lambchops's Full Review: Sheryl Crow by Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow has always made music that is best described as hit-and-miss. Since her debut with 1993’s Tuesday Night Music Club, she’s had a streak of popular singles. However it must be noted that Crow has also had her fair share of failure. Nine Grammy awards under a belt doesn’t mean that an artist is above reproach. In fact, there have been times at which I’ve not just disliked but genuinely despised Crow for her missteps.
Case in point: in 1999 she covered (badly) Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns n’ Roses. Even worse? It won one of those coveted awards I mentioned just a few lines above. It was whiny and ugly and whenever radio stations would play it I had no choice but to turn off the noise. My disdain for Crow extends beyond her bad cover act—I’m also not a fan of her music in general. As for Tuesday Night Music Club, I think it showed her at her rawest and realest and least assuming. However, from that point on Crow knew she was famous and that her “hot rock chick” persona was just as important as the actual music. Needless to say, this bothers me but if her music had lived up to her potential I wouldn’t be nearly as annoyed.
Crow’s reputation is built on just four studio albums in well over a decade’s time—Tuesday Night Music Club plus Sheryl Crow (1996), The Globe Sessions (1998), and C’mon C’mon (2002). Some people would argue that the singer-songwriter was at the height of her career around the time of her self-titled sophomore effort. This is actually the point at which I (oddly enough) became aware of the fact that her music was often boring, rather overplayed, and generally maddening. It was also this album that yielded two Grammy awards and a goodly handful of hit singles. Of course that would all mean something more to me if I actually could stomach the album.
Music was in a strange state of upheaval in 1996. Hard rock had fallen out of style, boy bands were yet to really crack the industry, and for a moment singer-songwriters stepped out of the shadows and on to MTV and top-40 radio. Singer-songwriters were the new pop, the new adult contemporary, and even the new rock all rolled up into one tightly managed and neatly marketed package. It all seemed so artificial and Sheryl Crow was (is?) among some of the most plastic of all the famous faces to come out of that transitional era.
If It Makes You Happy, Everyday Is a Winding Road, and A Change Would Do You Good are clearly the best known songs of this album. While I wouldn’t call them classics by any stretch of any imagination, these songs are still entertaining at first listen. The problem really arose when Crow’s three tracks were each played once an hour by every station with a vaguely applicable format. The memories of eight or nine years ago are seriously and truly chilling. Even those years ago I really wanted to like and respect Crow (especially after her debut) but I couldn’t help but feel that she sold out on her second release.
The writing, performance, and production blend many varied influences from roots rock to folk. Crow tosses about pop culture references and melancholia as if they were candy. On one hand, I enjoy the eclectic nature of the album but on the other hand the approach (and celebrity name dropping) grows tired pretty quickly. Sheryl Crow is better digested one song at a time rather than diving into it head first and at full length. Singles aside (the mere thought of those songs has managed to sour my entire morning) there are some songs that are well worth a bit of discussion. I’d have appreciated Crow clumping these songs at the front of her album, but instead am greeted by the slow, dry, and unimpressive Maybe Angels. I must admit I like the instrumentation and production elements, but the fact remains that it sounds like somebody has slowed the track down MUCH too much. Plus, Crow’s monotonous delivery style makes the whole track impossible to appreciate. I honestly can’t handle sluggish, mind-numbing, and unemotional songs.
Breathy and loose, Home is one of the most honest feeling songs of the album. It would have been had Crow actually sung rather than moaning but with that said I enjoy how acoustic the feel is especially in comparison to the unabashedly pop songs that populate the album. Sweet Rosalyn has a great chorus and bluesy vibe that prove refreshing, but the song really doesn’t take shape at all until well over a minute into Crow’s whinnying. By that time I’ve already lost all interest. Redemption Day however is another reprieve from the general dour feelings I have for this disc. It’s a distinctly country song that reminds me very much of Joan Osbourne’s tunes. Country works particularly well with Crow’s voice, especially when set in an acoustic environment. This good song is followed by the one that is most striking of all—Hard to Make a Stand. A simple song with but a guitar, organ, and handclaps predominantly it features Crow at the top of her game. Her voice sounds dynamic and the melody is unforgettable.
The end of Crow’s second album is populated by five non-single songs. Love is a Good Thing is a bluesy-but-bland offering. I like what she does with her voice ala Black Crowes now and again, but in all it doesn’t do anything for me good or bad. Oh Marie, Superstar, The Book and the methodical bluesy jazz of Ordinary Morning are also forgettable.
Two distinct feeling are left with me at the end of this “classic” 1996 album. First off, I’m annoyed by the singles (which by the way are dissimilar to the other songs). I am also disappointed by the overall feeling Sheryl Crow leaves me with. I’m bored, dissatisfied, and unimpressed by almost all of the songs save for Home, Hard to Make a Stand, and Redemption Day. In all I’m confused by the sales, hits, awards, and respect that this album has garnered. I much prefer Tuesday Night Music club to any of Crow’s more recent releases.
By the way, if you’re curious about the single from this album that LEAST annoys me I’ll let you know If It Makes You Happy…
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. Maybe Angels
02. A Change
03. Home
04. Sweet Rosalyn
05. If It Makes You Happy
06. Redemption Day
07. Hard To Make A Stand
08. Everyday Is A Winding Road
09. Love Is A Good Thing
10. Oh Marie
11. Superstar
12. Book, The
13. Ordinary Morning
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