The Black Crowes

183

5 Stars

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Chris and Rick Robinson of the Black Crowes have never been shy of wearing their hearts on their Rock ‘n’ Roll sleeves, proudly showing off their influences. The Rolling Stones (Keith not Mick), The Faces (Ronnie Wood not Rod Stewart), and Humble Pie (Steve Marriot not Peter Frampton), and after touring the states with Jimmy Page, they released Lions with a heavy Led Zeppelin Presence era feel to it.

It may be clichéd, but for the Black Crowes, it really has been a long strange trip. They completely startled the world with their 1990 debut “Shake your Money Maker,” and in 2001, it looked like they were going to do it again with “Lions.”

In the years in between, they released four very varied albums with critical acclaim and sales. They have been kicked off a worldwide tour with ZZ Top for not towing the Budweiser sponsorship line. Their story has ranged from the ridiculous to the sublime, heady and dangerous, a lineup of changing musicians that would make Spinal Tap look stable, and sometimes thrillingly out of control. Musically, it’s been peaks and troughs, but “Lions” finds them on the very crest of a wave.

On the opening track, “Midnight from the Inside Out,” Chris Robinson blares forth after the guitar feedback locks into a chugging guitar rhythm with an opening salvo of “Here where angels never sleep / The water’s dark and deep / and you breathe molasses.” The effect is excruciating, clammy, sweaty, and exhilarating – all rolled into one. It sounds like Walking Street should do at midnight.

For its part in the proceedings, “Lions” is a wholly remarkable CD, mostly recorded in rehearsals, so it has a very live sound. Right up there in your face, it captures the Black Crowes’ vitality and indubitable spirit from the heavy imagery of its psychedelic third-eye lion head cover artwork to the bold grooves of “Soul Singing,” the uplifting evocation of “Cosmic Friend,” or the lingering refrain of the anthemic closing ballad, “Lay it All on Me,” where the Robinson brothers really stretch out.

The whole album has a rock-solid groove that locks you in at the beginning and doesn’t let you out until the dying notes ripple from the guitars. It embraces the band’s impure soul (in a very warts and all way) and gloriously ragged Rock ‘n’ Roll. It’s full of fervor and heart, reminding you why everybody falls so heavily for them the first time you hear them.

Producer Don Was sprinkles his magic over the tracks but never takes away the roughness, which is all part of the Crowes’ charm.

Lions are kings of the jungle; how very apt. A great Rock ‘n’ Roll record; let’s just hope that the Crowes stay on these rails.