It has been 12 years since Sheryl Crow first graced American airwaves with her breezy, laid-back brand of rock. Since then, she’s released seven albums, two of which were live albums, won a couple of Grammys, sold millions of records, and most recently, married Lance Armstrong.
After many artists have found success and attained their goals, they seem to lack the anger and drive that motivated their earlier efforts, seemingly content to rest on their laurels. It seems that Crow may be reaching this part of her career with “Wildflower,” her seventh album, and sixth with A&M Records.
Throughout the 11 tracks on “Wildflower,” Crow still seems to be able to deliver the same type of mellow roots rock that she’s always done, which is precisely the problem. Listeners have heard it all before. To make matters worse, the album is completely dominated by slow-paced, sentimental ballads which, given the fact that “Wildflower” was written and recorded during Crow’s well-publicized romance and marriage to Armstrong, is understandable. Nevertheless, there seems to be an overabundance of these love songs, adding to the generic feel of the record.
That is not to say that it doesn’t sound good. Crow’s warm vocals express emotion without sounding tacky or forced, and the crew of session musicians Crow enlisted to help out do an admirable job fleshing out Crow’s songs. Acoustic and clean electric guitars are ever-present, strumming wistfully, with pianos and keyboards also being a common presence. Several songs also feature string sections which meander beautifully in the background. Crow was also one of the album’s producers, working with Jeff Trott and John Shanks. They prove to be an effective production team here, as the production is crystal clear, and everything, including the bass, can be heard clearly.
“Wildflower” starts off with “I Know Why,” a mainly acoustic number which finds Crow in full-on singer/songwriter mode. At first, the song evokes Neil Young’s “Old Man,” but as the song progresses it becomes obvious that less raw emotion went into Crow’s performance. The next six or so songs continue in the same vein, with Crow’s warm, unassuming voice crooning over country-tinged acoustic guitars, sparse piano, and moving strings – with the occasional uninspired guitar lead to break up the monotony. Crow and Jeff Trott’s songwriting doesn’t seem to be at fault, because the songs seem to be arranged well enough, and some of the choruses are pretty good, with an ethereally beautiful quality ( see “Perfect Lie” and “Good is Good”), you forget about them as soon as the next song starts.
Things finally start to take on a more lively feel with “Live it up,” the eighth track on the album. Probably the closest thing that the album has to a rocker, it features a driving beat and a fun, almost summery feel that stands in stark contrast to the reflective nature of the rest of the album and is probably the closest to the Sheryl Crow of the early ’90s. Unfortunately, this respite is short; the next song, “I Don’t Wanna Know,” returns to the slow-paced (read: yawn-inducing) poignancy that dominates the rest of the album. “I Don’t Wanna Know” is also noteworthy for the fact that it contains a guitar solo that is so limp-wristed it would make Bryan Adams cringe.
The main problem with “Wildflower,” to be completely honest, is that it is boring. By virtue of the near complete lack of variety on the record and the snail’s pace in which the songs are delivered, all of the insipid love songs start to run together, leaving the listener drowsy and with little desire to revisit the album. Track by tepid track plays, with nothing truly memorable sticking with the listener. After listening through “Wildflower,” many would be surprised that only 47 minutes have passed, because it feels much closer to an hour (or hour and a half). It really is a shame too, because Crow is a talented vocalist and songwriter, and she can clearly do better.
All in all, Crow fans will surely enjoy “Wildflower,” as will fans of the Delilah soft-rock radio show, as it makes Michael Bolton look like a rock star by comparison. For everyone else: listen if you must, but try not to operate any heavy machinery.
