The Black Crowes - Warpaint
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Free Music Notes for Warpaint
Free Music Review: Thank you for getting back together!
Hit: 5 Stars
I have been disappointed with a number of new music releases in the last year. That being said, I was a little apprehensive about this release. I was excited for a new Black Crowes record, but I was sort of flinching at the potential to not impress me. I was primarily worried about the sound due to Eddie Harsch leaving the band. I expected his lack of presence to leave a huge void and along with a newcomer on lead guitar...I wasn't sure The Black Crowes getting back together was a good thing. Well, I was wrong...
This album is a strong release by the Robinson brothers and company. The sound is familiar being Black Crowes blues-rock, but the songs are rich and mature. There is more thought and sincerity to the lyrics. There is more complexity in the guitar playing and background vocals. The new lead guitar player (Luther Dickinson of The North Mississippi All-stars) has a nice sound that fits in well with the BC. He is fluid and melodic and fits in nicely following Marc Ford. The same can be said of Adam MacDougall on keyboards. I didn't sense a big difference between the sounds to notice that Eddie Harsch wasn't playing with them. You can tell that the Robinson brothers have aged well. They have figured out how to work well together versus fighting like they did previously.
I would agree with many other reviews that say this album will grow on you. It will indeed! However, I don't think it is one that you won't like at first listen. I think people will like it at first, but love it more and more with each spin.
Also, I saw The Black Crowes Unplugged on MHD (Music High Definition channel), and they played songs from the new album. The performance was really quite amazing! The songs on Warpaint will be great to see live. I hope they release the unplugged performance on DVD, because I will buy it in a New York minute!
Free Music Review: 4.5 stars: They FINALLY got their mojo back!!!
Hit: 5 Stars
To be quite honest, after picking up and listening to 'Warpaint' from start to finish I pretty much found it to be the Black Crowes' best effort in nearly 12 years. Even though lead guitarist Marc Ford and keyboardist Ed Harsch are no longer with the band, new additions Adam MacDougall and especially Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi All-Stars) prove themselves to be quite formidable in the overall mix. As a matter of fact, Dickinson's slide playing actually pushes frontman Chris Robinson to be a much more potent singer than ever before. At times, I could've sworn I was listening to Paul Rodgers or even Steve Marriott in prime form on several tracks! Brother Rich also seems to have reclaimed that creative drive that made the band's early/mid-'90s work so rewarding. If that be the case, this might very well signal the start of yet another highly productive run for what I believe to be THE most important rock act on the scene today. Seasoned fans should just get this one, period. New converts will find it to be an ideal introduction to the rest of their fairly sizable catalog. Potential Grammy nods are not out of the question either, only this time those accolades will truly be well-deserved for once, lol.
Note: From a recording and production standpoint, this could also be the best Crowes album I ever heard. Absolutely NOTHING gets buried in the mix here and gives one all the more reason to make good use of that volume knob in order to hear more fine detail. Major kudos to engineer Paul Stacey for bucking the current trend of making albums sound louder than they have to be by using good judgment and letting the overall performance speak for itself. The music industry should be taking notes as well or else they'll continue to see sales decline at an alarming rate.
Free Music Review: Very, very much on top of their game
Hit: 5 Stars
This album of the venerable BLACK CROWES shows an extremely mature band totally on top of their game. The Black Crowes have always followed the raunchy guitar driven rock mold of the early seventies greats and have done so with more than exciting results. Never have they struck me as so incredibly fearless, so incredibly certain of themselves. This album carries flavors of what are in my humble opinion some of the best records made during my lifetime. There certainly is some of the fearlessness, the almost-sounds-like-a-demo-ness of the Stones Exile on Main Street. Matter of fact, the track God's Got It could have been included in (LP-) side 3 of Exile's original double-LP-set. But I also hear flavors of the first Chris Jagger LP, of Ronnie Woods better solo-work, of the Family.
But what most strikes me when listening (again and again) to Warpaint is the almost arrogant not-in-controlness-equals-total-in-controlness atmosphere. Almost as if they released an album of first takes, with the occasional slip-up here and there, but with all the enthusiasm and FUN and raw musicality this would bring.
Chapeau, gentlemen. Your album has immediately made it to the 'deserted island' list. And thank you, for countless hours of decibel-filled enjoyment.
Teye
And BTW what f***ing great guitar tones!
Free Music Review: Crowes return to the Roots
Hit: 5 Stars
It may have taken 7 years but the Crowes have returned with one of their strongest efforts in their career. After two so so albums (By Your Side and Lions) and a highly experimental album (Three Snakes). The Crowes brought in Luther Dickinson from the North Mississippi Allstars and it's clear he has this band re-energized. This is a very rootsy album, if you had Levon Helm and Rick Danko singing you could swear this was The Band. This album is their most consistent since Amorica and provides some highlights of the Crowes career. "Goodbye Daughters", "Oh Josephine", "Walk Believer Walk" and "We who see the Deep" are up there with some of their best work. The intimacy of "Whoa Mule" was one of the highlights for me. Recorded outside, you can hear the birds chirping outside and you get the feel of all the members sittin around a campfire getting tall and playing from the heart. It felt like a religious experience for me. It shows the emotional power the Crowes can evoke through their music.
Being a die hard Crowes fan, this album is exactly what they needed. A strong rootsy album that will appeal to lovers of rock music from The Stones, to the Allmans to the Band. The Crowes remain rocks best band today and this album is a phenomenal addition to an already strong catalogue of work. Highly recommended.
Free Music Review: Warpaint - Rocking the World in the Same Old Way
Hit: 5 Stars
Listening to "Warpaint" reminded me of how scarce releases on the field of old-style, easy-listening rock and roll music are these days. Today you can find one or another group that deserves at least a little respect for trying to make good music, but no band or individual artist in activity today does what the "Crowes" still do. They manage, since "Shake Your Money Maker" back in early 90s, to make rock music to be more enjoyable and less noisy. None of the previous "Crowes" releases disappointed me, and this is not different with this recent release.
"Warpaint" is the same Black Crowes that we, their long time fans, are used to hear. All songs are nicely sang by the unique Chris Robinson's voice (and also by the backing vocal singers) and carefully arranged and played by the rest of the gang. It's a formula that always worked and is still working well. They are one of the few bands around that doesn't really need to reinvent themselves from time to time. They are basically capable to play the same kind of music over and over through the years and yet avoid sounding too repetitive.
No special highlights in this album. All tracks range from a 4 to a 5-star rating. "Walk Believer Walk", "Oh Josephine", "Locust Street" and "Whoa Mule" are my personal favorites.