mail: daniel_fjall@hotmail.com
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shake your money maker
Shake your money maker Released: 1990 Rating: 7/10 Track listing: 1. Twice As Hard/ 2. Jealous Again/ 3. Sister Luck/ 4. Could I’ve Been So Blind/ 5. Seeing Things/ 6. Hard To Handle/ 7. Thick N’ Thin/ 8. She Talks To Angels/ 9. Struttin’ Blues/ 10. Stare It Cold The debut album of the Black Crowes starts promising, with the obvious influences of The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and The Faces. I tell you, every guitar lick, every riff, can probably be traced to some late 60’s, early 70’s recording by Jagger/Richards. I don’t mind that much. The true spirit of rock and roll was never about being original and groundbreaking, but rather to express simple and basic human feelings. The stolen riffs makes me smile, sit back and actually feel good. A band that doesn’t mind to show their roots and at the same time sounding like themselves. However, they are walking a thin line, and do fall headlong once in a while. Sometimes because they fail to express those simple and basic human feelings. More often because they do fall short when it comes to songwriting. At least compared to the bigger boys they are trying to play with. I have highlighted the three first songs as being really good, but honestly, if they had put three other songs first, maybe I would have enjoyed those better. Because not only is the songwriting uneven, the production and arrangements have no diversity and is too slick, which makes me want to skip a couple of tracks here and there. Now, I know I sound negative, but there is still talent evident. There is still an undeniable joy shining through. They are very competent instrumentalists, and you can tell that they know what they’re doing. And that’s what separates them from other new groups in the same genre. That’s what makes them seem a little bit more interesting. And they can come up with good songs too. Just not that every one here is a winner. And they should have stayed away from that Otis Redding cover.
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