The Black Crowes

Live At The Greek

Two generations of blues rock, one tight live album.

Review Score:

(10/10)
Fans of Led Zeppelin or fans of The Black Crowes, and certainly those who are fans of both, should buy this album immediately. I understand the fear... I had it, too. Who could ever top Zeppelin? Who could possibly do justice to the canon in cover form? And in the "modern" era, what would happen if the incredible saviors-of-rock Crowes were to try to recreate something as mythological as Led Zeppelin that had at the same time been dead for thirty years?

And so... I avoided this release for two full years.

It was finally hearing the live version of Ten Years Gone on a friend's sound system that did it for me. After spending more than a few minutes to collect myself (and playing the track again... and again... and again), I knew that my next purchase would be Live at the Greek.

Not to worry, your fears (as were mine) are unfounded; you won't be upset by thin, embarrassing Zeppelin covers, nor will you find The Black Crowes struggling to be Celtic gods and coming off as pretentious as you've always known they weren't. What you will be is STUNNED at how incredible, how fresh, and how thick all of these classics sound.

In fact, Chris Robinson's voice brings a whole new depth to some of the songs. What Is and What Should Never Be is made anew, earthy and worldly. Ten Years Gone, while still a heartbreaking tune, also becomes a deeper lament, with more soul than the studio Zeppelin version. In My Time of Dying becomes dirtier, harder, more challenging. Even Yardbirds tracks like Shape of Things to Come are as fresh as they've ever sounded. I'm as big a fan of Robert Plant as anyone, but I'll be damned if these tunes haven't been ENHANCED by being played... Live at the Greek.

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