Good for those who like everything Cheryl records

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	• Detours Sheryl Crow A&M, 2008 average customer review:based on 126 reviews view larger image
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Give it a chance

It is a good album. Give it a chance. I agree that it is political, and has many different styles, and that it is not her best, BUT since when do we fault people for honesty or uniquity (not sure on the spelling of that one). No one complains if people write a sappy but true love song, so why not a song about the current affairs of our world in an honest fashion.

I say there is more Sheryl in this album than there has been in a long time so be grateful for it...

Good for those who like everything Cheryl records

I appreciated the sentiment of the lyrics, and found some of the production interesting, but there are too many different styles of songs to feel a flow to the album. There are a few songs I like a lot, but I have to skip through many others to get to them. The ballads are nice, especially the lullabye she wrote for her son. There are some Beatle-esque touches in others.

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Back with Bottrell!

Sheryl Crow rescues her career by turning to Bill Bottrell, her music partner from her first watershed album, "Tuesday Night Music Club". I've liked a lot of her work since then, but she hasn't produced a CD like that one since she and Bill split in mid-album #2 over what... many people speculate about, and probably only the two of them know.

Bottrell's a producer/songwriter/musician that brings out the best in Sheryl Crow. This collection is without a doubt a return to form for her and one hopes she'll work with Bottrell and produce more of this caliber of music.

The collection is really a coupling of two themes, the political Crow and the loved and lovelorn Crow. There are two songs that are exceptions, and they have a lot in common; they are both emotional outbursts from a woman who allowed herself to be featured as part of an "in love duo" in the tabloids, only to be painfully left behind, and a woman who faced and faced down breast cancer.

The crappy:

These two songs, "Diamond Ring" and "Make It Go Away" are whiny, distracting and unworthy of Crow and the rest of the CD. One is a subtle whine about Armstrong and the broken engagement. Even the voice is whiny. The other is a screechy whine about undergoing radiation. While I admire Crow for the hard work she must have done in her recovery from breast cancer, and her unwillingness to milk it for headlines, I really wish she wouldn't have inflicted this song on the world. Little more needs to be said.

The political:

In her "political protest" mode, Crow gave us 6 songs, which lead off the CD. The reaction to them is varied... if you don't like politically themed songs, you wouldn't listen to Sheryl Crow, in my mind. She gives us a "nation is rotten" song, three songs about the middle eastern conflict, a clever song with a "green" theme, and one ditty about the Katrina aftermath. The best of them?

Crow and Bottrell (and two others in collaboration) took a chance with "Peace Be Upon Us" -- the melody and instrumentation are clearly middle eastern in flavor, and Crow's verses are sung in counterpoint with with the same words in Arabic, as sung by Ahmed Al Himi. The message is simple - a call for peace in both the speech of the Western world and the Middle East. I didn't read much in protest of this song, but 2-3 years ago, listeners would have spurned Crow's effort as traitorous. Today, it's a worthy effort.

Sheryl's obligatory Katrina song is fun and infectious.."Love is Free". It focuses on the spirit of the residents of New Orleans, and it's got lyrics to die for:

"You go to church
And pray to God for no more rain
A Cadillac, a paper sack
Hey there, Jack you want some bourbon for the pain?"

And last but not least at all is the imaginative "Gasoline". Ben Harper joins the vocals for an apocalyptic song about looking back on the Gasoline wars of 2017. Crow wages the wars all over the globe, from London to Riyadh to Tennessee to Argentina. The lyrics are masterful, and it's truly a protest song. My favorite line involves the gangs of Mini Coopers battling in the streets. When you hear a Crow song like this you forget the singing and toast the songwriter.

Despite all the high points in the political tunes, the very best of Crow is still to come in the

"Love and Lovelorn" set of 5 songs (there's also a throwaway song mocking Hollywood starlets called "Motivation"):

"Detours" song 7 on the CD is the song I think of as "The paper-thin heart song", from the refrain. Crow is at her best, questioning a mother (real or imagined) about what to do with the fade to gray that is her ability to fall in love. It's poignant, and lyrics and music are a spectacular match.

The best just might be, "Drunk With the Thought of You"...simple, engaging, a real songwriter's description of the high of being in love...."I know you've melted my heart in two".

She closes strong on her loving themes with:

"Love Is All There Is" -- and this is a song that will stay with you. It asks the question that Crow reportedly has asked herself... "Does Anybody Want You?" and showcases her voice better than any other song on the CD.

And finally, Crow closes with a new door opening in her life, and gives us "Lullaby for Wyatt" (the name of her newly adopted son). It's simple and peaceful and has the characteristic I find in the finest lullabies...lifted from the nursery, it coexists as one of those plain old love songs.

I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed this collection by Sheryl Crow and Bill Bottrell, and how much I hope for more. The CD has enjoyed a lot of airplay in the car over the last six months, and I'm sure that Crow is feeling at home with her music again.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Sheryl Crow is set to release her sixth studio album, DETOURS. The album marks the return of producer Bill Bottrell, who previously worked with Crow on her breakthrough debut album Tuesday Night Music Club, which earned the singer three Grammy Awards, and sold more than ten million copies worldwide. "This is the most honest record I've ever made. It's about being forced to wake up," says Crow.

Sheryl Crow Photos

More from Sheryl Crow
Wildflower Tour: Live from New York
Wildflower
Wildflower (Deluxe)

Globe Sessions
The Very Best of Sheryl Crow - The Videos
C'mon America 2003

The Very Best of Sheryl Crow
C'mon, C'mon
Live from Central Park

The Globe Sessions (Enhanced)
Sheryl Crow
Tuesday Night Music Club

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Tracks
God Bless This Mess | Shine Over Babylon | Love is Free | Peace Be Upon Us | Gasoline | Out Of Our Heads | Detours | Now That You're Gone | Drunk With The Thought Of You | Diamond Ring | Motivation | Make It Go Away (Radiation Song) | Love Is All There Is | Lullaby For Wyatt

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Sheryl Crow Sucks!
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detours

Detours
Love Is Free
Tuesday Night Music Club
Sheryl Crow
Wildflower (plus Bonus Track)

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