As you may recall, last week I wrote about a very fine Black Crowes show that took place at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park. The show was part of the band’s “Stuck In Utopia” tour in support of their new albums, Before the Frost … and Until the Freeze … on their own Silver Arrow label, which is distributed through Megaforce Records. Provided as an incentive to purchase the new album, each copy of Before the Frost … comes with a download card that gives you an a code to use to download … Until the Freeze, the second half of the new package. The entire 20-song set features 19 new Black Crowes songs, plus a cover of the Stephen Stills – Chris Hillman song “So Many Times.”

The new albums were recorded in front of a live audience over the course of five nights at Levon Helm’s studio in Woodstock, N.Y. It takes a bit of chutzpah to record two albums consisting almost entirely of new songs in front of a live crowd, but the Crowes have never suffered from a lack of nerve. And if you’re going to do it in that somewhat unconventional style, I can think of no better place than Levon’s beautiful studio, which has become famous as the location of his weekly Midnight Rambles.

I’ve been a fan of the Black Crowes since the very moment that I first heard “Jealous Again” on the radio in the early ’90s. Sure, they sounded like a throwback, but a throwback to a very cool era, and especially to one of my very favorite bands, the Faces. They’ve grown a lot since then, developing their own sound which in turn has been imitated by others. The thing is, I’ve always found their albums to be somewhat hit-or-miss. The number of truly memorable songs they’ve recorded over the course of a career that has now lasted close to 20 years (of course there was a three year “hiatus” in there, 2002-2005) is fairly negligible for a band of their considerable talents. I’m afraid that these two new albums aren’t going to do much to change that. It can’t be easy for the Black Crowes whose careers began with classic singles like the aforementioned “Jealous Again,” and “Remedy.” How are you going to top those? (more…)