VGRC

When most people think of The Black Crowes, the first thing that tends to come to mind is the band's string of radio-rock hits off their debut album, Shake Your Money Maker. What most people fail to realize, is that they released many more albums after that, as each successive album has seen the band stray from their straight-up marketable blues-rock roots. However, today I would like to focus on my personal favorite from the band, 1994's Amorica.

The album that completely alienated them from the mainstream, its only real claim to fame was the popularity of their preceding releases on the radio, or the controversy that erupted over the album cover. Even with the publicity, the lack of any songs that could lend themselves well to release as a single doomed Amorica's commercial success from the start. However, the eschewing of traditional pop standards results in what is some of the strongest material in the Crowes' career.

>> Click here to stream the full album <<

Right out of the gate, you know you're listening to something special as the album begins with "Gone," which shifts into first gear with congas as Chris Robinson deftly shakes a set of maracas like a rattlesnake. By the time the first guitar solo comes in, the album has only just shifted into second gear, the band clearly taking their time with the groove they've established and having fun with it.

The playful energy keeps going into tracks like "High Head Blues," which by this point make it completely clear that they've moved beyond blues-standards. In fact, the only overtly blues-ey track, "Downtown Money Waster," shows up towards the end, sounding like an old-timey barroom jam.

However, it's the more soulful tracks that truly make Amorica shine, such as the impressive one-two punch of "Ballad In Urgency" that flows seamlessly into "Wiser Time," a carefully crafted aural landscape that evokes comparisons to The Allman Brothers Band with its dueling-guitars and a "Riders on the Storm"-esque keyboard outing. "Nonfiction" slows down the pace for a more introspective track, and there's also the album's closing track "Descending," a beautiful piano and slide guitar ballad that end the album with grace.

If the bluesy-radio-rock of the Crowes' earlier efforts turned you off at first, completely understandable. However, it would do you well to give them at least one more shot with Amorica, and you may find yourself pleasantly surprised at the evolution of this group's sound.

- Buy Amorica on Amazon.com