If It Makes You Happy (8/31/96) #7a US, #9 UK, #37 AR, #6 MR
Everyday Is a Winding Road (11/30/96) #6a US, #12 UK, #28 AC, #31 AR, #17 MR
Hard to Make a Stand (3/29/97) #22 UK
A Change Would Do You Good (6/7/97) #19a US, #8 UK, #25 MR
Home (10/18/97) #25 UK
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow
Review:
“Skeptics who attributed the success of Sheryl Crow’s…debut, Tuesday Night Music Club, to a combination of Crow’s seductive good looks and a shrewd choice of collaborators have been effectively silenced by the range and depth of songs and performances on her self-produced, pointedly self-titled sequel.” SS “Hiring noted roots experimentalists Tchad Blake and Mitchell Froom as engineer and consultant, respectively, Sheryl Crow took a cue from their Latin Playboys project for her second album – she kept her roots rock foundation and added all sorts of noises, weird instruments, percussion loops, and off-balance production to give Sheryl Crow a distinctly modern flavor.” STE
“Even with the Stonesy grind of Sweet Rosalyn or hippie spirits of Love Is a Good Thing, it is an album that couldn’t have been made any other time than the ‘90s. As strange as it may sound, Sheryl Crow is a postmodern masterpiece of sorts – albeit a mainstream, post-alternative, postmodern masterpiece. It may not be as hip or innovative as, say, the Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique, but it is as self-referential, pop culture obsessed, and musically eclectic.” STE
The latter “contains the lyrics ‘Watch out sister, watch out brother, watch our children while they kill each other with a gun they bought at Wal-Mart discount stores’ (in criticism of Wal-Mart’s gun sales policy). For this reason, sales of the album were banned at Wal-Mart stores.” WK
“Playing guitars and keyboards, and building a triumphant, layered vocal style, Crow is tough as nails and drolly soulful on the deft” SS and “infectious Change Would Do You Good,” STE “as noteworthy for Crow's crafty lyrics (‘Hello, it’s me, I’m not at home/ If you’d like to reach me, leave me alone...’) as for its solid, midtempo groove.” SS
“Throughout the record, Crow spins out wild, nearly incomprehensible stream-of-consciousness lyrics, dropping celebrity names and products every chance she gets (‘drinking Falstaff beer/ Mercedes Ruehl and a rented Leer’). Often, these litanies don’t necessarily add up to anything specific, but they’re a perfect match for the mess of rock, blues, alt-rock, country, folk, and lite hip-hop loops that dominate the record.” STE
“At her core, she remains a traditionalist – the songcraft behind…the bubbly Everyday Is a Winding Road, and the weary If It Makes You Happy helped get the singles on the radio – but the production and lyrics are often at odds with those instincts, creating for a fascinating and compelling (and occasionally humorous) listen and one of the most individual albums of its era.” STE These “are only the most familiar highlights in a varied and absorbing set that argues Crow is no one's invention but her own.” SS
3.0
0.9
5.0
