Search - Allison Moorer :: Crows

Missing the Allison of old

Dennis S. Stuempfle | Pittsgrove, NJ USA | 03/03/2010

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I'm giving this 2 stars, not because I like it that much but because Allison's voice is too beautiful to record a 1 star album. I've been a fan of Allison Moorer since she recorded Alabama Song. I thought The Hardest Part was one of the best country albums made. I saw Allison live in Philly just after she released Miss Fortune and she was great. In Getting Somewhere we saw some departure from the country formula that made her a success. All artists tend to spread their wings a little. So it was no surprise that the next two CDs were named after birds. Mockingbird took Allison even farther from her country roots but in Crows we find an artist crossing over way too far from country to more standard "run of the mill" folk and pop. While her sister has pulled a nice switch by flavoring her country twang with some heart felt blues, or paying tribute to some great singer song writers who made some great song, these songs simply lack character. Whereas I once walked around singing Allison's songs, there isn't a song on Crows that I've fallen in love with or that I feel is catchy or noteworthy. The songs are gloomy and most were written in minor keys make them even more morose. That's not a problem as Allison has written a few sad songs in the past, one about her mother, that brought tears to my eyes. But these songs aren't up to snuff with her usual story telling excellence. And there are plenty of folk and pop singers out there. Go onto myspace and you can find plenty of mediocrity among pop singers. Why join them? I always hoped for more from Allison. For my money, I'd just as soon pull out The Show or The Hardest Part and enjoy a beautiful voice singing beautiful melodies. I hope this cd is met with the mediocre sales results that it warrants, not because I mean any ill will toward the artist but because I'm hoping for a wake up call that sends her back to her roots to share the country spotlight that she handed away to others, like Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood."

One of Her Best Discs.

A* | New York, N.Y. United States | 02/09/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've been a fan of hers for years and loved her last disc, Mockingbird. But Crows is on an entirely different level. It leans so heavy on melody and strings allowing her voice to really shine and she gives you everything she has on these haunting songs. "Still This Side of Gone," is just melancholic beauty. The entire disc has this almost eerily atmospheric intimacy to it. The title track, "Crows," has a simple piano riff that underplays the lyrics brilliantly . And "Easy in the Summertime," follows in the same aforementioned formula. These songs, sort of like the rest of the disc, wrestle with inner turmoils of heartbreak/nature, but everything about this disc is just so polished and heartfelt that it avoids schlock. Moorer's voice has always been a thing of blues inflected beauty and with this disc's three upbeat tunes, it manages to have a hopeful poignancy to even the darkest of material on this disc. Wonderful album that matches the greatness of The Duel and The Hardest Part."

Allison Moorer Does It Again!

Erik North | San Gabriel, CA USA | 02/14/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"So many of the great female singers that have come down the pike during the last ten to twenty years have come in the Americana genre, and Allison Moorer is one of those. With albums like MOCKINGBIRD, THE DUEL, MISS FORTUNE, and GETTING SOMEWHERE, she has set herself up as a consummate artist--not an easy thing to do in a genre whose artists steadfastly refuse to throw their lot in with the corporate country music establishment that has lauded Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift to the hilt. She's a natural maverick, not unlike her big sister Shelby Lynne or husband Steve Earle, one of the true rebels of recent decades. She just has a different way of showing it on her albums, and CROWS isn't any different.



With the exception of the twelfth track, "It's Gonna Feel Good (When It Stops Hurting)", which was written by the album's producer R.S. Field, everything on CROWS is from Allison's own pen, and her very stately and relaxed, acoustic rock oriented sound, splashed with occasional string sections, mandolin, and pedal steel, makes this a thoroughly listenable album. What is unusual about it, however, is how so many of the songs are in minor keys, giving them a mysterious, eerie quality, and the fact that Allison spends as much time at the piano as she does on guitar. Contrary to how that might sound, however, she doesn't try to imitate Norah Jones on any of her songs, either in vocal inflections or in sound; this album is still uniquely her, and her voice is as refreshing as on her past albums.



Allison, in other words, has done it again; she has made an album that will likely feature in a few Top Ten lists, including mine, when 2010 comes to a close."