By Your Side

The Black Crowes have made some excellent music. When By Your Side was released in 2002, I owned all of the their previous albums, so I asked for a copy of this new album for Christmas that year. After the first couple of listens By Your Side didn't really grab me. It then sat on the shelf for over a year.

Some time later I had to drive for a couple of hours on my own to see a concert. By Your Side caught my eye and, since I hadn't listened to it in a while, I decided to give it a try. I listened to it in the car and was absolutely blown away. This album just charges through the first 5 or so songs, and has a very live sound. It reminds me a lot of The Rolling Stones Exile On Main Street - straight ahead rock music, with a blues feel... and excellent backing vocals. Interestingly, Exile On Main Street didn't exactly grab me the first time I listened to it. Here's the secret...

This album needs to be played loud! This isn't some pretty pop singer with a 4 octave vocal range in front of some synthesised backing material! This is rock'n'roll! Vocals, guitars, bass, drums, keyboards, as well as some horns. Loud! Loud! Loud!

To my mind, the closest thing to a weak song on the album is the opening track Go Faster - it is just a bit too fast and hard compared to the rest of the album. Kickin' My Heart Around continues the theme, but starts to lay back into the rhythm and bluesy feel of the rest of the album. By the time the title track appears at #3 things are really starting to cook.

Then comes HorseHead - the best song on the album. This track has an anthemic chorus with anthemic backing vocals. This is fantastic: big, loud and textured. This is one of my favourite songs - I'm not sure I understand the lyrics, but musically this song is excellent. Other tracks like Only A Fool, Welcome To The Goodtimes, Go Tell The Congregation and Then She Said My Name continue the theme.

The production on By Your Side is huge. The sound is very live. I'd like to hear certain bands from the 1960s, 70s and 80s with this type of production. The Black Crowes have the best of both worlds here: they're playing excellent rock'n'roll and they have great production. Interestingly, some of the reviews I've seen of this album pan its production, lyrics and guitar work. One reviewer branded the songs "churchy" - sure they're quite different to some of The Black Crowes earlier stuff, but if you want to hear something that sounds the same as the early albums then you should listen to them! This album definitely has some gospel influence - gospel has been a major influence on rock'n'roll - and, while I don't love some of the lyrics, the overall songs are great. I guess it is quite possible to be a fan of The Black Crowes and not like this album - it is different...

To my mind, in this case, different is good. This is a rock'n'roll classic.