Though the album bears Sheryl's
name, it was written, performed and produced by a group of musicians who
regularly met every Tuesday evening to simply create music and enjoy themselves.
I don't believe that they originally envisaged an album, it just grew out
of the great songs that they produced. This was Sheryl's debut album, and,
while massively successful, it came after a long hard period of rejection
and failure, while she tried in vain to get a contract and became very
depressed and disillusioned with the music business. This explains the
really bitter mood of some of the songs, attacking the industry for its
harshness, chauvinism, and obsession with profit over the actual music.
It's an album from an artist of the traditional kind: Sheryl might feel
much more at home in the past, when music was not all about money, musicians
were artists and not superstars and toured and performed instead of appearing
on talk shows and making videos.
The album was not initially
very successful, but Sheryl was catapulted to fame by the massive hit 'All
I Wanna Do', after several previous singles had made no real impression.
It is a good song, but to my mind it's certainly not the best on the album.
It is also slightly out of character with the other songs, in a different
style: it's more mainstream and easy to listen to.
It is hard to define the musical
style, as it is so diverse and was created by so many different people.
It is rock with folk and jazz influences, but that does not really do it
justice. It is quieter and more relaxed than her second album, and while
it doesn't have as many really great, epic songs, it is more consistent,
and would probably bear up to constant play better.
Individual track reviews coming
soon. Excitement!
A different cover from the
regular version, this also features a couple of extra tracks along with
a 6-track live CD. Overall this is my #1 favourite record ever. The prevailing
mood is bleak but hopeful, but in a different way to Tuesday Night Music
Club; it's quite hard to explain. The cover hints at this, replacing the
wholesome American girl with an altogether darker picture. The lettering
is uneven, and Sheryl's face, half in shadow, is placed against a black
background. The 'typewriter' lettering style is continues inside the booklet,
with a rough jumble of all the song lyrics.
The main theme of the album
is of sympathy with dropouts and outcasts from society, extending TNMC.
Many songs concentrate on a different part of the decaying society of America:
the obsession with UFO's in 'Maybe Angels', the religious theme in 'Sweet
Rosalyn', the disillusionment with politicians expressed in 'Redemption
Day', and so on. Generally, 'Hard To Make A Stand' and 'Love Is A Good
Thing' show the theme most clearly. It is more wide-ranging than TNMC,
and contains probably more bitterness: slightly surprising, considering
her massive success.
The album includes 4 or 5
massive hits, almost anthems, from the energy and infectious rythym of
'A Change Would Do You Good' through the laid-back charms of 'Home' to
the epic 'If It Makes You Happy' and 'Every Day Is A Winding Road'. The
rest of the tracks are less obviously great, but they contain very intersting
themes, and give the album its very distinctive sound.
If you've seen the film you'll
already know that the theme was performed and written by Sheryl Crow. This
is a brilliant, moody song, to my mind the best Bond theme ever. It does
adopt many of the same attributes, but it is still brilliantly individual.
The fantastic, exciting first
few seconds lead into some quite quiet singing from Sheryl, setting the
mood perfectly, before the traditional style of chorus; if you've heard
another Bond theme, you'll know what I mean. It doesn't quite stand up
their with Sheryl's other massive hits, though, as it does rely too much
on the old formula. Still, Sheryl accepted this when she agreed to do it,
and she made the most of a slightly limited opportunity.
A lot of commentators have
remarked that this is an interesting career move, but Sheryl says
she doesn't see it that way: "It was just an opportunity to write music
for something that was inspiring to me, and when you get into doing film
work, maybe critics are quick to judge it as being a new direction for
you, when really you're just writing a song for a film." Sheryl says she
grew up with Bond films, and she tried to stay true to the tradition, and
what it means to her.
Just as the last reason to buy the
single, it includes the entire video in computer format, as a Win '95/Mac
self-extracting file. I cursed my unbelievably crap 486 for many hours
when it refused to play it. Oh well.
The new album is now nearing release, and the first single, entitled 'My favourite mistake' is already out. As far as I can tell, this represents yet another new direction, being quite different from the previous two albums. It is more mellow and musical than anything on 'Sheryl Crow' but without the country and folk influences of 'Tuesday Night Music Club'. While the tune is not particularly memorable, it is agreeably hummable. This is a very pleasant song to listen to, and quickly grows on you. If the whole album is like that, then although it will be different from her other work, I for one won't be disappointed. The video isn't anything special, just Sheryl looking rather pensive playing with a guitar, leaning against walls, and falling over. Is that too cynical? Anyway, it fits the song reasonably well.
The new album will be produced with Mitchell Froom, who helped with 'Oh Marie' on 'Sheryl Crow' and with 'Tomorrow Never Dies', and this shows immediately in the new song. It shares a mellow, swinging lyricism with 'Oh Marie', but without the emphasis on the rejects of society that pervaded 'Sheryl Crow'. Hopefully, the new album, by abandoning this, can embrace a wider range of topics and musical styles, and also be less depressing than its predecessor :). While I do love her second album, the melancholy can be overpowering at times.
This page should be updated quite regularly in the future, as I get more information on the new album. Keep checking!
