The Black Crowes

Live At The Greek

Worthy Tribute to Rock Icons w/a lotta help from the Master

Review Score:

(8/10)
I first heard this album broadcast on the radio and immediately knew that I had to buy it. The Black Crowes haven't sounded this good since "The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion" although their latest, "By Your Side," came close.

At lot of this most certainly has to do with Jimmy Page, whose playing sounds fresh and highly energized. You can tell these musicians fed off the energy of each other, and it's beautifully captured in this "best-of" live show culled from two nights on October 18 & 19, 1999 at the Greek Theater in L.A.

I would disagree with the standard reviewer's comments about which songs are best and say that, for my money, the best tunes are the reworkings of the Zeppelin covers, most of which have only seen release on bootleg in their live format. In my opinion, the best songs are: Custard Pie, Heartbreaker, Out On The Tiles/Whole Lotta Love, and In My Time Of Dying, although all the rest are better than most of the garbage being released today.

If you are a Crowes fan OR a Zeppelin fan OR just want to hear a great live album that you can crank up in the car for those long road trips, this is it.

My one gripe is the extra track, "Mellow Down Easy," that's been added to the retail release. For those of us that bought it as an internet exclusive from Musicmaker.com, we're getting the shaft on this one ... and for that I only give it four stars. C'mon guys, why punish your truest fans by adding another track now? How about a reasonably priced bonus CD single available only to those fans who originally bought the album online with "Mellow Down Easy" plus a couple of alternate live tracks from the shows? Are you listening Chris Robinson?

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