keepers 5
keeper avg .385
Following the total Kevin Shirlization of By Your Side I wasn't expecting much of the second album after the departure of Marc Ford. By Your side was disappointing to some, but it was after hearing this album that I remember my Black Crowes mega-fan friend weeping, though I may be remembering a more dramatic reaction than actually took place. Thing is though flawed it's not all that bad. After playing a tour with Jimmy Page, the Led Zeppelin influence is heavy and obvious. The Black Crowes have always cranked out riff-heavy rockers, but many elements from the heavy syncopation of "No Use Lying" to the ridiculously delayed bridge of "Miracle To Me" (which sounds suspiciously like "Ten Years Gone") were never part of the Crowes repertoire until now. Coincidence you reckon?
Not that the Zeppelin thing is all bad, as opener "Midnight From The Inside Out"***** emphatically screams that this is not going to be another 80's Aerosmith record from the first sloppy squalls of slide guitar. The pickup switch tomfoolery is the greatest hook of "Lickin'"****; 3 verses of it is silly enough, but the fake ending pushes it beyond a mere fail to glorious over-reaching. "Come On"**** is so mindless and focused it would have fit right in on the previous album (it did have a couple good ones). "No Use Lying" gets all caught up in Zeppelin chugging, and the album quickly drops off thereafter. "Losing My Mind" couldn't be any cheesier if Bon Jovi played it, and "Ozone Mama" is so full of 'y'all's and 'yo's I want to strangle myself with Duncan. Maybe fortunately, the only consistent thing about this album is its unevenness. The fussy piano intro of "Cosmic Friend" is like some out-take from Their Satanic Majesties Request, but the angular, borderline tuneless riff of the second part is pure Zeppelin. It's great if you're into that sort of thing, just ignore the "My friend the cosmos is calling, Sayin' we all should be shining" chorus, dippy even by Chris Robinson's standards. But "Cypress Tree"****, like "No Speak No Slave" re-jiggered by Robert Plant, kills it, as does the tuneful single "Soul Singing"****. These high points make the occasional belly-flop or ballad tolerable, just part of the strange trip.
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