Fall’s Finest – The Black Crowes: Before the Frost… Until the Freeze

SteveK likes what he hears

—

I’d been planning to review another cluster of three albums, this week.  Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.  I can’t say I’m sorry, though.  See, what happened is the first album I listened to this week became the only album I listened to; I just couldn’t stop listening to this one.  So without further ado, I present this week’s review:

The Black Crowes: Before the Frost…Until the Freeze

The Black Crowes first appeared at the dawn of the 1990s.  Early on, prior to the Grunge Explosion, Blues Rock was the recipient of a resurgence of popularity.  Led Zeppelin released the first (and best) of an infinite number of boxed sets, and flirted with reunion rumours when Jimmy Page and Robert Plant appeared on stage together at the Knebworth Music Festival.  Page did an album with David Coverdale, former singer of Deep Purple and Whitesnake.  And retro-chic hipsters who were lapping up the Zeppelin mania eagerly devoured the Black Crowes.

Folksy and fun Blues Rock became their stable.  Almost twenty years on, they have released their latest album.  Counting live albums and compilations, this is their 14^th album.  It consists of two parts: the physical CD ‘Before the Frost’, and an accompanying free download, ‘Until the Freeze’.  This value added bonus is a great motivator to buy the physical CD, and I’d hope this sort of thing would catch on, because you really are getting double your money’s worth on this one.

The dual album was recorded live at the Barn, in Woodstock, NY.  The album is fun and carefree, with great Blues and Rhythm and Blues driven Rock.  The new material and cover songs were all recorded in front of a live audience.  Twenty songs from the recording sessions have made it onto the double album; nineteen original tracks and a cover of Stephen Stills’ “So Many Times”.

The CD opens with a knockout, “Good Morning Captain”, and doesn’t let up through eleven tracks.  The music here is, like all good Blues Rock and pretty much everything delivered by the Black Crowes over the last two decades, great party music; play this one loud during your last back yard barbecue and beer bash of the waning summer, or during one of the inevitable back to school parties to come.  This one will equally serve as good rocking-while-driving music, and just about any other time you want to listen to pure Rock.

Don’t miss out on this one; if you’re a fan of the Black Crowes, you’ll love ‘Before the Frost…Until the Freeze’.  If you’re not a fan, this album will make you into one.  For me, this has been a reintroduction to the Black Crowes, after far too long a separation from a real great time for the ears.

The Black Crowes: Before the Frost…Until the Freeze

Red Distribution

Steve’s Rating: 10/10