Customer Reviews

Amorica

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I became a Black Crowes fan with Shake Your Moneymaker. I bought The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion and loved it. When I first bought Amorica, however, I couldn't really "get through" it for a long time... To put it bluntly, I thought it was a dud.

Years later, however, things are different. Time has a way of changing the musical landscape in order to reveal something about quality and emotion. Something, if you will, about the soul of a recording. As the years have passed, I have begun to find that the tracks on Amorica are the sountrack to my life. It was subtle at first... a vague idea that there was a track on Amorica that would suit a young man's road-trip somewhere in the urban plains... and so I skipped around until I found Wiser Time... later, the notion one night, walking home slightly inebriated, that there was some track that would really speak for my "heightened" mental state... and so I found Ballad in Urgency... then I fell in love and realized that Cursed Diamond was the soundtrack to my smile... Descending... A Conspiracy... She Gave Good Sunflower... every damn track on this disc is a classic. Not just great, like the tracks on The Southern Harmony... but a sleeping *classic*, like Gimme Shelter, like Hey Jude. Every damn Amorica track is a classic of Rock and Roll, destined to be listened to for generations, like others before them.

And so, years later, every last damn track on Amorica is one of my favorite musical tracks of all time. I can't live without this disc. Yes, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion is tight and probably more "lively"... but Amorica is more real, more beautiful, more deep, more in tune with (as Chris once said in an interview), "The Song."

I place Amorica alongside the likes of Led Zeppelin IV, Beggars Banquet, Abbey Road, Back in Black, Mellen Collie, Daydream Nation, Blowout Comb, Exile on Main Street, Brilliant Corners, Naive, Never Mind the Bollocks, Ziggy Stardust, & Nico, The Joshua Tree, Halber Mensch, Angel Dust, Disraeli Gears, Electric Ladyland, OK Computer... and on and on. In short, once you have had the Amorica high, you can't satisfy that particular Jones any other way. It's quality. Hit the road, crank it, and live your life. Thank you, bros. Robinson and the Black Crowes, for a classic.

I havent listened to this CD in years, pulled it out today and it still sounds great. The songs "Non Fiction & "Wiser Time" are the best tunes on it, they are slow melodic ballads that just take you away. Strange lyrics though but I guess these guys are a little ecentric, drugs definitly influenced these lyrics. Conspiracy is a catchy riff, typical Crowes, love the cover, I got it before they changed it. Anyways, great songs and a great band, good to hear they are reforming for another CD and tour, go see them there worth the money.

Now that the 'Lost Crowes' compilation is being released at the end of the month (find it now torrentially,) I find myself revisiting this glorious recording. Although some of the versions contained on these new 'demos' are revelatory (check the chorus on 'Descending' as well as the french horn ending a la 'You Can't Always Get What You Want') most are what you would expect. Anyway, those were the seeds of THIS superb album. When I first listened to Amorica on the day it was released, 'London P.25' (better on the 'Lost Crowes') and 'Downtown Moneywaster' were my least favorite tracks. This did not matter in the least, as the rest had surpassed anything I had expected in rock music at the time. At a time when techno was peaking, this album was out of place with most of the young people at the time (in Ft. Lauderdale, at least) but it is a landmark!!! If you are considering the Crowes, get this one. DO IT!!! The Southern Harmony was really a favorite of mine (and also a classic,) but this SOB is the shiznit.

"Moneymaker" shook us up and loved us. "Southern Harmony" proposed to us, laying down the foundation of the Crowes sound. Then let it be said that "amorica" took us to bona fide Heaven!

Argueably, the Robinson's finest wine culminates in their third release which begins kicking hard twice with rockers "Gone" & "A Conspiracy," mellowing into "High Head Blues" and then serving the luscious "Cursed Diamond." By that time, my friend, I guarantee you will be there in "amorica," and it is a beautiful place.

It's so much made of the same materials of the previous two outings, yet the mix of the emotion and the passion of Rich & Chris here is unbelievably potent.

"Nonfiction," "...Sunflower" and on -- it's the same holy places where the prophets of undying tunes tread, but it's totally Black Crowes brand, and it feels too good for words.

"p.25 London" breaks in with awesome ghetto blues so bad and dirty, but it's "Wiser Time" that carries one back to the euphoric plane on which this album takes stage.

The Black Crowes took a huge leap, both lyrically and musically, with their Amorica release. Following two commercial and critically successful records can prove to be a daunting task for most bands, but the Black Crowes tackled the challenge head-on, and succeeded admirably.

While this is not a concept album, Amorica's themes of introspection, misery, loss, and heartache tie the record together flawlessly. Chris Robinson's unique vocal blend of rock and soul lends itself to deliver each word he sings with conviction and sincerity. The songs that he and his brother Rich penned for this release found them, as well as the rest of the band, hitting on all cylinders.

Most diehard Black Crowes fans know that the band has recorded enough unreleased material and B-sides to produce a box set strictly of that material. Many of those songs were recorded during the Amorica sessions, and provide an excellent snapshot of the bands' mindset during that time. The songs that made it to the record are simply a slice of an amazing musical pie.

The 1990s saw a rebirth, or at least a re-invention, of rock music. A lot of good music was produced during that time, particularly between 1991 and 1995. I would stack Amorica against any record produced during that time in terms of musicianship, durability, and lyricism. By the time you've listened to Amorica in its entirety for the first time, you feel like you've been a part of something special. That's because you have.

I LOVE THIS ALBUM!!! I place this release among a handful of releases from other artists that seem to be the "dark" or "least popular" releases E.g. Van Halen's 'Fair Warning'; Red Hot Chili Pepper's 'One Hot Minute'; and maybe The Police's 'Ghost in the Machine'. Obviously, this is my opinion, but the above mentioned albums are the best material from the said bands...and Amorica is, to me, one of those albums. This album runs the gamut, from "good old drinking and smoking" tunes to melancholy songs and almost everything in between...truly the most "moving" album that the Crowes have released---'Wiser Times','Cursed Diamond','Non-Fiction' and several others fall into that very rare Transcendent, almost surreal type music. So after you've heard the more "popular" releases from the boys(which are excellent as well), you NEED to give this disc it's fair recognition...This is definately REQUIRED LISTENING!!! Enjoy, Jeff

This album can be enjoyed on so many levels...artistically, spiritually, and if you just want to jam. What amazes me is that these guys were only 23 to 25 when they wrote and played this material. The songwriting shows a perception that usually takes more years on this earth to achieve. I swear, when the last piano note on the last track is over...I am speechless, regardless of how many times I listen to it. What really pisses me off though is Rolling Stones 2003 list of the top 500 albums of all time. Can you believe this album was left off the list. I have been a u2 fan for more than 20 years and I have to admit...this cd belongs up there with Achtung Baby and Joshua Tree and may even be a bit better. I may live the rest of my years, and God willing it will be many more, and never hear another cd with the magic found in the songs on this cd. What a masterpiece!!

The most underrated album I know, I can't believe I didn't notice this when it came out, I think it was the last Black Crowes album I bought, having listened to them since "She Talks To Angels". But man, am I glad I listened to it again? What year was it? Ninety-four? So, how did it take 10 years for this album to reveal itself to me?! In hindsight, I think Alice In Chains were very underrated from that time also, but nothing like this album... truly wonderful... Cursed Diamond is one of the greatest love songs ever written. How the heck did we miss this???!!! I mean I have heard of "a grower" but this is something else...

Amorica is, simply put, a great album. There is an indescribable good feeling I get when I listen to it. I still can't decide which is my favourite Crowes album, this or Southern Harmony. Technically SH should be better; it has catchier, more guitar driven songs, but somehow this one won't get out of my head. I really enjoy the slower songs Cursed Diamond, Nonfiction, Ballad in Urgency, and Decending. They are emotional and touching in a different kind of way. As for the other songs, there are some smoking little guitar solos (ahh, Marc Ford) and superb vocals from Chris Robinson (his finest moment, in my opinion), but all band members put out a great effort. I'm not sure if this review will help the person who hasn't heard this album, but if you like rock n' roll (especially Southern or classic rock) then you should love this. Give it a few listens (it takes time for many to like it) and see if it doesn't get stuck in your head.

Yep, I admit it. I didn't like this album for the longest time, but I kept hearing Wiser Time on the radio and fell in love with the song and then the album. With today's jamband culture getting a hold of the mainstream, this album would be received as an instant classic. What a difference 10 years makes. Unlike many Crowes albums, Chris Robinson isn't over-selling the lyrics, the music is smooth and free and the whole band seems like they all contributed. Do yourself an favor, buy this album and a couple of Gov't Mule CDs and enjoy!