Sheryl Lightens Up

This CD can be summed up by the refrain of Soak Up The Sun: "I'm gonna soak up the sun, gonna tell everyone to lighten up".

Her 4th studio CD is immediately accessible: after only a few listens, the songs seems as familiar as the family dog and you'll be humming them in your head.

Sheryl's struggle to get her artistic muse flowing for this CD is fairly well-known. There are a handful of guest artist on this CD, and I imagine they lent a sense of support she needed. I do not feel they overwhelm Sheryl, but do lend their own "flavor" to the songs they are on.

The CD starts out with Steve McQueen, which a great rocking way to start the CD. The lyrics are a bit silly, but the song swells to a soaring chorus. The song is a bit of statement of freedom and independence, with lyrics like

"I ain't takin' s**t off no one, baby that was yesterday"

and

"you can page me all night long, but you can't catch this freebird, I'll already be gone".

(There's also an interesting line: "all our popstars look like porn" Hello Britney??)

The next tune, is Soak Up The Sun, a straight-ahead pop tune dedicated to being unpretentious and just having fun.

Lenny Kravitz adds a little funky grit to Your An Original. It's an OK song, but the CD really kicks into gear with Safe And Sound. This is Sheryl at her songwriting and arranging best. This reminds me very much of Crash And Burn from the Globe Sessions. The musical arrangement is stunning, as it slowly builds to anthem proportions. Like Crash And Burn, it is a very personal song about seeking comfort.

C'mon, C'mon features Stevie Nicks is an acoustic-based, country-tinged tune addressing an on-again-off-again relationship.

It's So Easy features Don Henley, and while it may be Don's best in a while, that ain't saying much.

Over You gets back to some crunchy guitar on a nice moody song about a past relationship.

The next few songs, Lucky Kid and Diamond Road are classic Sheryl and could have appeared on either The Globe Sessions or "Sheryl Crow". They lyrics are smart, the musical arrangements are intricate and compelling.

Hole In My Pocket is a another good mid-tempo pop song with some nice rock guitar all over it. The CD closer, Weather Channel is a contemplative song with Emmylou Harris about that feeling when you just need to be alone, zoned out, trying to figure out how and when you will recover from the latest personal crisis and feel human again.

One difference on this album is the use of drum tracks and a more prominent use of strings. That lends a more polished sound then, say, The Globe Sessions, which had a more raw, spontaneous sound to it. C'mon, C'mon has more of a pop sound to it. This is not a criticism, but for me, just about an artist who has consciously chosen a particular sound for a body of work. What is does it make the CD very accessible, but still unmistakably Sheryl Crow. If you put this CD in a multi-disc machine along with Globe Sessions and Sheryl Crow CD, it all blends together quite well.

So, there are some songs with fairly inane lyrics, and I would prefer more rock guitar on it, but it is still great music to listen to. Try it in your car on a warm sunny day when you can have the windows down and turn it up.

Finally for the guys, there are several flattering of Ms. Crow looking great at 40!