Re: Crowes & Maxim

I know I should be aghast at such shoddy journalistic standards, but I'm loving this story.

[www.cnn.com]

Honestly, does anyone really NEED to actually listen to a Black Crowes album to be able to do an accurate review of it?

OK, I'll take the hit...

I didn't get into the Black Crowes until way after their "hit" period, and then it was because I got the box set with their first four albums from a friend. Sure, much of it is derivative, but I enjoy the hell out of their first two albums, and their fifth, By Your Side. Heck, Southern Harmony is a really good rock album, better than some of their influences.

Now, as a side note, I hate Maxim and all those smarmy, macho-shithead, "we are so much better than this stuff" magazines and websites where all people can do is make lists of their own dislikes and write as though they're above it all. The Onion AV Club manages to avoid this by being educated in the subject matter, but Maxim and Cracked (wheee!) seem to only be able make fun of stuff, which is easy. Saying why something's good is hard, because it means you have to let down the guard and admit what you like in front of people. Bonding over what you think is crap is the realm of the poser, and those people usually are doing so to hide the fact that they actually liked the crap they parody. End of rant.

I was kinda looking forward to the new Crowes album, just to see if they'd hit a decent songwriting lode again, after Chris' divorce and some time off. Haven't heard the single yet, but because Maxim didn't care for it, it makes me want to run out and buy three copies.

I read an interview with the lead singer of the Black Crowes around the time of their debut and in it he stated he couldn't really understand all of the comparisons they were getting to The Faces. "All this time they thought they were aping Steve Mariott and Humble Pie". As a huge Small Faces fan I really appreciated the Mariott name check and gave me some insight into where they were coming from.

I played the heck out of their first two albums but they lost me after the third and fourth albums and I gave up on them. Too much murk and boogie with no real songs to hold onto. From the comments above though it sounds like I am going to have to pick up "By your side".

You should indeed pick up By Your Side if you like the first two Crowes records.

I can see the Marriott/Humble Pie influence. But after purchasing a Free best-of, I realized what a HUGE influence that band was on the Crowes.

I should also mention the 2-Cd set The Lost Crowes, which puts out a couple of unreleased albums: Tall, which is the Amorica material performed in a less "jam band" style, and Band, which is a nice batch of mostly lost rockers recorded before Marc Ford was fired and By Your Side was made instead. This set is very much worth it for the pre-jamrock haze Crowes fan.

It doesn't surprise me that Maxim would have such poor/lazy standards in music criticism. Anyone who knows anything about Maxim knows what its stock in trade is.

As for the Black Crowes, a disinterested person could dismiss the band as a retro-boogie retread. Some listeners never will hear the Crowes as anything but. (Judging from the post that introduces this thread, Reno's one of them.)

But if a band comes out with a solid collection of songs, played in just about any style that suits them (the songs as well as the band, that is) ... well, that's cause for a good review. It certainly warrants an attentive one.

Dismiss a band up-front like the joker at Maxim did, and you might miss out.

Yes, at the very least to tell people which Crowes they're getting: the Free/Faces/Stones lovers of the first two albums and By Your Side (all of which rock mightily, derivative or not) or the jam-happy hippies of the rest of the catalog.

It is a fair statement that I have never given the Black Crowes much of a chance.
Which, come to think of it, is damn odd behaviour on my part, as I've never disliked anything I've heard by them.

Dont feel bad brad, Crow acts do usually suck (Counting, Sheryl, etc.) so it's a good bet that Black does too.

The first album is a bit more derivative/chart-friendly, but that 2nd album really is a great rock album. Their fifth album, By Your Side, is a pretty good attempt to regain the charts after two over-drugged (to make the distinction) Deadhead albums. It's got some great production and some flat-out rockers, such as Dragging My Heart Around and the title track. It's weird how I suddenly started liking them after years of uninterestedness (word?).

Other slightly embarrassing confession: while I don't like anything else by the Counting Crows, I really like about half of their 2nd album, where they seem to be a rock band instead of a bad Van Morrison ripoff. The first three songs really do work well.

I am also STEVE-like drunk, so... (shrug). Second embarrassing confession.

MrFab wrote:

> Dont feel bad brad, Crow acts do usually suck (Counting,
> Sheryl, etc.) so it's a good bet that Black does


What about -ded House?



I still remember the day that first Black Crowes album came out. I walked into the Garage D'or and they had probably fifty copies on the rack and I was wondering what the hubub bub was, cause they never got that many copies of a new release. A couple days later, most of those copies were gone, so I decided I should probably buy one, too. Same thing happend a few years later with Exile In Guyville, but that time I didn't regret my purchase. hehe

There was a record store called "Garage D'or"? My Mekons-sense is tingling.

Quote

There was a record store called "Garage D'or"? My Mekons-sense
is tingling.

[www.garagedor.com]


oooooooooooh!

Considering how well Mould and Hart still don't get along, I have my doubts as to the authorization of these Husker Du recordings.

Now I remember Garage D'or - they put out those Blood Shot albums a while back. Cool label.

Michael Toland wrote:

> Considering how well Mould and Hart still don't get along, I
> have my doubts as to the authorization of these Husker Du
> recordings.
>


it's a pretty good bet that mr garage d'or (terry katzman) was the guy who made those recordings. and he might also be the only guy who gets along with both of those clowns.

no chance he'd be releasing that without their blessing.

Quote

Considering how well Mould and Hart still don't get along, I have my doubts as to the authorization of these Husker Du recordings.

Since Mould and Hart probably don't have the bank accounts of Gilmour and Waters, I can see them "putting aside their differences" and authorizing said release "for the fans." (mind you I don't care what reason they use, I'm just glad the recordings will be available period).

As for the original post, who reads Maxim for the record reviews anyway (or actually "reads" Maxim at all for that matter).

And I caught the Counting Crows (under the pseudonym "The Shatners") when they opened up for Big Star in 1994 and proved that, yes, "Crow" bands really DO suck! (well, I know there was a band just called "Crows" that recorded for AmRep; not crap, but not really "good" either).



Post Edited (03-01-08 12:32)

d
> that, yes, "Crow" bands really DO suck! (well, I know there
> was a band just called "Crows" that recorded for AmRep; not
> crap, but not really "good" either).
>


not nearly as great as the u-men, but there were the doo-wop ("gee") crows as well...



Post Edited (03-02-08 18:18)

blasmo wrote:

> There was a record store called "Garage D'or"? My Mekons-sense
> is tingling.


[trouserpress.com]
[trouserpress.com]

the del-byzanteens and circus mort entries could lead to another "garage d'or" tribute...

anybody remember deep six?

what about Stone the Crows?

Actually when I first heard about this (on the AV club too) it made me want to hear the album and sort of made me interested in the Crows. When they were big in the early 90's I loathed them. Like the Doors, they were for hippy chicks. Then when they came back as a band named Train I still didn't quite get into them. Maybe I should check them out.

I suppose I can understand why some would think the Black Crowes are a bit pedestrian but their first two records are keepers in my book. After that they lost their way and I stopped paying attention to their releases.

I've never much cared for the Crowes, but since I've only recently discovered how much I dig the Faces, maybe I should give those earlier albums a chance. I'm also probably biased against 'em due to that fact that when I first saw them in 1986 or so in a tiny club in Atlanta, they were an R.E.M. ripoff called Mr. Crowe's Garden. The sudden transformation into the boogie rock band a few years later never struck me as authentic. 'Course, it's probably more likely the R.E.M. clone period was the less authentic....

Like most of the posters here, I dig the Black Crowes' first two albums. I relied on the best-of, though, to cover the high points from their subsequent discs.

I've only seen the Crowes once, and was pretty disappointed. They were more jam-oriented than song-oriented that night.

I remember when Chris Robinson got arrested in Denver, during the Crowes' first (I think) tour. He went into a 7-Eleven to buy a case of beer after a concert. It was after midnight, so the clerk couldn't sell it to him legally. He got angry, cursed her out, and just threw a twenty on the counter and tried to walk out with the case of beer. Well, he did succeed in walking out, but didn't get very far. Rock star decadence at its finest! Ummm ... yeah.

"I've only seen the Crowes once, and was pretty disappointed. They were more jam-oriented than song-oriented that night."

I saw them at the ACL Festival a couple of years ago and had the exact same problem with the performance. Lots of loooong jams (Marc Ford's a good player, sure, but come on...) and few song-oriented rockers. It was boring.

To tie this to the Louris thread--Chris Robinson produced Louris' new CD. And did a damn fine job. Their friendship goes back to the days when the 'hawks and crowes were initially signed by Rick Rubin and toured together.

> There was a record store called "Garage D'or"? My Mekons-sense
> is tingling.

My Mekons sense is under-developed. I guess I never spent enough time on north Venus. But my Cracker sense definitely perked up.

I'm late to the party (as usual)...

I'd have to side with the Crowes re. the Maxim thing, but, like Rhett, I never bought their act to start with, so I can't say I'm extremely invested one way or the other. Although I was surprised to realize Maxim is still in business...

From NPR's Wait, Wait! Don't Tell Me!: Jim DeRogatis weighs in on the Maxim story with "It's the job of a music critic to listen to the Black Crowes so no one else has to."