Tuesday Night Music Club (studio album) by Sheryl Crow

From llibnanoon 08/25/2020 18:29

Classic Debut. Rating (81.36)

1. 80
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6. 40
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9. 90
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11. 50

With a confident vocal range, staccato rhythms and melodic guitars, singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow immediately captures the listener into her world of infectious, alternative country-rock. The songs on her debut are more about the lyrics than the melodies, but that's not to say she doesn't write fine choruses. You come to this album for the stories it tells you, rather than the mood-lifting melodies, even though songs like Leaving Las Vegas and Can't Cry Anymore are hard to shake off.

Unlike most of her peers at the time, Sheryl Crow doesn't rely on infectious melodies or simple chord progressions for her hits. Instead, she convinces with a raspy and deep voice and very straightforward, rhythmic and almost metallic music. It's unique in its own right, even if it doesn't' work all the way, as songs like Solidify and The Na-Na Song prove. These tracks represent the more alternative side of the album, combining elements from hip-hop and early 90s alternative rock. In that sense, this album is very much a product of its era.

My only problem with the album is that there is little variation between the more uptempo songs and the slower ones (such as No One Said It Would Be Easy and the sleepy soul-tinged We Do What We Can) which means that the album has a plain flow to it and feels longer than it needs to. The album loses steam during the last couple of tracks and after the fine All I Wanna Do, ending on a pretty disappointing note.

From planetneutral 01/21/2018 21:10

It's good. For a debut album, very good.

From Bork 06/13/2013 01:53

Close to great. A few too many insignificant tracks but the hits are both good and numerous.

From junodog4 09/12/2012 17:28

Decent, unpretentious pop-rock.

A solid debut, but I prefer her next one.

From lightmyway 05/17/2012 21:37

This is an all-time favorite. So many great songs. Her later albums were more mature in a lot of ways but this one feels the most honest.

From paladisiac 01/04/2012 17:47

You'd never know it by hit "All I Wanna Do" that she struggled for a while to start her career off in her own way, not how a record company would want to present her. Regardless, the pop/rock on display here is pretty masterful for a debut album. Filtered through her version of Stevie Nicks, a lot of these tracks are catchy hits, and both "run, baby, run" and "i shall believe" would both work well as concert closers.

From Romanelli 11/27/2011 19:34

She did a good job here...the next album is the one to have. On a lot of her later stuff, she mails it in...not the case here.

Yeah, 'All I Wanna Do' is prety mindless but it's catchy fun. The album otherwise is very very good and an underrated solo female classic.