For some fairly shallow performers, there comes a time when their craft becomes a chore, when scribbling songs for the big follow-up album turns into a black-and-white deadline. Clever composers can almost disguise this en... more »nui, burying it in a smarmy, sunshine-beaming mix. Key word: almost. Ergo, a trial spin through clever composer Sheryl Crow's The Globe Sessions evokes the faintest hint of a feeling that grows stronger with each successive listening--there's no sense that the artist intended this material as anything more than tepid album filler. A conversation with your local supermarket checkout girl would prove far more riveting than Crow's pretentious and all-too-casual observations (set to the tune, it must be noted, of some likable, jangly hooks). "Get out the camera, take a picture / The drag queens and the freaks are all out on the town," she purrs over chucka-chucka choogling on "There Goes the Neighborhood," which is probably what any self-respecting drag queen or freak would mutter once Crow moved in, scrounging for her now-patented vicarious cool. The closest The Globe Sessions comes to any palpable sincerity is during an actually-might've-lived-it, whoops-I'm-in-trouble-again "Mississippi." Even then, Crow drowns the moment in perfectly enunciated syllables, more prissy than alleycat-prowling. Crow started out with a credible Tuesday Night Music Club pedigree, surrounded by visionaries such as David Baerwald (For this disc, she relies heavily on ex-Wire Train mainstay Jeff Trott). But they're gone, and things change, to the point where, if you support this silly sycophant with your hard-earned dollars, there's only one question that you'll need to be asked: Do you want paper or plastic? --Tom Lanham« less
For some fairly shallow performers, there comes a time when their craft becomes a chore, when scribbling songs for the big follow-up album turns into a black-and-white deadline. Clever composers can almost disguise this ennui, burying it in a smarmy, sunshine-beaming mix. Key word: almost. Ergo, a trial spin through clever composer Sheryl Crow's The Globe Sessions evokes the faintest hint of a feeling that grows stronger with each successive listening--there's no sense that the artist intended this material as anything more than tepid album filler. A conversation with your local supermarket checkout girl would prove far more riveting than Crow's pretentious and all-too-casual observations (set to the tune, it must be noted, of some likable, jangly hooks). "Get out the camera, take a picture / The drag queens and the freaks are all out on the town," she purrs over chucka-chucka choogling on "There Goes the Neighborhood," which is probably what any self-respecting drag queen or freak would mutter once Crow moved in, scrounging for her now-patented vicarious cool. The closest The Globe Sessions comes to any palpable sincerity is during an actually-might've-lived-it, whoops-I'm-in-trouble-again "Mississippi." Even then, Crow drowns the moment in perfectly enunciated syllables, more prissy than alleycat-prowling. Crow started out with a credible Tuesday Night Music Club pedigree, surrounded by visionaries such as David Baerwald (For this disc, she relies heavily on ex-Wire Train mainstay Jeff Trott). But they're gone, and things change, to the point where, if you support this silly sycophant with your hard-earned dollars, there's only one question that you'll need to be asked: Do you want paper or plastic? --Tom Lanham
Angelica B. (tygrtygr) from LEMON GROVE, CA Reviewed on 3/25/2007...
Love it!
Every song is a gem!
0 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Sonoko F. from MONTCLAIR, NJ Reviewed on 3/16/2007...
critics have given this CD the stick, but i think it's got merit. granted, there are some weak & overlong tunes and jarring production choices (those synth'd handclaps on the otherwise tangy 'There Goes The Neighborhood') but the plaintive, folksy gem "Riverwide," the sad but defiant 'My Favorite Mistake' (supposedly directed at ex-bf Clapton - the guitar lines definitely lend creedence to that theory) and the wistful 'Crash and Burn' are pop gems. In the didn't-see-that-coming category: 'Mississipi' is penned by Bob Dylan. Not Crow's best but far from her worst, and worth it for "Riverwide."
1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Judith B. (butchpoodle) from EL SOBRANTE, CA Reviewed on 3/9/2007...
Same track listing under A&M USA for BMG music club.
Great disk!
10 tracks
0 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.
CD Reviews
Amazon Reviewer is on Craha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaack
W. Haggiagi | New York, NY USA | 02/28/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"And a host of other drugs... hmmm let's see what drugs give you bad taste in music and make you unable to appreciate true art?
The Globe Session was and still remains Sheryl Crow's best album. Her mixing of bluegrass country and rock styles is downright genius. The simplicity and conversational qualities of the lyrics don't even come close to diminishing their artistic value and emotional impact. If you can't stand that sort of thing, then don't listen to Sheryl Crow. THIS IS WHAT SHE DOES!
Everything in this album works for me. From the poppy "My favorite Mistake" to the heartbreaking "River wide" and yes even the one that the idiot up there frowned upon "There goes the neighborhood" and the amazing and very accurate "Anything but Down." I've been in that relationship! Not the general all purpose kind of that relationship... Noe... the one Crow sings about with pin point accuracy. I am sure I am not the only one for whom the vividness of that song hit right at home.
Sheryl Crow is one of those artists who writes what she knows and sings what she feels. If the album is at times depressing or cynical, it's because that's the stage of her life she was going through when she was writing and recording. Not to mention of how beautiful and deep her lyrics are. This is someone who writes and performs music for it's richness not for the riches. Shocking and novel, I know, that in this day and age where bands are made rather than born and singers are packaged rather than evolved, we actually have an artist who makes music that corresponds to where she is in her life rather than what she thinks will be a nice neat bouquet that would sound good in a party mix. Having an opinion is one thing but writing off someone's vulnerability as filler says much more about the reviewer than about Crow.
Don't worry, her next album was to be much more commercial and poppy and still mostly good and then the one after that is more somber and reflective. Then, then... she has the gall to record a political impassioned album. This lady must be stopped. How dare she have opinions and feelings and inconvenience amazon's highly skilled editorial staff, not to mention Spin's...ARREST HER!"
The best of Sheryl Crow's studio albums
Raymond J. Wood | Vallejo, CA United States | 02/24/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I own her entire catalog and, in my opinion, this is the strongest album (with Wildflower and perhaps Detours as close competition). Music and lyrics meld seamlessly and the emotion comes right through the speakers. I don't know what album the amazon reviewer was listening to when he panned it, but the one song he credits for sincerity and personal experience behind it is the one cover she did on the album ("Mississippi"- Dylan). I thought that review would better apply to the weak effort (contractual obligation?) C'mon C'mon. Your collection is incomplete without Globe Sessions. Be on particular lookout for "The Difficult Kind","My Favorite Mistake", "Crash and Burn", and "Anything but Down.""
Sheryl, Much love to you...
Robert Barrera | St. Petersburg, Florida United States | 08/27/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Always have loved her music and attitude, but for the life of me I can't figure out how she 'perfectly' penned a song that sounds exactly like a Glenn Tilbrook/Chris Difford of Squeeze composition in her "My Perfect Mistake".
Now, more than anything I wish they would reunite and cover her song.(a compliment to Sheryl)
"
Sheryl Crow at her Artistic Peak!
David B. Nesbitt Jr. | United States | 01/22/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I've always considered Sheryl Crow's first three albums to be her finest, and "The Globe Sessions" is quite possibly the best of the three. On "Tuesday Night Music Club" you heard a new artist that was still figuring out her voice and summing up a lifetime up to that point with an eclectic mix of rock and pop. Wanting to prove herself and silence the doubters, she then released "Sheryl Crow," which was a harder, darker, and more experimental album than her first but with a similar slice-of-life sensibility that TNMC had. On "The Globe Sessions," she goes even darker, ruminating less about life in general and more about love.
I believe this to be a four-star effort, but I gave it an extra star because it helped define a period in my life, making it classic to me. :) When this album works, there's nothing like it, and when it doesn't you forgive it because the rest was so good!
The best stuff here is when Crow sticks to the love-gone-wrong songs: "My Favorite Mistake," "Am I Getting Through," "Anything But Down," "The Difficult Kind," "It Don't Hurt," and "Crash and Burn." Crow has always been known for her great one-liners and the specific situations she describes in her songs, and they make the hurt on these songs really sting: "Antigone laid across the road/and let a mack truck leave her there for dead/just because her lover split the scene/love may be great but why lose your head?" ("Crash and Burn")
Crow brings an editing eye to the production this time--there's far less experimentation than "Sheryl Crow" had--and it results in her clearest, most uncluttered sound to date. Not that experimentation has been abandoned! Wait for "part II" of "Am I Getting Through," and you see that she's still trying the unexpected.
Even when the songs are less relevant to the topic at hand, such as "There Goes the Neighborhood," "Mississippi," and "Members Only," she retains her never-had-anything-never-needed-anything sensibility that made her a relatable, bankable star.
Altogether, this is a break-up album that succeeds when it goes for the romantic jugular. I have yet to hear another artist bring to life the anguish of a disintegrating relationship with such vividness and detail as Sheryl Crow did with this amazing, classic album."