BLACK CROWES - Croweology

This isn't the first time the Black Crowes have announced their intention to retire from the scene, a move that often amounts to a shrewd ploy to cash in: just announce the final album or the final tour to draw crowds of adoring fans to the deathbed of the dying dinosaur.

The move by brothers Chris and Rich Robinson catches us off guard, though, for at least two reasons: first, because it had already been pulled off back in 2002, in the wake of the release of that glaring misstep titled "Lions", and second, because the decision comes after two albums that had shown the band in excellent health.

"Warpaint" from 2008 and "Before The Frost…Until The Freeze" the following year were in fact met with very positive reviews, and seemed to promise an even longer career for the American outfit, the only band truly capable of bringing the great sounds of Southern Rock back into vogue.

In light of all this, we're inclined to read the decision more as a pause than as a definitive farewell, also because we'd be sorry to see such an important artistic journey sealed with an album that, in some ways, feels rather muted.

"Croweology", arriving to mark the Atlanta band's twenty-fifth anniversary, undoubtedly has many merits, such as offering a new reading of many compositions, or restoring value to some songs that had been left somewhat in the shadows, giving them a second chance.

But the choice to put together a double acoustic album reveals the spirit of a band closer to retirement than to keeping the sacred Southern flame burning.

There's nothing to object to as far as the band's technical skills go, but revisiting twenty tracks in an almost entirely unplugged guise makes the record a bit flat and repetitive, with several inevitably slow stretches ("She Talks To Angels", the first part of "Thorn In My Pride", "Girl From A Pawnshop", the closing "Bad Luck Blue Eyes Goodbye").

The first three songs might come across as quite enjoyable, but then repetitiveness takes hold of the scene, accompanied by a few overlong stretches, see "Ballad In Urgency" and "Wiser Time", which brush up against the ten-minute mark.

So what we appreciate most are the tracks that keep up a brisker pace, as in the case of the unforgettable hit "Remedy", or the joyful uptempo blues numbers "Hotel Illness" and "Downtown Money Waster".

The soul fragrances of "Soul Singing", the Spanish-tinged aromas of "Non Fiction", the lively gospel echoes of "Morning Son", the killer harmonica of "Good Friday", and the sheer elegance of "She" and "Cold Boy Smile" (which the Robinson brothers recorded without the rest of the lineup) help spice up a collection that might otherwise risk slipping into aching tedium (a point that obviously doesn't apply if you're a die-hard completist of the band).

"Croweology" is neither a greatest hits nor a live unplugged album, but rather the result of five days of live-in-the-studio recording sessions at Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles, through which the band reworked twenty songs from its less recent back catalogue.

The idea for the album's structure came after a double acoustic performance held at New York's Town Hall in 2008.

The release of "Croweology" is accompanied by a four-month tour that will wrap up with six dates at San Francisco's Fillmore; the show will be split into two parts, a ninety-minute acoustic set followed by an electric set of the same length.

Then everyone heads home to wife and kids, or off to get some new musical project off the ground.

I'm sure that few people, twenty years ago, after hearing the thunderous debut "Shake Your Money Maker" (back when the Black Crowes were among the few acts able to rival the then-dominant grunge), would have predicted that two decades later the Robinson brothers would be churning out three albums in three years.

But if you consider "Croweology" your favorite record by this extraordinary band (the same goes for anyone who picked the respective "Unplugged" sets as their favorite entries in the Nirvana and Alice In Chains discographies), chances are you don't really love rock - you just prefer tamer sounds.

If, on the other hand, you're still after the full-blooded spirit of this music, go dig up "Live At The Greek" (from 2000): it was on that occasion that the Black Crowes proved to the whole world they were the most credible heirs to the legacy of Led Zeppelin.

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04/11/2010