By Your Side

Limited edition pressing of their 1999 album with a bonus disc featuring four rare tracks, 'It Must Be Over', 'You Don't Have To Go', 'Twice As Hard' (Live) and 'Horsehead' (Acoustic Version). A combined total of 15 tracks, with the main album also includ

All right, we know the Crowes are going to sound like the Stones, and by no means is this an insult. The question is, what era of Stones--the assured bluster and raunchy groove of Exile on Main Street or, gasp, the going-through-the-motions of Steel Wheels? Thankfully, their first studio effort in two and a half years tends mostly toward the former. The Robinson boys have actually managed to magnify both their gritty Southern soul (with funky keyboards and vibrant background chants) and their heavy-hitting majesty (with screeching guitar and thumping percussion) simultaneously--and there's still room for some appealing hooks. That's not to say that their songwriting has improved or that their musical vision has broadened considerably; innovation has never been their strong point anyway. At worst, By Your Side is still a big improvement over 1996's often listless Three Snakes and a Charm; at best, it's living proof that the classic Stones swagger--refracted through the Crowes' mounting years of experience--still holds significant sway. Being called the "Stones of the 1990s" is still a compliment (albeit a left-handed one), and at this point they do the Stones a damn sight better than the Stones themselves. --Marc Greilsamer