BARRY GIBB & FRIENDS: "Greenfields"

Original released on CD Capitol

(US 2021, January 8)

"Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers' Songbook, Vol. 1" may be a bit of a departure for Barry Gibb, who spent his career exploring the byways of pop music as a member of the Bee Gees, but it fits into a long line of albums where a pop star revisits his catalog through the prism of country music. Assisting Gibb in this journey is Dave Cobb, one of the premier producers in Nashville in the 2010s. Cobb's strength as a producer is helping an artist articulate their essence, a trick he pulls off again on "Greenfields" by keeping the focus directly on the song. Nothing here is too lavish, the star cameos can sometimes draw the focus away from Gibb himself - Dolly Parton dominates "Words," Jason Isbell grounds "Words of a Fool" - yet that only directs attention to how sturdy and enduring the songbook he crafted with his brothers is. While this also means "Greenfields" doesn't provide any surprises or revelations, the album's mellow vibe is engaging enough for that not to matter. This is a relaxed, generous affair, an album where the featured star and his guests defer not just to each other but to the songs they are singing. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)

SHERYL CROW: "The Globe Sessions"

Original released on CD A&M 540 974-2

(UK 1998, September 21)

Since her dense, varied, postmodernist eponymous second album illustrated that Sheryl Crow was no one-album wonder, she wasn't left with as much to prove the third time around. Having created an original variation on roots rock with "Sheryl Crow", she was left with the dilemma of how to remain loyal to that sound without repeating herself on her third album, "The Globe Sessions". To her credit, she never plays lazy, not when she's turning out Stonesy rockers ("There Goes the Neighborhood") or when she's covering Dylan (the remarkable "Mississippi," an outtake from "Time Out of Mind"). However, she has decided to abandon the layered, yard-sale production and pop culture fixations that made "Sheryl Crow" a defining album of the mid-'90s. "The Globe Sessions", instead, is the work of a craftswoman, one who knows how to balance introspective songs with pop/rockers, one who knows how to exploit her signature sound while becoming slightly more eclectic. In that sense, the album is a lot like a latter-day album from her idols, the Stones - it finds pleasures within the craft and the signature sounds themselves. That means that there are no surprises (apart from the synthesized handclaps, of course). The Celtic homage "Riverwide" may be new, but it's not unexpected, much like how the whiplash transition in "Am I Getting Through" isn't entirely out of the blue. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though, since "The Globe Sessions" has a strong set of songs. Since it lacks the varied sonics, humor, and flat-out weirdness of "Sheryl Crow", it's never quite as compelling a listen as its predecessor, yet it is a strong record, again confirming Crow's position as one of the best roots rockers of the '90s. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)

SHERYL CROW: The First 2 Albums

Original released on CD A&M 0126

(US 1993, August 3)

Sheryl Crow earned her recording contract through hard work, gigging as a backing vocalist for everyone from Don Henley to Michael Jackson before entering the studio with Hugh Padgham to record her debut album. As it turned out, things didn't go entirely as planned. Instead of adhering to her rock & roll roots, the record was a slick set of contemporary pop, relying heavily on ballads. Upon hearing the completed album, Crow convinced A&M not to release the album, choosing to cut a new record with producer Bill Bottrell. Along with several Los Angeles-based songwriters and producers, including David Baerwald, David Ricketts, and Brian McLeod, Bottrell was part of a collective dubbed "the Tuesday Night Music Club." Every Tuesday, the group would get together, drink beer, jam, and write songs. Crow became part of the Club and, within a few months, she decided to craft her debut album around the songs and spirit of the collective. It was, for the most part, an inspired idea, since "Tuesday Night Music Club" has a loose, ramshackle charm that her unreleased debut lacked. At its best - the opening quartet of "Run, Baby, Run," "Leaving Las Vegas," "Strong Enough," and "Can't Cry Anymore," plus the deceptively infectious "All I Wanna Do" - are remarkable testaments to their collaboration, proving that roots rock can sound contemporary and have humor. That same spirit, however, also resulted in some half-finished songs, and the preponderance of those tracks make "Tuesday Night Music Club" better in memory than it is in practice. Still, even with the weaker moments, Crow manages to create an identity for herself - a classic rocker at heart but with enough smarts to stay contemporary. And that's the lasting impression "Tuesday Night Music Club" leaves.

Original released on CD A&M 31454 0587 2

(US 1996, September 24)

Hiring noted roots experimentalists Tchad Blake and Mitchell Froom as engineer and consultant, respectively, Sheryl Crow took a cue from their Latin Playboys project for her second album - she kept her roots rock foundation and added all sorts of noises, weird instruments, percussion loops, and off-balance production to give "Sheryl Crow" a distinctly modern flavor. And, even with the Stonesy grind of "Sweet Rosalyn" or hippie spirits of "Love Is a Good Thing," it is an album that couldn't have been made any other time than the '90s. As strange as it may sound, "Sheryl Crow" is a postmodern masterpiece of sorts - albeit a mainstream, post-alternative, postmodern masterpiece. It may not be as hip or innovative as, say, the Beastie Boys' "Paul's Boutique", but it is as self-referential, pop culture obsessed, and musically eclectic. Throughout the record, Crow spins out wild, nearly incomprehensible stream-of-consciousness lyrics, dropping celebrity names and products every chance she gets ("drinking Falstaff beer/Mercedes Ruehl and a rented Leer"). Often, these litanies don't necessarily add up to anything specific, but they're a perfect match for the mess of rock, blues, alt-rock, country, folk, and lite hip-hop loops that dominate the record. At her core, she remains a traditionalist - the songcraft behind the infectious "Change Would Do You Good," the bubbly "Everyday Is a Winding Road," and the weary "If It Makes You Happy" helped get the singles on the radio - but the production and lyrics are often at odds with those instincts, creating for a fascinating and compelling (and occasionally humorous) listen and one of the most individual albums of its era. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)