GenQ - For the not so straight individual

To borrow a phrase from a friend – Sheryl Crow is ‘all kinds of awesome’. Let’s just run through a list of her awesomeness shall we? The talented songwriter plays the guitar and bass, piano, accordion, harmonica and the autoharp. A one-time music teacher, Crow got her start singing back-up for Don Henley and Michael Jackson and released her debut album, ‘Tuesday Night Music Club’, to critical acclaim and commercial success in 1993. She won the Best New Artist and Record of the Year at the Grammy’s in 1994 and since then her ability to blend country, rock, blues and folk into pop hits has seen her dominate the charts and sell over 30 million albums worldwide. She scored the cover of Rolling Stone and a few more awards with her self-titled second album in 1996. Another couple of Grammy’s in 1998, including Best Rock Album, with the release of ‘The Globe Sessions’, followed by the critically acclaimed and multi-platinum ‘C’mon C’mon’ and ‘Wildflower’, released in 2002 and 2005 respectively, and a hugely successful greatest hits album, ‘The Very Best of Sheryl Crow’, in between. She’s racked up nine Grammy’s and two American Music Awards so far. She’s a breast cancer survivor and a single mother, adopting her son Wyatt earlier this year. She’s also an outspoken political activist, wearing anti-war t-shirts at various public events, performing at Live Earth and touring with the Global Warming Virtual March, and has written songs about abortion, homelessness & nuclear war. Now Crow adds to her mounting awesomeness by releasing ‘Hits and Rarities’, a collection of well… 18 hits and rarities from her almost 15 year recording career.

All of her biggest hits are here. Her break-out Grammy winning smash, ‘All I Wanna Do’ kicks off the album, followed by the country rock of, ‘My Favourite Mistake’, one of her best tracks, and the feel-good summer pop gem, ‘Soak up the Sun’. ‘Everyday is a Winding Road’ makes a valuable appearance, and no matter how hard I try I can’t not think of Julia Roberts driving through the desert in Erin Brockovich. The tender ballads, ‘Strong Enough’, ‘Wildflower’, and the stand-out, ‘I Shall Believe’, balance out the rock on ‘If It Makes You Happy’, ‘C’mon C’mon’ and ‘A Change Would Do You Good’.

But it’s all about the rarities. If you’re a music geek like me you love getting your hands on b-sides and bonus tracks from your favourite artists, and if you’re a Sheryl Crow fan it’s the rarities that make this album worth buying over her other greatest hits album, or in addition to. Crow has re-recorded ‘Always On Your Side’ from her ‘Wildflower’ album as a duet with Sting, and the stunning and moving ballad, ‘Try Not To Remember’, from the movie Home of the Brave, has a similar sound and feel of ‘Safe and Sound’ off her ‘C’mon C’mon’ album. It’s worth the price of the album alone. The wonderfully restrained vocals and dramatic string arrangement are captivating. The award winning Cat Stevens cover, ‘The First Cut is the Deepest’ is included, as is the Grammy winning cover of Guns N’ Roses’ ‘Sweet Child ‘O Mine’, and the Grammy nominated James Bond theme, ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’.

Crow’s honest and poetic lyrics, teamed with superbly crafted melodies and a voice that is both earthy and raspy, bridge many styles of music and create timeless tracks full of catchy hooks and a lot character. Once again for those who weren’t paying attention: Sheryl Crow is awesome, and so is her ‘Hits and Rarities’ album.