Customer Reviews

Globe Sessions

5 star:		(101)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

"The Globe Sessions" is Sheryl Crow's third album and among those first three, in my opinion, her most exciting one. It's quite easy to tell that with this album she was making the music that she wanted to make and not just music that was approved by studio executives. Among the most impressive aspects of this particular album for me are the tracks that would definitely be classified as country or country rock. I am by no means a country music fan but if they all sounded like this beautiful Missouri girls brand of it, I certainly would be.

Apart from the most popular song on the album "My Favorite Mistake," which has received more than ample airtime over the years, this album is populated with some of Sheryl Crow's best material to date. Whether one is looking at these songs from the pop or country aspect, they can all be classified as good to great music.

I highly recommend this album to those that are interested in listening to good music that is well written and performed by a beautiful woman with a beautiful voice who sings with an incomparable depth of emotion in each and every song; whether she's attempting to emote joy or sadness in her songs, she gets it down perfectly! {ssintrepid}

In light of Sheryl Crow's latest album, the poppy, sparkling "C'mon C'mon", I had to go back and visit this, her previous effort, from four years earlier. For sure, there is a lot of difference between the two albums, but both deserve accolades for fantastic musicianship. In fact, of Sheryl's 4 releases, only the first one is worthy of less than 5 stars in my book. Since then, she has continued to grow musically. This third release is further proof of that.

"My Favorite Mistake" and "Anything But Down" showcase this album very well as two fine singles. Both are clever and typically understated Sheryl. However, I also enjoy the catchiness of "There Goes The Neighborhood", the melancholy of "The Difficult Kind", and the hard, distorted sound of the end of "Am I Getting Through (Parts I & II)". Unlike her latest album, this album is not overall pop-based, which perhaps explains its lesser sales compared to her other albums. Nontheless, I consider it equally as brilliant as anything else this remarkable artist has put out...this is truly another Sheryl Crow masterpiece.

I'll grant you, I like the album, but even if I didn't, I would still dislike this editorial review. I think that it's fully possible for anyone to contemplate points of view without the experience which led to adopting them, or to change their tone in describing their lives. You shouldn't buy this album if you don't think that Sheryl Crow should have done anything but write endless remakes of "All I Wanna Do."

In essence, this record captures all of the feelings associated with love that fails - "My Favorite Mistake," "Riverwide," "Maybe That's Something," "Anything But Down" and "The Difficult Kind" all describe different aspects of disappointment, sadness or regret. There's a fair bit of funk in the drums and the wah-wah clavinets on "There Goes the Neighborhood," but it's the open-tuned Keith Richards chords that inform the listener of a conscious decision to return to harder, more basic sounds in rock. I don't think that Plastic Ono Band was seen as a step towards mediocrity and creative burnout for John Lennon, despite the fact that there were no Beatles-sized hits on it.

This record handles adult themes of loss and pain, and maybe it did rang as false for the Amazon reviewer as true for me and everyone else on this page. However, I did a search under Music for albums of his that unpaid reviewers awarded five stars, and not surprisingly there weren't any. Some people are famous and well-liked for a reason, and some albums simply have too much truth and power to be disregarded because they don't match the prejudices of the art worldlings.

This is really an incredible album. I always give credit where credit is due. As in when I used to look at Prince and, with my Jazz and Classically trained musical snobbery, say "How ridiculous..", but then, with age - (and a certain amount of humility) - I came to discover that the man truly knows his music, his style, his performing strengths.

Same goes here for Sheryl Crow. She really puts it out in this album, and she seems to know how - in a strong and confident way.

Thoroughly enjoyable... - which is why I can't understnad the Amazon.com's reviewer's comments. - WAY off base if you ask me.

He must've not been looked at by Sheryl the way he REALLY wanted to be looked at by Sheryl - while attending a Live concert of hers once... Maybe.

His (or her) sophomoric & [what seem to be] personally motivated comments aside, I'd highly recommend this album.

In the 1990s, Sheryl Crow established herself as a top female musician in the music industry. In 1994, she came out of nowhere to win the Grammy's Record of the Year award with "All I Wanna Do" from her "Tuesday Night Music Club" album. Two years later, she avoided the sophomore jinx with her self titled album that produced three major hits ("A Change Will Do You Good", "If It Makes You Happy", and "Every Day is a Winding Road". Usually the acid test of the longevity of an artist will come two albums after the first hit album (i.e. the third album). With "The Globe Sessions", Crow takes her place among the rock elite. This album might not have had the number of hits like her self-title album did, but without a doubt this was a critically acclaimed collection. In fact, "The Globe Sessions" would go on to win the Album of the Year award.

The title of the album comes from the fact that Crow recorded this album at Globe Studios in New York City. The album is the culmination of a lot of good work. There are some terrific lyrics and music that was written for this album. Crow probably does some of her best vocals she has done in her career. Although Crow has been surrounded with a very good group of studio musicians, what I find most amazing in the amount of different instruments that she plays on this album. This list goes: Bass Guitar, Organ, Keyboard, Clavinet, Percussion, Acoustic Guitar, National Guitar, Funk Guitar, Electric Guitar, 12 String Electric Guitar, Tambourine, and Harmonica. After seeing all of the instruments she plays in the liner notes, I was completely amazed by the talent of this musician. Another key thing to note is that she basically does all of the vocals in her songs without making a lot of use of background vocalists.

The songs themselves are very good. The best way to sum up the songs is that this album can be considered the "poster child" for "Coffee House Music". This is an alternative rock album that has a lot of different influences. You'll hear blends of rock, country, and traces of funk in the music as well. Crow writes 10 of the 12 tracks. Of those 10 tracks, she co-writes 4 with Jeff Trott (who also is one of the studio musicians). The two remaining tracks are remakes - and very good remakes they are: Bob Dylan's "Mississippi" and Guns and Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine". Sheryl does great justice to the original versions of this song. The "Coffee House" twist to "Sweet Child O' Mine is perfect. (Note: From what I understand, this track was added later to the album).

One of the best known tracks (and a very solid track) is the opening track "My Favorite Mistake". This track fits perfect with the "Coffee House" theme. This track features guitar from Wendy Melvoin - the female guitarist from Prince and the Revolution. The guitar work is very solid in this track, but it also is combined with some solid lyrics about a woman who suspects her man is cheating. "There Goes the Neighborhood" is a track that has some of the funk influence. Sheryl will actually sing some of the verses of the song in the form of a rap. You'll hear Sheryl play the clavinet which makes for a nice feel. There also is some great guitar work in this song.

The rest of the album took me a while to get into, but I did find it started to grow on me the more I listened to it. "Riverwide" is the third track. This could have easily been a folk tune, but it almost was "modernized" to fit the "Coffee House" sound. "It Don't Hurt" is a cross between country and folk, but again follows the formula to fit into a "Coffee House" sound. This is a catchy song and features from neat harmonica from Sheryl.

Two of the better songs are "Am I Getting Through (Part I and II)" and "The Difficult Kind". "Am I Getting Through" is a masterpiece. As the title suggests, there are two parts to the song. In Part 1, Sheryl goes into a bit of psychedelic start to the song. What I think is most amazing is how Sheryl starts the song with a feel of Beatles psychedelica and then when she hits the chorus, it goes into a psychedelica that sounds more like Alanis Morrissette. After about 4 minutes, a telephone busy signal is used to segue Parts 1 and 2. Part 2 has a hard rock acoustic sound and is only a little over a minute long As for "The Difficult Kind" - like "Riverwide" it does have a Folk Sound. This song is one of the few that features background vocals - in this case Sheryl's sister Kathy. This is a powerful song in which Sheryl sings about her fault in a relationship gone bad. When I hear Sheryl's vocals on this song - I think "why isn't she considering a Diva?"

This is also an enhanced CD, but I am sad to report that it did cause many errors when I tried to run it on Windows XP and gave up running it. Although the liner notes do a great job at the credits - there were no lyrics included! I am shocked about this because one of the great strengths of this album is the lyrics! Sheryl Crow has recently released a greatest hits album "The Very Best Of". Considering how good this album is, I am surprised that more songs didn't make it to this album. I highly recommend "The Globe Sessions".

Sheryl Crow's third album, "The Globe Sessions", is by far her most subdued. The mellow tracks here allude to a depression that has been present, but not blatant, in all of her albums thus far.

The record kicks off with "My Favorite Mistake", a mid-tempo guitar number which finds her hanging on to an unfaithful lover. The Celtic-inspired acoustic track "Riverwide", the slow grunge of "Maybe That's Something", and the hushed "Crash and Burn" further proclaim Crow's melancholy. Not all the songs here are downers, though. "There Goes The Neighborhood" uses a clap track, horns, and loose guitar riffs to make a great party song, and "Mississippi", a southern-style Bob Dylan cover, is very upbeat.

The best track on "The Globe Sessions" is undoubtedly "The Difficult Kind." Crow uses slide guitars and a string section to present an amazing piece of southern blues rock. Her vocals are outstanding, and the songwriting, which is at its most honest, states: "They're ain't nothing like regret to remind you you're alive."

Using every kind of sound effect from phone noises to radio static to underscore the instrumentals, which are great on their own, this is truly a fantastic rock album. After all, it was named Best Rock Album at the 1999 Grammy Awards.

I've had this album since it came out and I have to say, it is one of my all-time favorite albums. To this day, I listen to it and think what a genius Sheryl is, and why some consider her a legend. "My Favorite Mistake" is amazing, one of my favorite "sad love songs" ever. If you don't pay attention, the song can blend in as a mellow/semi-bland sounding light rock tune--but when I listen to the wistfulness of the lyrics and Sheryl's perfect delivery of them, the song sums up some of my (past) relationship thoughts to a "T". Another stand-out song is "Crash and Burn" that only Sheryl can deliver with such raw emotion. It starts out seemingly innocuous enough...but then she lets it all out! Sheryl is one of the best at the sadder, more introspective song without sappiness. I guess she could be considered "depressing" (as some of my friends say), but she seems to keep a level of intelligence and realness about her that makes you think, "Yeah, sometimes I feel near the end of my rope.... but I'll pull through." I also really like her albums "Tuesday Night Music Club" and "C'mon C'mon" but this album along with "Sheryl Crow" are the must-haves of Sheryl.

She must have bought a new studio or something, because the difference between the production of this album and the first two is huge. On this album, everything sounds gigantic and right next to your ears. It sounds way ahead of its time in terms of the equipment that recorded it. Like a record from 2006, maybe, but not 1998. Its pretty impressive.

Anyhow, I don't know what the deal is with people thinking her heart isn't in the songwriting on this album. It sounds to me like she's trying harder than anything, maybe almost too hard, to try and write something really epic. Also, there's a sadness to this album that you don't really find in her other work, which is probably the main reason that a lot of people are turned off. The Difficult Kind is easily her most intense ballad, and if songs like "If It Makes You Happy" used to only flirt with depression, songs like "Anything But Down" and "I Am Getting Through" go all the way. There's heartbreak written all over this album. The song structures are less conventional than usual, which is probably why it didn't sell as well, but overall I'd say its the best Sheryl Crow album. Its not as readily likeable as her other work, since there simply isn't anything as instantly addictive as "A Change Would Do You Good," but give it a few spins and it'll grow on you. The first time I heard it I didn't like it at all, but now its one of my favorite albums.

Also, maybe its the production but the songs seem to have this complexity to them that they've never had before. For example, It Don't Hurt builds up into an out-of-control guitar solo and feedback at the end. Its one of the most rocking things she's ever done, and yet you could almost consider it a country song in some ways. There Goes the Neighborhood is probably what I would consider to be the "coolest" Sheryl Crow song, for whatever that's worth, and Mississippi is a Bob Dylan penned song that later appeared in a redone version on his album Love and Theft. Only Crow's upbeat, riverboat-party version is much more fun. Members Only is just funny, and with Sheryl Crow resignedly singing "I just can't take it anymore," it still fits in with the sadness of the rest of the album perfectly.

Anyhow, if you're looking for a good time, something you can play while hanging out with your friends, it isn't here. But if you're looking for a great album (that, by the way, should be listened to through headphones to be fully appreciated), look no further.

"The Globe Sessions" is certainly on a different par than "Tuesday Night Music Club" or "Sheryl Crow." The songs on her third release are not as easily accessible; "My Favorite Mistake" and "There Goes the Neighborhood" are certainly right at home on the radio, but elsewhere Sheryl pushes herself into bold new territory. The results may not always be ready for MTV but they are nothing short of an artistic triumph.

"Riverwide" boasts a haunting, poetic lyric, not to mention its Appalachian-inspired guitar and unique, sampled 3/4 rhythm. "Am I Getting Through" is darker than anything Crow has ever attempted previously, and the contrast between her quiet, gentle verses and her hard-thrashing choruses is chilling. The hidden track "Subway Ride," a funky marriage of rock to hip-hop, cleverly comments on the Clinton controversy. But the album's hands-down classic is "The Difficult Kind," a drop-dead gorgeous composition that matches country and rock so closely and warmly that it will no doubt win the heart of fans from either camp. And while the album as a whole has far more personal lyrics than her previous projects, "The Difficult Kind" finds her plainly vulnerable: "if you could only see/what love has made of me/then I'd no longer be/in your mind/the difficult kind." And when Sheryl reaches the near-height of her vocal range and sings "it makes me wanna cry," the listener feels exactly the same way.

From a commercial standpoint it's hard to beat "Sheryl Crow." But for bravery and uncommon beauty, even when the beats are hard and the guitars are cranked and distorted, it is near impossible to beat "The Globe Sessions."

Don't miss the hidden track "Subway Ride" which starts after about 20 seconds of silence at the end of "Sweet Child o'Mine", which is track 12. It's one of the better songs on the CD.

The official Amazon reviewer is crazy, as proven by this album winning the Grammy for Best Rock Album of the Year, and the Amazon customer reviews having more 5's than all other ratings combined.