im sorta surprised im hearing this... BYS is a kick ass record. They went back to rocknroll and its genius, sure its not as great as southern harmony but its not bad by any means... and lions?? it gets a ton of shit, but damn, thats a great album to. lickin, midnight from the inside out are killer, young man old man, ozone mama, soul singing???? not their finest, but def not bad.
@shademonger13 Couldn't agree more. One of my favorites. I was quite stoked they tried something different, away from the stoner jammy stuff that didn't go anywhere on 3 Snakes and even some of Amorica.
@moreblack exactly. i love everything the crowes have done, just because theyre the crowes, but by your side is just back to basics, like an improved moneymaker. and i also agree with you on horse head, it is not only rich robinsons most badass riff, it has to be on the top 10 most badass rock riffs of all time.
Im with Chris on BYS. Sounds like the first album again. No solos.
The Band Sessions, the stuff that got shelved before BYS got cranked out, now thats some killer shit. Paint and 8, Never Forget This Song, Another Roadside Tragedy. These sound like Crowes songs.
If Im putting together my top 20 crowes tracks, there's 2 maybe 3 from Warpaint and Before the Frost, maybe only 1 from Lions, but none from BYS. Best song from BYS is a B-side/Bonus Track: You Dont Have To Go
i'm disappointed that no matter how i try, i cant find any live recordings/videos of GO FASTER or go tell the congregation or other tunes like that that i wanna crank as i'm rollin' down the highway! feel good, rock and roll songs! i WISH TO GOD chris and the crowes would play songs like these more frequently at live shows. i mean there were 3 singles released off BYS and they never play them at shows! wtf? chris, i implore you, play GO FASTER when you play massey hall in october! :)
...NOT TO MENTION, welcome to the good times! wow, what a wonderful addition! this song is a great feel good tune, wonderfully composed, definitely a GEM in the crowes catalogue! one thing the crowes tend to do well is make GENRE albums. before the frost/until the freeze is CLEARLY a very southern roots, VERY 'country-esque' record. shake your money maker was a clean, good ol' ROCK AND ROLL album. amorica explored a little more 'heart' in the band, a little calmer.
i must say, i take issue with Chris's harsh judgement of B.Y.S. i think the only problem with by your side would really be the period in the Crowes lives when it was recorded/released (depression, drugs, band conflicts, etc) MUSICALLY, however B.Y.S. is a TRULY SOLID, GOOD-CLEAN-ROCK&ROLL album! look at songs like GO FASTER (which to this day, gets me revved up like no other), kickin' my heart around, go tell the congregation, then she said my name. sure, they're not 'artsy' but they're ROCK!
BYS is only behind Amorica and Southern, as my favorite BC album, Chris can say what he wants but the album was awesome and certainly miles ahead of stuff like Lions or Warpaint. Kevin Shirley is a very talented producer. And I feel he got the most anyone's ever gotten out of the Crowes in the studio.
@moreblack As a longtime Crowes fan, I couldn't disagree more. By Your Side is an average Crowes record at best. Lyricly and musicly it is a big letdown from Southern, Amorica, and Three Snakes, and Before the Frost / Until the freeze. Lions keeps By Your Side from looking as weak as it is. Shake your Moneymaker is better than either of those albums in my opinion. Relative to their other albums, Lions and By Your Side are weak.
I'm a long time Crowes fan as well, and cannot agree with BYS as weak. Not with songs like Kickin' or Welcome To The Good Times. Go Faster is among the most intense things they had done in ages, a nice switch from all the stoner hippie stuff on 3 Snakes. The main riff on Horshead is the mightiest thing Rich has done. How can anyone not like Virtue And Vice? Sure it's got some weak songs. But then all their albums have a good share of misses too.
@moreblack Well, look at the songs you listed. First, Kickin , " Night n' day like a mule I'm kickin, girl youre gonna catch a lickin " Really? You would rather hear that than Sting Me, or Hotel Illness, or even Could I have Been so Blind, or Thick and Thin? Really? Welcome to the Goodtimes was actually spawned from a much better song " Wyoming and Me " It just sounds weak. The main riff of Horsehead the mightiest thing Rich has done? Not hardly. Not with songs like No Speak No Slave.
@MrSpearfeather I said Kickin' as in Kickin' My Heart Around, not Lickin' although the toggle switch play tottaly makes that song, but that's neither here nor there as the song Lickin' isn't even on BYS. And yes, I'll take either Kickin' or Lickin' over Could I... Blind, or Thick And Thin. Moneymaker is not really all that good to me, the Crowes didn't really get going for me until Southern Harmony and Marc Ford joined. Much better songs, much better playing.
@moreblack My apologies on Lickin'. I guess I have a habit of grouping those albums together since they are so different from the others. I agree they didn't get going until Southern Harmony, and those two albums are sorely missing him. I just see it like Steve Gorman said, " In 1998 we lost our compass, we weren't really being who we are. We were backed into a corner by the record company, and we really didn't get our compass back until recently ".
@moreblack You may not be alone, but you're definately in the minority. Everybody' has their own taste. By your Side is just mostly cookie cutter rock and soul songs. I'ts just not one of their more original or creative albums. It's more like their first album than any other. You yourself said you're not that impressed with Moneymaker and you admit that they didn't " get rolling until Ford " came in. I agree, but then you refer to THAT period as mellow " jammy " stuff that lasted for ages.
@MrSpearfeather It's of no consequence if I'm in any kind of minority, if we're gonna play that game, then mass numbers dictate what's good, and so Moneymaker is their best album hands down.
We're talking about personal preferences here and for me the post-Ford pre-breakup era was a good direction to take, the band chemistry had changed, so they weren't gonna do another 3 Snakes. Rich had some great riffs and ideas during that time. I'm definitely glad they went for it.
@moreblack Numbers definately do not dictate what's good, and if you read my earlier post, I also said everybody has their own taste, They're is just not that much creativity during that time period. They should have released Band when they recorded it, and played those songs on tour with Audley.
@MrSpearfeather Chris can be a bit scatterbrained sometimes, and as for "most of the fans" we already went over that. These Unreleased albums both came out a while ago and despite their legendary status, they weren't particularily well produced and the performances on them are a bit too lose to justify releasing them as official albums at the time they were supposed to come out. Next I'm gonna hear that Tall should've come out instead of Amorica...
@moreblack Oh, O.K. so since Chris is saying By Your Side doesn't do much for him, he can be scatterbrained sometimes. Would you be saying that if he said Three Snakes was the worst album they ever made?
As far as production, Tall has some very well produced songs on it, that aren't on Amorica and By Your side is over-produced, as is Lions. It was Kevin Shirley trying to turn them into another modern day Aerosmith.
But, what do Steve and Chris know about the Crowes music?
@MrSpearfeather Robert Plant hates doing Stairway To Heaven, does that make it a bad song? No, he's just weird like that. I think I'll wait until he actually says something bad about 3 Snakes to comment on it.
Kevin Shirley didn't produce Lions. But he does good work. Crowes aren't the only beneficiaries of his studio savvy. He doesn't over-produce stuff, if anything he usually errs on the side of doing too little.
@moreblack You're gonna be waiting a while, as Chris has said many times that he thinks Three Snakes is the best album they ever made. Apparently you're not reading my post before responding, I didn't say all the songs on BYS are bad, they're not. I'm well aware of the fact that Shirley didn't produce Lions, never said he did. Don Was did. If Shirley's such a good producer for the Crowes, why only one album? Best producers Crowes have had? Jack Joseph Puig and Paul Stacey.
@moreblack Your speaking of the better songs on that album, but you're leaving out " By Your Side " ( If it ever stops Raining ). ' Heavy ", " Diamond Ring " and " Only a Fool '. To me, those songs just cant compare to anything on Southern Harmony, or Amorica, or Three Snakes, or Band for that matter.
@MrSpearfeather Wyoming and Me is not better than anything, it's just the same mellow jammy stuff they'd been doing for ages, which they did better on many other occasions, like Wiser Time, or Lay It All On Me.
No Speak No Slave is great, but the riff isn't as good as the one on Horsehead.
@moreblack When I'm at a show and they play Welcome to the Goodtimes or Angels, I use that time to go to the bathroom. Wyoming and Me and Wiser time are nothing alike. '98 - '01 is the lowpoint in Crowes history. The setlist in '98 and '99 were stale and repetitive. I don't think it's coicidence that they rarely play many songs from those albums, but then again " Band " is one of the best albums they ever made and they only play a few from that so....You prefer the straight up. I like jam
@MrSpearfeather They did play a decent amount of stuff from that era when the reunion in 05 came about. When I saw them they did Young Man Old Man, Good Times, Soul Singin' and Greasy Grass River. But I have to rectify here, I have NO problem with jam. None. I love the Allmans, Gvt. Mule, Derek Trucks Band, Cream, Zeppelin, Tea Party, and Purple's live stuff.
I just happen to think there's room for both in a set. So do they.
I'd probably go to the can during Angels too though...
I'm sorry but I thought «3 snakes» was a pretty bad record and druggy for sure, where «By your side» is still my favorite (second to Amorica). It just rocks, it's like a tone of brick right in your face, it's a good «pedal to the floor» album.
@Noiroli1 well by your side is an album that sounds exactly like what the record company wanted it to sound like. its got some fantastic songs, but 3 snakes is a very personal record. probably the most sincere record they ever made.
I just love how honest and open Chris is. It's refreshing.
I agree with him about By Your Side because it's such change in mood and attitude from 3 Snakes but I still say that songs like Virtue & Vice really are outstanding pieces of work.
As a huge Crowes fan, I actually LOVE "By Your Side". Great guitar sounds and Rich really brings it as the only guitar player.
Great "Friday-night-getting-ready-to-hit-the-town" record.
bobbyramada 3 months ago
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cornfender 9 months ago
im sorta surprised im hearing this... BYS is a kick ass record. They went back to rocknroll and its genius, sure its not as great as southern harmony but its not bad by any means... and lions?? it gets a ton of shit, but damn, thats a great album to. lickin, midnight from the inside out are killer, young man old man, ozone mama, soul singing???? not their finest, but def not bad.
shademonger13 1 year ago
@shademonger13 Couldn't agree more. One of my favorites. I was quite stoked they tried something different, away from the stoner jammy stuff that didn't go anywhere on 3 Snakes and even some of Amorica.
moreblack 1 year ago
@moreblack exactly. i love everything the crowes have done, just because theyre the crowes, but by your side is just back to basics, like an improved moneymaker. and i also agree with you on horse head, it is not only rich robinsons most badass riff, it has to be on the top 10 most badass rock riffs of all time.
shademonger13 1 year ago
Im with Chris on BYS. Sounds like the first album again. No solos.
The Band Sessions, the stuff that got shelved before BYS got cranked out, now thats some killer shit. Paint and 8, Never Forget This Song, Another Roadside Tragedy. These sound like Crowes songs.
If Im putting together my top 20 crowes tracks, there's 2 maybe 3 from Warpaint and Before the Frost, maybe only 1 from Lions, but none from BYS. Best song from BYS is a B-side/Bonus Track: You Dont Have To Go
Gidster19 1 year ago
Two words. Virtue and Vice. Wait. That's three words.
binaural42 1 year ago
@binaural42
nothing they've come out with since has topped it.
moreblack 1 year ago
i'm disappointed that no matter how i try, i cant find any live recordings/videos of GO FASTER or go tell the congregation or other tunes like that that i wanna crank as i'm rollin' down the highway! feel good, rock and roll songs! i WISH TO GOD chris and the crowes would play songs like these more frequently at live shows. i mean there were 3 singles released off BYS and they never play them at shows! wtf? chris, i implore you, play GO FASTER when you play massey hall in october! :)
bergnside 1 year ago
...NOT TO MENTION, welcome to the good times! wow, what a wonderful addition! this song is a great feel good tune, wonderfully composed, definitely a GEM in the crowes catalogue! one thing the crowes tend to do well is make GENRE albums. before the frost/until the freeze is CLEARLY a very southern roots, VERY 'country-esque' record. shake your money maker was a clean, good ol' ROCK AND ROLL album. amorica explored a little more 'heart' in the band, a little calmer.
bergnside 1 year ago
i must say, i take issue with Chris's harsh judgement of B.Y.S. i think the only problem with by your side would really be the period in the Crowes lives when it was recorded/released (depression, drugs, band conflicts, etc) MUSICALLY, however B.Y.S. is a TRULY SOLID, GOOD-CLEAN-ROCK&ROLL album! look at songs like GO FASTER (which to this day, gets me revved up like no other), kickin' my heart around, go tell the congregation, then she said my name. sure, they're not 'artsy' but they're ROCK!
bergnside 1 year ago
BYS is only behind Amorica and Southern, as my favorite BC album, Chris can say what he wants but the album was awesome and certainly miles ahead of stuff like Lions or Warpaint. Kevin Shirley is a very talented producer. And I feel he got the most anyone's ever gotten out of the Crowes in the studio.
moreblack 1 year ago
@moreblack As a longtime Crowes fan, I couldn't disagree more. By Your Side is an average Crowes record at best. Lyricly and musicly it is a big letdown from Southern, Amorica, and Three Snakes, and Before the Frost / Until the freeze. Lions keeps By Your Side from looking as weak as it is. Shake your Moneymaker is better than either of those albums in my opinion. Relative to their other albums, Lions and By Your Side are weak.
MrSpearfeather 1 year ago
@MrSpearfeather
I'm a long time Crowes fan as well, and cannot agree with BYS as weak. Not with songs like Kickin' or Welcome To The Good Times. Go Faster is among the most intense things they had done in ages, a nice switch from all the stoner hippie stuff on 3 Snakes. The main riff on Horshead is the mightiest thing Rich has done. How can anyone not like Virtue And Vice? Sure it's got some weak songs. But then all their albums have a good share of misses too.
moreblack 1 year ago
@moreblack Well, look at the songs you listed. First, Kickin , " Night n' day like a mule I'm kickin, girl youre gonna catch a lickin " Really? You would rather hear that than Sting Me, or Hotel Illness, or even Could I have Been so Blind, or Thick and Thin? Really? Welcome to the Goodtimes was actually spawned from a much better song " Wyoming and Me " It just sounds weak. The main riff of Horsehead the mightiest thing Rich has done? Not hardly. Not with songs like No Speak No Slave.
MrSpearfeather 1 year ago
@MrSpearfeather I said Kickin' as in Kickin' My Heart Around, not Lickin' although the toggle switch play tottaly makes that song, but that's neither here nor there as the song Lickin' isn't even on BYS. And yes, I'll take either Kickin' or Lickin' over Could I... Blind, or Thick And Thin. Moneymaker is not really all that good to me, the Crowes didn't really get going for me until Southern Harmony and Marc Ford joined. Much better songs, much better playing.
moreblack 1 year ago
@moreblack My apologies on Lickin'. I guess I have a habit of grouping those albums together since they are so different from the others. I agree they didn't get going until Southern Harmony, and those two albums are sorely missing him. I just see it like Steve Gorman said, " In 1998 we lost our compass, we weren't really being who we are. We were backed into a corner by the record company, and we really didn't get our compass back until recently ".
MrSpearfeather 1 year ago
@MrSpearfeather They may regret doing it with all their heart for all I know, but I sure don't regret them doing those works. I know I'm not alone.
moreblack 1 year ago
@moreblack You may not be alone, but you're definately in the minority. Everybody' has their own taste. By your Side is just mostly cookie cutter rock and soul songs. I'ts just not one of their more original or creative albums. It's more like their first album than any other. You yourself said you're not that impressed with Moneymaker and you admit that they didn't " get rolling until Ford " came in. I agree, but then you refer to THAT period as mellow " jammy " stuff that lasted for ages.
MrSpearfeather 1 year ago
@MrSpearfeather It's of no consequence if I'm in any kind of minority, if we're gonna play that game, then mass numbers dictate what's good, and so Moneymaker is their best album hands down.
We're talking about personal preferences here and for me the post-Ford pre-breakup era was a good direction to take, the band chemistry had changed, so they weren't gonna do another 3 Snakes. Rich had some great riffs and ideas during that time. I'm definitely glad they went for it.
moreblack 1 year ago
@moreblack Numbers definately do not dictate what's good, and if you read my earlier post, I also said everybody has their own taste, They're is just not that much creativity during that time period. They should have released Band when they recorded it, and played those songs on tour with Audley.
MrSpearfeather 1 year ago
@MrSpearfeather They had good reason not to.
moreblack 1 year ago
@moreblack Yeah, apparently their record company.
MrSpearfeather 1 year ago
@MrSpearfeather and their ears probably.
moreblack 1 year ago
@moreblack Not according to Chris, and most of the fans.
MrSpearfeather 1 year ago
@MrSpearfeather Chris can be a bit scatterbrained sometimes, and as for "most of the fans" we already went over that. These Unreleased albums both came out a while ago and despite their legendary status, they weren't particularily well produced and the performances on them are a bit too lose to justify releasing them as official albums at the time they were supposed to come out. Next I'm gonna hear that Tall should've come out instead of Amorica...
moreblack 1 year ago
@moreblack Oh, O.K. so since Chris is saying By Your Side doesn't do much for him, he can be scatterbrained sometimes. Would you be saying that if he said Three Snakes was the worst album they ever made?
As far as production, Tall has some very well produced songs on it, that aren't on Amorica and By Your side is over-produced, as is Lions. It was Kevin Shirley trying to turn them into another modern day Aerosmith.
But, what do Steve and Chris know about the Crowes music?
MrSpearfeather 1 year ago
@MrSpearfeather Robert Plant hates doing Stairway To Heaven, does that make it a bad song? No, he's just weird like that. I think I'll wait until he actually says something bad about 3 Snakes to comment on it.
Kevin Shirley didn't produce Lions. But he does good work. Crowes aren't the only beneficiaries of his studio savvy. He doesn't over-produce stuff, if anything he usually errs on the side of doing too little.
Also, Steve is a drummer. Nuff said.
moreblack 1 year ago
@moreblack You're gonna be waiting a while, as Chris has said many times that he thinks Three Snakes is the best album they ever made. Apparently you're not reading my post before responding, I didn't say all the songs on BYS are bad, they're not. I'm well aware of the fact that Shirley didn't produce Lions, never said he did. Don Was did. If Shirley's such a good producer for the Crowes, why only one album? Best producers Crowes have had? Jack Joseph Puig and Paul Stacey.
MrSpearfeather 1 year ago
@MrSpearfeather Not disputing who is the best producer, I'm saying Kev IS a good producer.
moreblack 1 year ago
@moreblack Maybe for bands like Aerosmith, not the Crowes.
MrSpearfeather 1 year ago
@MrSpearfeather no, he did well there too.
moreblack 1 year ago
@moreblack If you like commercial, shiny, pop sounding rock and roll, then yes, you're right, he did.
MrSpearfeather 1 year ago
@MrSpearfeather except that's not what he did, he just got them to put out a bit more energy that time around. Nothing wrong with that.
moreblack 1 year ago
@moreblack Your speaking of the better songs on that album, but you're leaving out " By Your Side " ( If it ever stops Raining ). ' Heavy ", " Diamond Ring " and " Only a Fool '. To me, those songs just cant compare to anything on Southern Harmony, or Amorica, or Three Snakes, or Band for that matter.
MrSpearfeather 1 year ago
@MrSpearfeather Wyoming and Me is not better than anything, it's just the same mellow jammy stuff they'd been doing for ages, which they did better on many other occasions, like Wiser Time, or Lay It All On Me.
No Speak No Slave is great, but the riff isn't as good as the one on Horsehead.
moreblack 1 year ago
@moreblack When I'm at a show and they play Welcome to the Goodtimes or Angels, I use that time to go to the bathroom. Wyoming and Me and Wiser time are nothing alike. '98 - '01 is the lowpoint in Crowes history. The setlist in '98 and '99 were stale and repetitive. I don't think it's coicidence that they rarely play many songs from those albums, but then again " Band " is one of the best albums they ever made and they only play a few from that so....You prefer the straight up. I like jam
MrSpearfeather 1 year ago
@MrSpearfeather They did play a decent amount of stuff from that era when the reunion in 05 came about. When I saw them they did Young Man Old Man, Good Times, Soul Singin' and Greasy Grass River. But I have to rectify here, I have NO problem with jam. None. I love the Allmans, Gvt. Mule, Derek Trucks Band, Cream, Zeppelin, Tea Party, and Purple's live stuff.
I just happen to think there's room for both in a set. So do they.
I'd probably go to the can during Angels too though...
moreblack 1 year ago
@moreblack If I were going to list my Ten favorite / best Crowes songs, I honestly couldn't put anything from BYS in there.
MrSpearfeather 1 year ago
@moreblack Virtue and Vice? " Cry to me, I'll cry to you, sometimes the pain will only do, you know I'm not kidding ".
Lyricly, I just think both of those albums are inferior. It's not that they're BAD albums, but compared to the rest....
MrSpearfeather 1 year ago
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moreblack 1 year ago
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TheApillow 1 year ago
Three snakes is my favorite album
TheApillow 1 year ago
chris nails it. BYS is a lame record... some good tunes, but a odd commercial record in a sea of awesome crowes records... [lions withstanding].
76sagi 1 year ago
I'm sorry but I thought «3 snakes» was a pretty bad record and druggy for sure, where «By your side» is still my favorite (second to Amorica). It just rocks, it's like a tone of brick right in your face, it's a good «pedal to the floor» album.
Noiroli1 1 year ago
@Noiroli1 well by your side is an album that sounds exactly like what the record company wanted it to sound like. its got some fantastic songs, but 3 snakes is a very personal record. probably the most sincere record they ever made.
blackcrowe4 1 year ago
I just love how honest and open Chris is. It's refreshing.
I agree with him about By Your Side because it's such change in mood and attitude from 3 Snakes but I still say that songs like Virtue & Vice really are outstanding pieces of work.
HemisFear68 1 year ago