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DVDfever.co.uk – Black Crowes: Before The Frost CD reviewElly Roberts reviews
Silver Arrows Records
- Released: August 2009
- Rating: 10/10+
- Vote and comment on this album:View Comments
Still rockin 20 years on with new line-up.
Coming up to 20 years together and 20 million albums shifted to date, hairy rockers The Black Crowes (possibly) start a new trend.
Their latest offering Before The Frost was recorded live in front of an intimate audience (mostly fans) at Levon Helms studios The Barn in Woodstock N.Y. late Feb early March 2009 distant clapping between tracks is left in for good measure. Methinks Silver Arrows Records has a real winner on their hands here.
This is a real return to form to the days of classic rock, which is a relief, after the much maligned Warpaint of last year.
The Black Crowes hit the big-time with album Live At The Greek (with Jimmy Page circa 2000). Much like their heroes Led Zeppelin, The Crowes as theyre known to fans, like to mix and match their repertoire a bit of boogie a la The Band / Little Feat, (Kept My Soul) southern rock (A Train Still Makes ), bluesy guitar solos (Been A Long Time) , acoustic ballads (with violins The Last Place ) with mandolin picks (What Is Home?) being a massive nod to Led Zep, country ballads with dollops of pedal steel (Apppaloosa) and a propensity for jam freak-outs (check the fab seven minutes plus Been A Long Time Coming .amazing) makes them a unique band with plenty of skill and diverse styles at their disposal.
Unusually, theyve even indulged in a bit of indie dance funk (think Blondie) on the catchy I Aint Hiding a great potential single, though not representative of the rockier touchstones of the whole album but showing a greater breadth to their repertoire than before though dazzling solos keep it a Crowes thing.Despite working with a new line-up original members (only songwriters) the Robinson brothers Chris and Rich have turned the newish Crowes into a formidable band.
I think we fulfilled a musical commitment to continue on the golden road of artistic independence. Approaching 20 years into our careers, we still are ambitious enough to push ourselves to create something unique that we have never done before. Chris Robinson 2009.
The verdict: Outstanding!
Weblink:blackcrowes.com
The full list of tracks included are :
1. Good Morning Captain
2. Been A Long Time (Waiting On Love)
3. Apaloosa
4. A Train Still Makes A Lonely Sound
5. I Aint Hiding
6. Kept My Soul
7. What Is Home
8. Houston Dont Dream About Me
9. Make Glad
10. And The Band Played On
11. Last Place That Love LiesView the discussion thread.blog comments powered by Disqus= 0) {query += ‘url’ + i + ‘=’ + encodeURIComponent(links[i].href) + ‘&’;}}document.write(”);})();//]]]]>]]>
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.