The Black Crowes

By Your Side

"By Your Side" continues to disprove "retro" criticism

Review Score:

(8/10)
"By Your Side" offers a middle-ground between the meat-and-bones blues and rock 'n roll of their first two albums and the sophisticated songwriting and rhythms of "Amorica." Thus, no matter which album is your favorite of the Crowes, chances are, you will enjoy this album. There is even a good helping of the psychedelic rock from "Three Snakes and One Charm" left over.

Again, the Black Crowes go further to prove they are much more than a simple retro band. Bands like the Rolling Stones and the Faces are definitely huge influences, but has either band ever offered up such funky grooves, or rocked with such soul and energy, as the Crowes do on songs like the musicially inspiring "Virtue and Vice," the groove-filled "Then She Said My Name," or the angry "HorseHead"? And could a simple retro band ever shake things up enough to write with the creativity displayed on the melodic and dreamy "Welcome to the Goodtimes" and the pure funk of "Heavy"? Don't kid yourselves: the Crowes have been forging *new* grounds that *comes* from 70s rock. They have taken this blues rock, merged it with gospel, psychedelia, soul, funk, mashed the layers together, and combined it with class A musicianship to create a sound like no other. On "By Your Side," we see the Crowes pass out of an experimental, but very musically successful stage and begin to embark upon a more mature sound.

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