After hitting big with
Shake Your Money Maker, an album that positioned
the Black Crowes as a very successful cross between the good-time
Faces and switchblade
Stones, with some Southern comfort mixed in, their second album is bigger, badder, more powerful, and classic rock in every sense of the word.
The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion blows away any complaints that the band is merely copying the past with diminishing returns; instead the album is good enough that it compares favorably to the best albums their heroes cranked out in the late '60s and early '70s. The songs are more incisive and heartfelt this time around, the production is more full-bodied,
Chris Robinson's vocals somehow sound even more confident than before, and the addition of guitarist
Marc Ford to the band does wonders. He and
Rich Robinson's rhythm guitars mesh together like a raunchy, long-haired machine, and his solos veer between rib-crackingly ferocious and almost painfully slinky. His lead on the already intense, dramatic "Sometimes Salvation" tears the roof off the song and seemingly pushes
Chris Robinson to new levels of passion and pain. It's a magical moment that encapsulates how much the stakes have been raised here and how the band plays it for keeps as they hone their previous template to a fine point and test the waters in exciting new ways. They add some off-kilter, walloping funk to "Remedy," indulge in some rollicking road rumble with "Hotel Illness," slip in some cosmic acoustic gospel on "Time Will Tell," and get
Led Zep majestic on "My Morning Song," which comes complete with backing vocalists who sound very invested in the proceedings.
The Black Crowes show a more nuanced approach on the ballads, too, with tracks like "Thorn in My Pride" feeling more organic and grounded thanks to the arrangements that make good use of percussion,
Eddie Harsch's vintage keys, and
Ford's soaring leads. Apart from the rip-roaring album opener "Sting Me,"
Southern Harmony's not quite the immediate punch that
Money Maker was, but for fans who wanted to dig in deeper, get funky, and land as close as possible to the heart of bell-bottomed, whiskey-soaked rock & roll, it's near perfect.
[2023's reissue of the album adds two extra discs. One consists of a well-recorded, very energetic live show recorded in 1993 with all the songs from the album represented (apart from "Time Will Tell"). The other disc has B-sides, including the very good "Darling of the Underground Press," a beautifully arranged, lyrically biting midtempo track that would have fit in with the album perfectly, a new mix of the cover of "99 Pounds," and five songs recorded live in the studio. These last tracks have never been released before, and it's fun to hear the band running through some of the record's songs in a more relaxed setting. The slowed-down take on "Sting Me" is especially nice. The set also comes with a batch of extra goodies like sheet music, lithographs, and remembrances from both Robinsons.] ~ Tim Sendra
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