SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE BLACK CROWES – AMORICA. (DELUXE EDITION)

THE BLACK CROWES
AMORICA. (DELUXE EDITION)
UNIVERSAL MUSIC

Following the mega success of their first two albums, 1990’s Shake Your Money Maker and 1992’s The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion, The Black Crowes released their third album, Amorica. in ’94. Amorica. stands as a devise mark in the sand, one that saw The Black Crowes find a sound that was both in tone with their previous work while also distinctive to themselves as they took a step away from the traditional blues sound they honed on their previous albums. Now, the band has returned with a massive reissue package. The newly remastered Amorica. is accompanied by seven unreleased recordings from the 1992 Marie Laveau Sessions, four live cuts recorded at AIR Studios in 1994, and, most excitedly, Tallest, a lost studio album that was originally intended to be the band’s third studio album but was scraped after completion, making Amorica. (Deluxe Edition) a truly unique reissue.

Amorica. is the album where The Black Crowes started writing for themselves. Gone are the conscious attempts towards radio hits as heard on “Twice As Hard,” “She Talks To Angels,” and “Remedy.” Instead, the band roars to life with “Gone,” a song where Chris Robinson’s signature wailing voice doesn’t kick in until nearly a minute later. Amorica. stands as a record of indulgence as the band digs deep into the blues and the ongoing wave of alternative rock, seeking to merge what was and what is together. Songs like “A Conspiracy,” “Cursed Diamond,” “High Head Blues,” “Nonfiction,” and “P.25 London” prove this to not only be a success, but also highly effective. The remastered album also features the inclusion of “Chevrolet” – originally released as a Japanese bonus track – and a pair of songs from the 1998 reissue, “Song Of The Flesh” and “Sunday Night Buttermilk Waltz,” giving a more complete snapshot to the original album.

Originally titled Tall, The Black Crowes had intended for the following nine songs to stand as their third album, before the Robinson brothers agreed the band needed a new creative energy for their follow-up to The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion. The never before released album, now titled Tallest makes its debut on Amorica. (Deluxe Edition) and stands as a gem among the collection. Opening with the melodic and spacious blues of “Lowdown”, Tallest immediately feels as though the band is looking back to the late ‘60s, specifically that of The Stones for inspiration. “Tied Up And Swallowed” follows and feels like a direct catalyst for the tone that would come on Amorica., similar to the closer, “Paris Song,” an instrumental that, following some refinement, would transition to “Cursed diamond.” Tallest, alone, is a good album, but hearing it within the context of Amorica. (Deluxe Edition) demonstrates that The Black Crowes may have been on the right track to shelve their work in favour for charting new musical territory. With the exception of the aforementioned “Tied Up And Swallowed” and “Paris Song,”

the melancholic “Title Song” and the crunchy “Bitter, Bitter You” carry this album, foreshadowing what was to come as The Black Crowes teeter between traditionalism and modernity on their lost album.

Recorded in October, 1992 at Kingsway Studios in New Orleans, the Marie Laveau Sessions captures the band on a day off from their High As The Moon Tour. The live off the floor sessions capture seven tracks the band had written during soundcheck on the road and, while unofficial bootlegs have long floated around, it is great to finally have an official and high-quality release of this session. “Exit” leads the session with thunderous results, following by the heavy saunter of “Fear Years.” The session also includes instrumental jams “On That Hallowed Night” and “Thorn’s Progress”, alongside an early, acoustic version of “Nonfiction”. With perhaps the exception of “Exit”, the material on the Marie Laveau Sessions does not quite stand up to the lofty heights of either its preceding and proceeding albums. Despite this, this marks a strong collection of material that only adds to the value of Amorica. (Deluxe Edition) and the back catalogue of The Black Crowes.

The collection closes out with four tracks recorded live at AIR Studios on October 25^th, 1994, as a part of a global radio broadcast. Highlighting the then upcoming release of Amorica., the set opens with the riff of “Hard To Handle” before, jarringly, switching gears to “A Conspiracy,” a symbolic shift that set the tone for the creative direction the band was embarking on with their latest album. The Black Crowes are, without a doubt, a live band, and their AIR Studios session furthers this with a thrilling performance of some of the strongest material from Amorica.

Amorica. remains perhaps the greatest artistic statement from The Black Crowes. Having previously demonstrated themselves as formidable songwriters who revitalised the blues in the era of grunge and delivered it to the mainstream, for their third outing, the band doubled down on their creative urges and musicianship to create an album that defined The Black Crowes sound, one that was greatly tied to the blues and ‘70s rock but performed with a modern edge. As such, Amorica. (Deluxe Edition) stands as an impressive wealth of music that further establishes this era of The Black Crowes as one of their greatest peaks. Not only does Amorica. (Deluxe Edition) shine a light on one of The Black Crowes greatest albums, but the inclusion of unreleased live material and, most of all, Tallest and the Marie Laveau Sessions, raises the bar for what audiences should expect from massive, remastered collections.

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