Sensual, Fun, and Free: The Black Crowes Rock My World
Sep 24 '03
Pros Great songs, great arrangements, great vibe...
Cons Awful lyrics, and two or three awful songs...
The Bottom Line Don't miss out on this often ignored gem. It may not be as good as a few other albums from The Black Crowes, but it's still worthwhile.
Full Review
True, gritty, swaggering Southern rock bands are few and far between. Some aspire to the pinnacle of success, but an appealing act of this sort doesn’t come along often. Certainly, years ago Creedence Clearwater Revival, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and The Allman Brothers Band were good examples of great Southern rock. But the 1990’s boasted few stars of the genre. Without question, the most notable was the Atlanta-based band The Black Crowes.
Shake Your Moneymaker was certainly the springboard for the band’s long career. That 1990 album marked an incredible debut and landed close to the top of Billboard charts. Quite an accomplishment for a band with a druggy swagger that was very uncommon during that era. In fact, The Black Crowes harkened back to a time when leading singers were dark, magical, photogenic (in a very ugly way) and absolutely talented. Not just that, the band has written and recorded a slew of usually great, sometimes good, and rarely bad songs. They are one of the best acts to grow out of the 1990’s.
Most early fans latched on about the time Hard To Handle, She Talks To Angels and Jealous Again were released. But as the years progressed the band continued to make excellent music together. The swaggering lead singer was always Chris Robinson while brother Rich Robinson gave good guitar. Rounding out the lineup were Johnny Colt (bass), Jeff Cease (guitar), Steve Gorman (drums) and finally new add Eddie Harsch (keyboards). It was with this lineup that the band stormed through Southern Harmony and Musical Companion where both Remedy and Thorn In My Pride stood out—though the album itself was damn near perfect.
But would The Black Crowes be able to keep up with expectation from both fans and critics? The answer came in the form of 1994’s Amorica. With the success of two previous albums under their collective belt, The Black Crowes came into their own and embraced an organic, jam-oriented style that suited them perfectly. Amorica wasn’t stocked with hits like the previous two efforts, but it was overall a cohesive and genuine effort that cements the fact that The Black Crowes would never, ever be forgotten.
Though their style was atypical to my usual taste, I picked up on the band early in their career. Soon upon the release of Amorica, it was added to my sparsely populated collection. The cover was shocking—and the fact that the edited cover is “shaven” makes me giggle uncontrollably. But all silliness aside, Amorica is also rather underrated and possesses within it some outstanding songs (not to mention an unfortunate dud or three). It deserves a slot alongside all those other The Black Crowes albums you already have in your music library even if it’s not totally without fault.
Opening with the straightforward Gone, Amorica is off to a good start. It is by no means the best song but it is familiar. And this familiarity certainly helps to prime audiences for the new sound that the band embraces on the songs that follow. Of course, The Black Crowes do soon impress with their second song and single, A Conspiracy. It is one of the best offerings of their career and oozes sensuality and want and desire and energy—all feelings that are common to The Black Crowes but all too uncommon in the world of popular music.
But I think the real gem here is High Head Blues--easily my favorite song on Amorica. The material sounds as though it were culled from about 1970 with creative percussion and funky guitars. I can’t help but groove to the layered beats and melody. If one song calls out to you, let it be High Head Blues. But as with many songs from The Black Crowes there is a weakness—the lyrics make little sense.
Sometimes Ihave a ghetto in my mind
Other times sunshine high head fine
In between I get cold, old mean
Intertwined with country pride open and kind
Yeah. Whatever. Just ignore what Robinson is saying and concentrate on the music.
Cursed Diamond is an urgent, pleading rock track. And while I can’t say I love it, I can say that technically The Black Crowes sound amazing. Chris Robinson’s voice is evocative and insistent while the guitars and drums are loud and thump in a classically wonderful way. I am especially keen on the light, piano-and-guitar paired ending. If nothing else, that part of the song is to be heard.
I do appreciate the acoustic change on Nonfiction. The band drops the electric instruments in favor of something lighter and in the end more emotional. Again, the lyrics are pretty rotten but the song itself sounds wonderful. The Black Crowes are hard press to sound anything but lovely. I also am particularly fond of the soulful backing vocals. Not quite as slow, but definitely worthwhile is She Gave Good Sunflower. It’s not a particularly memorable song, but as written by performed by The Black Crowes I can’t help but appreciate the attempt.
P.25 London is on the other hand a sorry excuse for a song. It starts roughly—almost as though the band was trying to be Blues Traveler or something. The attempt does not go over well. The harmonica is just too much for me as is the up-and-down vocal style of Robinson throughout the chorus. Just rotten material however you slice it. Also modestly uninteresting are Ballad In Urgency and Downtown Money Waster. The latter is so unnecessary and bad that it send chills down my spine.
But there are two songs worth partaking in on the latter half of Amorica. Wiser Time is a definite change of pace for the usually rockin’ band. It sounds more like a pop-country anthem. But what really touches me is the fact that Robinson (for once) shows some restraint and sings rather than yelping. Not that I don’t like yelping, but you know it does eventually grow old. This is one of the best songs of the entire album and definitely one of my personal favorites from The Black Crowes. Descending is yet another light ballad, but still a worthwhile effort.
Amorica taught me that I do really like The Black Crowes at one of two extremes. I’ve always loved them when they rock, but I also can readily admit that the band is also stellar when they are light and emotional and drop the electrics for the acoustics. Amorica is a good album. Though, with the problems I’ve mentioned I cannot give it five stars in good conscious. A few songs stay with me from this disc: Wiser Time, High Head Blues, and A Conspiracy are nothing short of brilliant.
Rating: 4/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. Gone
02. A Conspiracy
03. High Head Blues
04. Cursed Diamond
05. Nonfiction
06. She Gave Good Sunflower
07. P. 25 London
08. Ballad In Urgency
09. Wiser Time
10. Downtown Money Waster
11. Descending
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