has a remarkable sense of imagery that works wonderfully on the album.

In fact, the only song that does not truly work for the album is "Members Only." Even with the more folk or Country performances that define "The Difficult Kind" or "Mississippi," it is "Members Only" that stands out as the one that does not belong. From the plucky opening to the listless lines "And all the politicians shake their asses / Looking for the backdoor / I'll just be hanging out with the lasses / Cause they don't like the boys no more / No and I can't take it anymore" ("Members Only") the song seems more about making rhymes and a generic antisocial statement than actually railing with particular grievances.

Even so, The Globe Sessions has more than enough to engage anyone looking for strong rock and roll coming from a very articulate woman.

For other works by Sheryl Crow, please visit my reviews of:
Tuesday Night Music Club
Sheryl Crow
The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow
Detours

7/10

For other music reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

With Some Distance, Sheryl Crow Is Rather Generic Rock And Roll.

The Good: A few inspired songs, Decent instrumentals
The Bad: Largely uncomplicated vocals, instrumentals and lyrics, Could be longer.
The Basics: A good album, but hardly extraordinary, Sheryl Crow resonates now more for the social commentaries than the pop hits.


Perspective is a good thing and as I listen to the 1996 Grammy Winner for Best Rock Album, I wonder if voters would still have given it to Sheryl Crow for her eponymous album if they knew how forgettable the album would become. I write this at the top of my consideration of Sheryl Crow, despite recommending the album, because outside the four songs that made it onto The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow, Sheryl Crow is not that it is bad, but rather that it leaves very little impression. The vocals on many of the songs are overproduced - as I write this, "Oh Marie" plays and I wonder if I weren't listening to a Sheryl Crow album if I would even guess it was Crow singing by the vocals - and the instrumentals are unmemorable outside a few tunes, which are sadly the predictable, overplayed radio singles. Even so, there is just enough to this album to enjoy and given the opportunity to listen to it, I certainly recommend anyone who likes pop-rock give it a spin. But for a permanent collection, this would be a much tougher sell for me.

With thirteen songs clocking out at 56:34, Sheryl Crow is hardly an ambitious use of the c.d. medium and truth-be-told, for an eponymous album is remarkably light on Crow's talents. Sheryl crow wrote only three of the songs on her own, with the other ten being co-written by her and others, most frequently her guitarist on the album, Jeff Trott. Sheryl Crow provides all of the primary vocals and she also produces the album. As well, she performs multiple instruments on the album, including electric and acoustic guitars, ordinary and Moog bass, piano, harmonium, keyboards, Hammond organ and Wurlitzer. So, as the title suggests this is very much the musical vision of Sheryl Crow.

The thing is, songs like "Everyday Is A Winding Road," "If It Makes You Happy," "Sweet Rosalyn" and even the album opener, "Maybe Angels" seem to have Crow presenting herself as a harder edge than the woman who rose to stardom on the song "All I Wanna Do." The problem, though, is that that idea is undermined early on by the presentation of the pure pop song "A Change," which I recall fondly from my college days as a friend used to do the Snoopy dance to it. Even "Home" does not sound badass the way Crow wants people to think of her as, as lines like "I still get stoned" ("If It Makes You Happy") imply she wants people to think of her.

Even so, Sheryl Crow is a generally direct guitar-based rock album and the songs tend to have a very rich sound. Outside "Home" there are no stark tracks, and Crow seems obsessed with filling the album with sound to make it work. One imagines acoustic versions of some of the more busy songs, like "Everyday Is A Winding Road" would have the potential to be even more compelling than they already are. "Redemption Day" starts with a lonely sound and while Crow maintains the vocals at the forefront of the song, she continues to add instruments to it in a way that makes it sound more sloppy than rich.

As well, "Redemption Day" illustrates one of the fundamental problems with the album, which is in the vocals. While songs like "A Change" and "If It Makes You Happy" might be annoying - or they were in 1997 when they were in high rotation here - at least the vocals on them come fairly clearly from Sheryl Crow. On most of the non-radio tracks, the vocals are produced such that almost every line is enhanced or altered through production elements. She sounds somewhat robotic on refrains of "Hard To Make A Stand" (which is problematic regardless because the song sounds so much like "Ruby Tuesday" in places) and artificially whispery on "Oh Marie." Having seen Crow on television performing live, as well as acoustic versions of some of her songs, there is very little of Crow's voice left unaltered on this album.

So, much of what makes the album worth recommending is in what Crow actually has to say. Crow is fairly socially conscious on this album and she uses her pulpit to rail against capitalism with lines like ""Watch out sister, watch out brother, / Watch our children while they kill each other / With a gun they bought at Wal-Mart discount stores" ("Love Is A Good Thing") and she encourages thoughtful rebellion with "Hard To Make A Stand." In this way, Crow delivers something worthwhile on Sheryl Crow that is still meaningful today.

But outside some of the more famous tracks, much of the album is forgettable. Crow begins her obsession with listing things as a way of telling a story (or, more accurately, continues it). So, on songs like "Oh Marie," Crow characterizes her musical protagonists or subjects with long lists of things that do little other than list. Indeed, listening to her sing "She likes the way she looks in her Camaro / She likes lingerie but he prefers the sombrero / She's so famous on the block / She stumbles home around four o'clock / She claims the guys are hard to please / She wears teen perfume behind her knees" ("Oh Marie") it begins to become more tiresome than impressive.

As well, many of the songs are very repetitive lyrically. The refrain "My little superstar, oh baby that's what you are / My little superstar, oh honey you break my heart" ("Superstar") is grating as Crow sings it over and over and over again. This is, sadly, repeated on many of the songs.

But the radio hits and the other two songs I find myself coming back to is enough for anyone who likes decent pop-rock to enjoy Sheryl Crow, but it does make me wonder what else was out in 1996 that Crow beat with this album for her Grammy.

The best song is "Everyday Is A Winding Road," the low point is the unmemorable and murky "The Book."

For other works by Sheryl Crow, please visit my reviews of:
Tuesday Night Music Club
The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow
Detours

6/10

Check out how this album stacks up against others I have reviewed in the specialized index page with links to reviews, ordered by rating here!

© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

| | |

Politically Vibrant, Sheryl Crow's Detours Reminds Listeners Pop-Rock Is Not All Vacuous!

The Good: Great lyrics, Interesting instrumentals, Decent vocals
The Bad: A little short, Frontloaded
The Basics: With new memorable tunes that are, sadly, thematically dated, Sheryl Crow bursts back out with Detours and proves her ascendancy was not a fluke!


As part of my continual immersion into music from new-to-me musical artists, I occasionally have the opportunity to pick up an artist whose works I once enjoyed and yet have not explored for some time. Never before has this worked out so well for me as it did this month when I picked a new-to-me artist in Shania Twain - her album Beginnings was reviewed here! - I had no idea how few works Twain had released.

Sheryl Crow appears to be an artist whose star rose and fell quickly, but whose success was enough that her recording company has enough faith in her viability as a musical artist to keep producing new works. It has, however, been years since I have heard a new song by Sheryl Crow on the radio and my understanding of her career since the compilation album of hers I last reviewed was released was that she ventured more in the direction of being a Country music artist. That being the case, I would have less reason to hear her newer works and I went to her latest album, Detours with far fewer expectations or even a sense of enthusiasm than I might otherwise have had when picking it up.

I am quite excited to say, though, that Sheryl Crow's Detours is a surprisingly rich, deeply political album that effectively mixes a pop-rock sound with folk-rock sensibilities of Populist America. Detours, when it is not being repetitive and personally moody, is politically rebellious and musically riotous. This album reassures listeners what mainstream, pop-rock radio, America is missing out on; Sheryl Crow's debut was not a fluke and the more creative control Crow has over her own works the better the results seem to be.

With fourteen songs, clocking out at 52:55, Detours is a strange dated album that safely ruffles the feathers of the status quo in the United States years after it was dangerous to do so in Bush-Era America. Crow sings out against the events following the September 11, 2001 attacks and the war in Iraq at a time when there was no real political risk of doing so, except one supposes to isolate a Country audience. On Detours, Crow does not seem to be working a Country music sound. Instead, she returns to her rock and pop roots while maintaining a sense of Country values for farmers, the environment and romance.

And much of Detours is Crow's musical and political vision. Crow wrote the lyrics for ten of the songs and co-wrote the other four songs (though on some of her songs she co-wrote the music or others wrote the music for her lyrics). She provides the primary vocals for all of the songs and plays instruments on every song but three, including the acoustic guitar, bass, organ, piano, and accordion. She is not given any production credit on the album, but given that her long-time producer Bill Bottrell produced the album and was more involved with the creation of six of the tracks (musically and lyrically) with Crow, one suspects that this was the way Sheryl Crow wanted to sound and wanted the album to sound.

Like other female artists who do not fit easily into genres, Sheryl Crow uses Detours to make social commentary about the direction of the United States. This album came almost three years after Dar Williams made similar commentaries with her album My Better Self, but those looking for music that rebels against the policies of George W. Bush will be happy it came at all. Largely, the album is political with songs railing against the Iraq War ("God Bless This Mess") and irresponsible energy policy ("Gasoline") while attempting to promote an atmosphere of peace and universal brotherhood ("Peace Be Upon Us," "Out Of Our Heads"). For those who are not fond of the political, on the last half of the album, Crow sings more intimately and personally about love ("Love Is All There Is," "Drunk With The Thought Of You") and loss ("Lullaby For Wyatt," "Diamond Ring").

Herein lies one of the real problems with Detours, other than the fact that some of it is remarkably dated in Obama's United States; the album is seriously frontloaded. The mix is brassy and upfront with its politics and rebellious attitude, but the latter half of the album becomes a musical mush that is remarkably average. It was only by listening to the album over a dozen times that I realized the last five songs are nowhere near as strong as the other nine.

Even so, the back portion is not unredeemable or bad, it is just a very different flavor compared to the first half. "Lullaby For Wyatt," though, offers Crow a chance to truly show off her vocal range. While songs like "God Bless This Mess" insinuate that Crow can actually sing soprano (and well!), it utilizes production elements to give the song an old time radio vibe. But on "Lullaby For Wyatt," coos out her lines with a soulful pitch that is memorable. For fans of Dar Williams, it is also familiar, but from Crow this is musical growth and it is nice to hear.

Musically, most of the songs are guitar, bass, and drum tracks with a larger, more anthemic song. Her vocals tend to be produced to the forefront so Crow's lyrics are highlighted. While the album has some slower songs ("Drunk With The Thought Of You," "Diamond Ring"), most of the songs are big and have enough of a bassline to lean to. The only real track designed for dancing seems to be the sunny "Love Is Free," though the chantlike "Peace Be Upon Us" is also somewhat upbeat.

What Detours has going for it best are the lyrics. Crow returns to pop-rock with songs that are probably too far from the mainstream lyrically. In other words, she is smart, she has something to say and she does it well. She comes back with a folk-rock sensibility as far as musical storytelling on songs like "Love Is Free" and "Gasoline." Indeed, "Gasoline" has a wonderful sense of folk-rock rebellion and storytelling with Crow's lines "Way back in the year of 2017 / The sun was growing hotter / And oil was way beyond its peak / When crazy Hector Johnson broke into a refinery / And the black gold started flowing / Just like Boston tea / It was the summer of the riots / And London sat in sweltering heat / And the gangs of Mini Coopers / Took the battle to the streets / But when the creed was handed down / For no more trucks and no more cars / They threw cans of petrol through the windows at Scotland Yard."

Crow is still an able poet, though and Detours has some songs which are truly wonderful for the universal emotions they explore. She captures the sentiments of new love perfectly when she sings "I can't stand all this freedom / I've been there before / And it's such a good bore / You're all I ever needed / If you'd only walk through my door / To assure you I even exist / Do I tell you it's you that I've missed? / Well if love is a cocktail of all that you do, / I get drunk with the thought of you" ("Drunk With The Thought Of You"). Generally, her simple diction and decent imagery works well for her, though songs like "Diamond Ring" are just annoyingly repetitive.

Anyone who likes thoughtful pop-rock will find something to enjoy on Detours. It is enough to make one enthusiastic about listening to more Sheryl Crow! The best track is "Gasoline," the low point is the familiar and unmemorable "Motivation."

For other reviews by vibrant female artists, check out my reviews of:
21 - Adele
Wicked Little High - Bird York
Tear The World Down - We Are The Fallen


7.5/10

For other music reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

| | |

A Decade Of Crowing: The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow Pretty Much Is!

The Good: Good songs, Decent mix, Good liner notes
The Bad: "Picture," Inconsistent vocals
The Basics: A nice mix of Sheryl's singles as well as the best - previously unrecognized - tracks from her albums, The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow delivers.


It's surprising, considering Sheryl Crow had only four studio albums (plus her Live From Central Park endeavor) at the time, that she produced a "greatest hits" album. Perhaps even more surprising, almost every song on The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow is recognizable and worthy of being on her "best of" album.

In fact, one of the nicest aspects of The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow is that in addition to the obvious recognizable singles, like "All I Wanna Do," "If It Makes You Happy," and "Soak Up the Sun," the album contains some of Crow's best songs that were never released as singles. Most notable of this category is "I Shall Believe," arguably the best track on Crow's debut Tuesday Night Music Club (reviewed here!), which is the penultimate song of the collection.

If you haven't heard Sheryl Crow, she is a rocker who has been on the airwaves for a little over a decade. While her style is immutably rock and roll, as evidenced by "My Favorite Mistake," "Everyday Is A Winding Road," "Leaving Las Vegas" (her first single), and "There Goes The Neighborhood," Crow does not limit herself in her expression. She shows her softer side with slower tracks like "Strong Enough" and "I Shall Believe," goes pure pop for her smashes "All I Wanna Do" and "Soak Up The Sun," and dabbles in country with "The First Cut Is The Deepest" (either mix - this album has the standard version and the country version as a bonus track). "Light In Your Eyes" even borders on religious rock.

And, unfortunately, Crow also produces some crap. On this album it's limited to "Picture," a terrible duet she did with Kid Rock. Fortunately, he takes top billing on that piece of musical garbage. The space "Picture" takes up on the album could easily (and better) been filled by "Can't Cry Anymore," Crow's cover of "Sweet Child of Mine," or even her lesser-known duet with Michelle Branch, "Love Me Like That." Any of these would have fit Crow's greatest hits far better.

Forgiving her that for the moment, The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow does reveal the singer/songwriter's other major problem. Vocally, Crow seems to be rather hit or miss. That is, she is either on, completely and convincingly, as she is with her penetratingly sincere longing on "Strong Enough" or kinda' harpy-ish as her voice cracks through "The Difficult Kind" and shouts out "If It Makes You Happy." In contrast to her musical diversity, which seems to illustrate her range and ability across a musical spectrum, her vocals seem less refined. Less consistently maintaining quality.

But even there, Crow survives and is entertaining. Her songs are well-written, to be sure. Crow almost never falls into predictable rhyme schemes, especially in the songs she herself wrote. And given that (out of sixteen - I'm not counting "The First Cut Is The Deepest" twice) fifteen of the tracks are written or co-written by Crow, it is evident that she had quite a bit of creative control over her career thus far.

The result is a pretty diverse array of songs by an artist who many people wrote off as a one-hit wonder following the success of "All I Wanna Do." Given that she once was a background singer for Michael Jackson, I think it not an inapt analogy to say that writing Crow off after "All I Wanna Do" would be like writing Michael Jackson off after Out Of Control. No, like Jackson's debut album, the success of "All I Wanna Do" served as a springboard to an extensive career, not an explosion before the sudden death of instant stardom.

Who will enjoy this album? Anyone who likes a strong rock presence, especially when it comes from a gutsy, artistic woman. This is music designed to get you to dance, think or rage (in an adult way). Who won't like it? Those who have no patience for a woman's sensibilities in rock. Those who expect just the pop sensibilities of "All I Wanna Do." I suspect those who will enjoy the album would well outnumber the potential detractors.

The best track is hard to pin down, but if forced, I'd say "I Shall Believe." The worst track is easily "Picture," a syrupy duet with Kid Rock.

For other former female Artist Of The Month reviews, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
Any Day Now - Joan Baez
My Love: Ultimate Essential Collection - Celine Dion
Beginnings - Shania Twain


8.5/10

For other music reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2006 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

| | |

The Split Decision On Tuesday Night Music Club Sheryl Crow's Less-Than-Stellar Debut.

The Good: Some good lyrics
The Bad: Limited vocal range, unimaginative musically
The Basics: Borrow a friend's copy - it's way too inconsistent to hold lasting interest.


It's tough to sell Tuesday Night Music Club more than fifteen years on the market. The immediacy of the singles "Leaving Las Vegas," "All I Wanna Do," "Strong Enough," and "Can't Cry Anymore" made for a high sales number back in 1993-4 but now, it's hard to look at the four singles and not admit that only two ("Leaving Las Vegas" and "Strong Enough") were actually decent tracks.

That's the crux of my lingering ambivalence toward Tuesday Night Music Club, the music is old and it sounds it. There's nothing that was even particularly groundbreaking about Tuesday Night Music Club at the time it was released, a fact which is amplified now years later when I occasionally put this c.d. in and am disappointed by Sheryl Crow's limited musical range.

Why do I keep the album around then? Well, it's a fifty-fifty split in the final analysis: Six of the songs are good, five less so. It's more like three of the tracks (the two aforementioned singles plus the excellent "I Shall Believe") are great, six are fair, and two are just plain bad ("Can't Cry Anymore" and "The Na-Na Song"). The three tracks would make it worth keeping around, save that they are as easily available on The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow. As a result, it is impossible for me to recommend the album because it's not a great album. It's such a mixed bag that it becomes impossible to overlook the poor engineering and limited vocal range on the merit of the lyrics alone. Some of the lyrics aren't even good.

Here, Tuesday Night Music Club is erratic at best. In many ways, the eleven-song album is an obvious pop-rock album with a strong female voice. Sheryl Crow includes folk-rock sensibilities about social issues ("The Na-Na Song") with Country sensibilities about freedom and fidelity ("Run, Baby, Run," "I Shall Believe") with obvious pop vacuousness ("All I Wanna Do"). While stylistic diversity does not mean sloppy on this album, it seems like Crow is struggling to find her voice.

This is not aided by the fact that Sheryl Crow is only a co-writer on every songs, sometimes alongside four other people! As well, the album was produced by Bill Bottrell (not Crow herself). The resulting album has Crow singing and playing her own guitar, but the lyrics are only collaboratively hers and her voice is produced to be sublimated to instrumentals on several songs. Here, as well, fans are likely to be frustrated because the social consciousness that Crow developed on later albums is noticeably absent here on her debut.

Sheryl Crow's debut doesn't quite know what it is and, after years of trying to figure out, I'm giving up because all I know is it's inconsistent. The best track is "I Shall Believe" and the weakest link is "Can't Cry Anymore."

For other works by strong female vocalists, please check out my reviews of:
Dar Williams - The Honesty Room
Natalie Imbruglia -  Left Of The Middle
The Bird And The Bee - Interpreting The Masters Volume 1: A Tribute To Daryl Hall & John Oates

4.5/10

For other music reviews, please check out my index page!

© 2010, 2009, 2001 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.


| | |