The pages of rock history are littered with bands who have flashed onto the
scene with an awesome debut album, but were never able to follow it up. Not the
case with The Black Crowes sophomore project, The Southern Harmony and
Musical Companion, which was released in 1992 on the heels of a superb debut
record two years prior. Southern Harmony picks up right where the band's
first record left off, with enough guitar-heavy radio rock to fill a "greatest
hits" album by itself.
A perfect 10-song composition, Southern Harmony blends radio singles
("Remedy" and "Sting Me"), concert staples ("No Speak No Slave") and hidden
album gems ("Hotel Illness" and "My Morning Song") to create one of the
must-have classic rock and roll CDs of the past 20 years. The beautiful lyrics
and soulful crooning that Chris Robinson displays, while in his early twenties,
is just as remarkable as young Rich Robinson's staggering guitar work that is
reminiscent of his heroes, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Keith Richards. In the
early 1990s, The Black Crowes were pulling off a feat that once was commonplace
in rock history. But after the glammed up hair metal scene dominated the 1980s,
a group of young Southern hippies, talented beyond their years, managed to
create blues-based, soulful, classic rock that harmonized like a Sunday morning
choir. By most standards, The Black Crowes owned the last decade with a string
of great studio records, a greatest hits compilation, and a recent two-CD live
recording with Jimmy Page. The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion
will forever stand as their legendary sophomore effort, and a platform from
which a dazzling musical career was launched.
~Red
Rocker
redrocker@bullz-eye.com
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