Sheryl Crow (studio album)
by Sheryl Crow

From planetneutral 02/27/2021 02:15 | #266724

Tails off at the end, but overall a slightly stronger album than her debut.

1. 90
2. 95
3. 60
4. 80
5. 95
6. 75
7. 95
8. 100
9. 65
10. 90
11. 80
12. 65
13. 60

Sheryl Crow's self-titled sophomore album is usually rated highly among her fans, and I can see why. Rather than trying to please the masses with easy-going pop anthems, Crow goes dark and abrasive, both in terms of music and the lyrical content of the album. The emphasis on rhythms and wooden melodies returns from the debut, but this time there is a sharper edge to the alternative sound and the lyrics have matured greatly.

Even though the darker edge remains the running theme throughout the album, there is also a fuller end more melodious sound to a few tracks, like the superb If It Makes You Happy. The quality and the infectious melodies are consistent throughout the entire album, making for a very enjoyable listen. Hard To Make A Stand and Oh Marie are standouts from the latter half of the album. All the best songs have in common simple guitar loops, strong choruses and perfect vocals from Crow. There isn't a single bad song on the album, even if the final two songs kind of get lost in the mix.

I was lucky to capture the album as a novelty. The experience was all the more authentic.
Sheryl has a beautiful sexy voice. The songs have a special atmosphere that charges with positive energy.
This album can be listened to over and over again.
The most beautiful songs are: Home, Oh Marie, Superstar, Love is a good thing.
But of course the song "If it makes you happy" is also very good. It's probably the very first song they've heard from Sheryl Crow that sparked me to be interested in her work.

From Eastwood 04/09/2015 20:45 | #139234

Very good album. Best 10 songs average is 89,0/100 and the album can get very good 90/100. Best song is "If it makes you happy" - maximum rating. Followed by "Maybe angels" and "Everyday is a winding road" both 90/100. All other songs good 80-85/100, except "The book" and "Ordinary morning" are average only. However - Favourite!
Genre: Pop Rock, Roots Rock, Rock

From junodog4 03/14/2015 19:32 | #136771

Catchy and well-crafted. Commercial didn't come at the expense of quality.

Excellent album

From lightmyway 05/17/2012 21:39 | #42588

More mature and you can tell she tried a lot harder. The thing with the first album is it felt like she didn't HAVE to try. Whatever, this is still a great album.

From paladisiac 12/13/2011 17:08 | #32821

She added a little grit to the somewhat "perky" debut, still doing everything as well as before. "home" is unofficially my favorite of all her songs, a longing ode for home, as in lyrics "Afraid of feeling nothing, no bees or butterflies / My head is full of voices and my house is full of lies". "a change would do you good", "everyday is a winding road" and "love is a good thing" are the ultimate in catchy songs. "sweet rosalyn", "if it makes you happy" and "hard to make a stand" are pretty good too. "oh marie" has some fun lyrics like "All day long she fills me up with dogma / She's all magazines and Benzedrine and vodka". ("superstar" reminds me of "rock the casbah" in its musical start.) (Unfortunately, she'd devolve into aping 70s rock in a stevie nicks fashion after this.)