Atlanta’s favourite sons return with a compilation of sorts.

Croweology album cover.

This compilation takes songs from their albums from ‘Shake your money maker’ to ‘Lions’, inclusive in mostly acoustic rearrangements and even throws in a cover of Gram Parson’s ‘She’.

With a compilation that album that only covers one LP more than their greatest hits album is it worth the bother? Quite simply: yes. Even if you are an old fan who owns the recorded version of these songs, there is something new and fresh about these recordings. Don’t expect stripped down “unplugged” tunes here. Mostly acoustic, yes, but these are new translations that makes the material more at home with recent recordings, such as ‘War paint’ and ‘Before the frost…until the freeze’. Electric guitars are present in some songs or at least mimicked by the Wah and other effects pedals.

These arrangements are re-imaginings by older, wiser and more mature, accomplished musicians. Chris Robinson may not have the voice or rebellious nature of his young self, but the sound of experience and maturity of the vocals show that no passion is lacking. In terms of completely unique versions only ‘Share the ride’ and ‘Morning song’ are truly different, however anyone thinking that this compilation will be a laid-back hippy jam is sorely mistaken. Classics such as ‘Jealous again’, ‘Remedy’ and ‘Hotel illness’ all have the great rocking vibe you’d expect. Tracks such as ‘Sister luck’ and ‘Bad luck blue eyes goodbye’ and ‘She talks to angels’ all benefit from having added soul and actually improve on the original performance from both a vocal and musical point of view. The true standout tracks for me being ‘Ballad in urgency’ and ‘Wiser time’ – tracks that flow wonderfully on ’Amorica’ and in live sets. These are once again joined at the hip by a great bridge and sound like the soundtrack to the greatest road movie never made.

This is The Black Crowes at their best. Pure rock’n’roll played with soul and heart. This album won’t only keep long time fans happy but should also serve as a great introduction to a whole new generation of rock fans. I know that deep down, a part of my soul sounds just like this record.

A masterpiece.

10/10