Greatest Hits 1990-1999 - A Tribute to a Work In Progress

iTunes Review

Throughout the 1990s, the Black Crowes were the one band who managed to stay in the present while rekindling the past. Their riffs and hooks, guitar and keyboard interplay, vocal mannerisms, and lyrical obsessions all originated in the classic rock of their youth — the Rolling Stones, Faces, and Allman Brothers with flares of straight R&B and blues — but with singer Chris Robinson and brother Rich on guitar, the group ably sashayed into the present day with just the right chip on their shoulder. All the better to deliver the tough love attitude behind “Jealous Again,” “Hard to Handle,” “She Talks to Angels,” “Remedy,” and “Wiser Time.” While Robinson’s hoarse vocals add a desperate edge to these tales, it’s the warm production that never isolates the band’s indestructible chemistry which brings these barroom anthems to life. Band infighting and record company squabbles have haunted the band since their inception, yet it’s this mercurial balance that’s made them a tougher band of allies and given their music its determined spark.