Lions (album)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||
| Studio album by The Black Crowes | |||||
| Released | May 8, 2001 | ||||
| Recorded | January–February 2001 at Montana Rehearsal Studios, New York City and Theater 99 Recording, New York City | ||||
| Genre | Blues-rock, hard rock | ||||
| Length | 55:09 | ||||
| Label | V2 | ||||
| Producer | Don Was | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
| The Black Crowes chronology | |||||
|
|||||
| Singles from Lions | |||||
Lions is a studio album by The Black Crowes, released in 2001. It was their first album on V2 Records following their exit from Columbia, and their only studio album to feature Audley Freed. Lions was recorded in New York City in January and February of 2001,[3] and produced by Don Was, who had previously worked with Bonnie Raitt and The Rolling Stones. Bass guitar duties were shared by Rich Robinson and Was, as Greg Rzab had left the band but was not replaced until the tour that followed the release of Lions.
The album debuted at its peak position of #20 on the Billboard 200 chart,[4] selling over 53,000 copies in its first week.[5] Lions' critical reception was mixed; numerous reviewers found similarities to Led Zeppelin, with some approving and others not. The overall sound of the album generally garnered praise, while a frequent complaint was the lack of quality songs.
The Black Crowes supported Lions with two tours of North America (one with Oasis co-headlining), and a short tour of Europe and Japan in between. Many shows on these tours were made available for streaming/downloading to fans who owned a copy of Lions. Shortly after the last date of the tour, The Black Crowes went on hiatus, not to return until 2005.
Contents |
[edit] Background
The Black Crowes began writing songs for the follow-up to their 1999 album By Your Side as free agents, having left Columbia Records through a loophole in their contract.[6][7] This decision was driven by Columbia's promotion of By Your Side; Rich Robinson said, "That record was destined to fail because before it came out [Columbia executives] just said, 'It's not going to do well...It's no use wasting time or money.'"[7] The band was also frustrated by the label's request for albums like their first, 1990's Shake Your Money Maker.[8]
Around the end of 1999, Chris Robinson began a relationship with Kate Hudson, which would prove to influence subtly the lyrics on Lions. The pair met at a Friday-night party in Manhattan, which led to a Saturday stroll through Central Park and a Sunday move-in.[9] A New Year's Eve wedding at the Aspen, Colorado, ranch of Kurt Russell and Kate’s mother, Goldie Hawn, followed in 2000.[7]
Bassist Sven Pipien was fired before the 2000 tour with Jimmy Page after showing up late to a performance and missing the subsequent return flight. Rich said that alone was not enough to get him fired, but his defensiveness when later confronted about his behavior was too much to deal with. Greg Rzab was chosen as the replacement over Andy Hess, primarily due to the band's reluctance to hire someone with limited touring experience after the Pipien episode.[10] Rzab, though, would exit before the recording of Lions.
In the middle of 2000, the band chose to sign with Richard Branson's V2 Records.[11] Rich explained, "The cool thing about V2, the reason that we chose them, is that they told us, 'You guys go make the record you want to make. Then give it to us and we'll sell it.' That's what we needed to hear."[8] The freedom V2 afforded the band through its hands-off approach would influence not only the music, but the album title, as well. "Lions is a symbol that stands for the fierce feeling and freedom that music allows you," proclaimed Chris.[12]
[edit] Writing and production
Chris Robinson granted that the experience of playing Led Zeppelin songs with Jimmy Page influenced Lions, but not on a song-by-song basis. "Led Zeppelin's music is very dramatic and very dynamic. That's something we've attempted to do with our style also. I think it definitely affected how we make our music."[13] Funk and R&B were bigger influences than on past albums,[13] and "Miracle to Me" was influenced by Nick Drake.[8]
Lyrically, Chris claimed the influence of Kate Hudson was subtle. "More so than a literal reference to her, it's the vantage point from where I'm writing. It's the reasons that I'm singing and it's the feeling. That is an influence far greater than the literal influence." He did grant, however, that "Soul Singing" and "Miracle to Me" were written with Hudson in mind, and explained that the album's track order roughly follows a path from confusion to clarity that mirrored his own.[7] Producer Don Was remarked about Chris' lyrics, "I realized he was taking on something that was significant. He was writing about becoming a man. [...] There's a lot of old man/young man symbolism that's a self-conversation, Chris talking to himself. I don't know that anyone has actually chronicled being 33 [years old] as well as this album."[12]
Frictive moments during the writing of Lions were rare, owing to the Robinson brothers' usual method in which Rich writes all the music and Chris writes all the lyrics.[8] "Soul Singing" was the only song to cause disagreement between the brothers Robinson; "I'd written this part where although the vocals changed the music stayed the same throughout. I thought we should add something or just not finish it, but Chris thought it was already a song, and a good one. So we talked about that one for a while," Rich recalled.[14]
The Black Crowes had previously sent demos to Don Was, who had produced albums for artists such as Bonnie Raitt and The Rolling Stones, in the hopes that he would produce By Your Side, but Was felt the demos were good enough to be the album. Columbia Records disagreed with Was' assessment, however, leading to the hiring of Kevin Shirley.[10] With complete artistic control under V2 Records, the band was free to hire Was for Lions. The recording sessions progressed as smoothly as the writing, with only "Come On" causing conflict between the band and Was. Said Rich, "We must have recorded 'Come On' about five times in different ways. [...] Then [Was] just took it away with him and came back with this different mix," which impressed the band, leading to its inclusion on the album.[14] The band ultimately was satisfied by the recording experience, finding that Was was devoted to helping them realize their own vision for the album rather than imposing his own.[8]
Takes were recorded to tape and Pro-Tools simultaneously; the band ultimately chose to use the tape version, preferring its sound.[15] Most of the songs were recorded live, with the band members playing together in one room[11] and microphones set up to capture the overall sound, rather than the sound of individual instruments.[16] Was felt this approach best captured the band the way they come across in a concert setting, later noting that the Lions songs debuted at a private show in February 2001 "sounded exactly like the record."[16] Since Andy Hess did not join The Black Crowes until this private show,[17] the band did not have a bassist during the recording sessions; Rich thus played bass on most of the tracks.[11] On "Lay It All on Me", however, Rich played piano, leaving the bass guitar duties to Don Was.[10]
A total of twenty songs were recorded during the Lions sessions, though seven ultimately were cut from the album. Four of these tracks were prepared for release; three ("Last Time Again", "Love Is Now" and "Sleepyheads") were released as B-sides, and the other ("The Pretty Gurl Song") circulates in trading circles on a bootleg recording.[3]
[edit] Promotion and release
Soon after the Lions sessions ended, a "completion party" was thrown by V2 Records at The Bank in New York City, at which The Black Crowes performed four songs from the new album in addition to other songs from their catalog and a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well".[17] The band then played scattered dates in the U.S. and UK, including an appearance on Later... with Jools Holland,[18] up until the release of Lions. Only "Losing My Mind" and "Ozone Mama" had not been performed live by that point, though they would be played soon after on the album-supporting tour.[19][20]
Lions was released on May 8, 2001 and subsequently debuted at its peak position of #20 on the Billboard 200 chart,[4] selling over 53,000 copies in its first week.[5] The album has sold 192,000 copies in the U.S. as of January 2002.[21]
Around the release of the album, band members made numerous promotional appearances. Chris Robinson was a guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart the day before the album was released in the US,[22] and Chris and Steve Gorman appeared on The Howard Stern Show the following day.[23] The band performed "Soul Singing" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on May 10,[24] and was inducted into Hollywood’s RockWalk four days later.[25] A second late night television performance of "Soul Singing" took place on June 6, this time on The Late Show with David Letterman.[26]
"Lickin'" was the first single from the album; it peaked at #9 on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks on May 19.[27] The song's promotional video was a compilation of various takes of a static, low-angle shot of the band performing the song on a tiny stage. Second single "Soul Singing" peaked at #12 on the same chart on August 18;[28] its promotional video featured the band playing in a grassy field as the sun rises in the sky. A third single, "Miracle to Me", was canceled,[29] but not before a promotional video was shot of the band ostensibly recording the song in a studio. Videos were also shot for "Come On" (in the same manner as "Lickin'", except in black and white), "Greasy Grass River" and "Cypress Tree" (both similar to "Miracle to Me"). Despite not playing on the album, Andy Hess appears in some of these videos, all of which are available as streaming media on the band's official website.
[edit] Critical reception
Critical reception of Lions was mixed. Numerous reviewers detected a Led Zeppelin influence (praised by some,[30][31][32] attacked by others[33]) and attributed it to The Black Crowes' recent tour with Jimmy Page.[33][34][35] Dave McKenna, in a special to The Washington Post, compared Steve Gorman's drumming to that of John Bonham and found analogs to specific guitar and keyboard tones in Led Zeppelin albums.[31] Nigel Williamson of The Times compared Chris Robinson's voice on "Come On" to that of Robert Plant, and wrote that the song "could almost be a Led Zeppelin II cast off."[34] Other reviewers noted similarities to Aerosmith,[33] with Howard Cohen of The Miami Herald calling "Lickin'" "the best Aerosmith single that band hasn't recorded in years."[30] The perceived lack of originality, though, turned off some critics.[2][36]
Many reviewers praised the sound of Lions but felt the songs were weak.[1][35][37] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of All Music Guide called Lions "a powerful, textured hard rock record that covers a lot of ground, surging from powerful riffs to gospel choruses and funkier-than-expected riffs," though he also complained that "the songs can seem incomplete."[37] Critics had trouble agreeing which of the songs were lacking, though. "Losing My Mind" and "Young Man, Old Man" were called "highlights" by Jane Stevenson of the Toronto Sun,[35] though elsewhere the former was called "woeful"[33] and the latter a "'Freddie's Dead' vamp" that should have been skipped.[38]
[edit] Concert tours
- Further information: The Tour of Brotherly Love and Listen Massive Tour
Shortly after the release of the Lions, The Black Crowes and Oasis, with opening band Spacehog, embarked on a co-headlining tour of North American theaters and amphitheaters called The Tour of Brotherly Love[39] The Black Crowes had previously crossed paths with Liam and Noel Gallagher and hit it off; "...so we called them and asked them if they were interested [in touring together]. And so they were like, 'Yeah, we'd love to!'" said Rich.[10] The Black Crowes performed last each night, with most sets lasting seventy-five minutes and including numerous songs from Lions. Members of Oasis typically would join them for an encore cover such as "Lucifer Sam",[40] "Can't You Hear Me Knocking"[41] or "Road Runner".[42]
The Black Crowes followed The Tour of Brotherly Love with a string of one-off dates and festivals in Europe and Japan, including a few shows opening for Neil Young.[43] Most of these shows, as well as most of the dates with Oasis, were made available for download by V2 Records to owners of Lions. With Lions loaded in a CD-ROM drive, fans could stream each show, as well as download one live track per week and one show in its entirety.[5]
Following a month-long break, The Black Crowes returned to the road in late August, with Beachwood Sparks as the opening band, for their Listen Massive Tour, where the band returned to playing two-hour shows featuring a rotating set list.[44] The September 11 show at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles was canceled, but the band performed the next evening in Tucson, Arizona, as scheduled. All profits and merchandise sales from the following week's three shows at the Beacon Theatre in New York City were donated to the New York State World Trade Center Relief Fund and the New York City Public/Private Initiative.[45] While in New York City, Chris and Rich performed "By Your Side" on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.[46]
The Listen Massive Tour wrapped up with a 140-minute show at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 31.[47] This would be Andy Hess and Audley Freed’s last show as band members, as The Black Crowes went on hiatus shortly thereafter.
[edit] Track listing
All songs written by Chris Robinson and Rich Robinson.
- "Midnight from the Inside Out" – 4:21
- "Lickin'" – 3:42
- "Come On" – 2:58
- "No Use Lying" – 4:57
- "Losing My Mind" – 4:26
- "Ozone Mama" – 3:54
- "Greasy Grass River" – 3:20
- "Soul Singing" – 3:54
- "Miracle to Me" – 4:42
- "Young Man, Old Man" – 4:14
- "Cosmic Friend" – 5:23
- "Cypress Tree" – 3:41
- "Lay It All on Me" – 5:29
[edit] Japanese version
- "Love Is Now" – 4:22
[edit] Personnel
- Chris Robinson – vocals, harmonica
- Rich Robinson – guitar, bass guitar, piano on "Lay It All on Me", vocals
- Steve Gorman – drums, percussion
- Eddie Harsch – keyboards
- Audley Freed – guitar[10][48]
[edit] Additional personnel
- Don Was – bass guitar on "Come On" and "Lay It All on Me"
- Craig Ross – lead guitar on "Greasy Grass River"
- Maxine Waters, Oren Waters, Rose Stone and Julie Waters – background vocals on "Soul Singing"
[edit] Production
- Don Was – producer, mixing
- Chris Ribando – mixing, recording
- Adam Olmstead – mixing
- Steve Mandel – mixing
- Chris Lord-Alge – mixing
- Ray Martin – recording
- Raeann Zschokke – recording
[edit] Charts
[edit] Album
| Chart (2001) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200[49] | 20 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Canadian Albums[49] | 20 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Internet Albums[49] | 8 |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | "Lickin'" | U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[27] | 9 |
| 2001 | "Soul Singing" | U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[28] | 12 |
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Lepage, Mark (2001-05-10), “Destiny's Child: surviving nicely”, The Gazette: D15
- ^ a b McUtchen, Andrew (2001-06-07), “CD Reviews”, Herald Sun: Hit 64
- ^ a b The CrowesBase: Lions. crowesbase.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
- ^ a b Graff, Gary (2001-07-31). The Black Crowes Follow Their Own Flight Path. Broadcast Music, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
- ^ a b c Mitch Schneider Organization (2001-05-21). "The Black Crowes Roar onto the Charts with 'Lions' Debuting in the Top 20". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ Fontana, Aaron M. (September 2001). The Black Crowes Go On. Retrieved on 2008-06-06.
- ^ a b c d Goodman, Dean (2001-05-24), “Black Crowes Singer in a Whole Lotta Love”, Reuters
- ^ a b c d e Thomas, Ernie (2001), “The Black Crowes: At Long Last They Have an Album to "Crow" About!”, Midwest Beat (no. May 2001), <http://www.midwestbeat.com/ezine/may2001/black.html>
- ^ Guzman, Isaac (2001-05-15), “The Black Crowes Hatch a Lovebird”, Daily News: Now 36
- ^ a b c d e Cohen, Jonathan (2001-05-16). Roaring Like Lions: Rich. Nude as the News. Archived from the original on 2003-01-20. Retrieved on 2008-06-02.
- ^ a b c Cohen, Jonathan (2001-04-10), “Black Crowes Find Themselves On 'Lions'”, Billboard, <http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/search/google/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=827978>. Retrieved on 23 March 2008
- ^ a b Devenish, Colin (2001-05-30), “Chris Robinson, Don Was talk of the Black Crowes' 'Lions'”, liveDaily, <http://livedaily.com/news/3155.html>. Retrieved on 23 March 2008
- ^ a b Cohen, Jonathan (2001-05-10). Roaring Like Lions: Chris. Nude as the News. Archived from the original on 2003-03-13. Retrieved on 2008-06-02.
- ^ a b Callaghan, John (June 2001). "The Lion, The Spliff & The Wardrobe". Guitar 11 (12): 38–44.
- ^ Cook, Dennis. Workingman's Hallelujahs And Bohemian Hymns: A tale of The Black Crowes today. Retrieved on 2008-06-11.
- ^ a b Walsh, Christopher (2001-03-24), “Studio Monitor: Don Was & Black Crowes' 'Lions' Roar At Theater 99”, Billboard
- ^ a b The CrowesBase: February 3, 2001. crowesbase.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
- ^ The CrowesBase: April 10, 2001. crowesbase.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ The CrowesBase: May 20, 2001. crowesbase.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ The CrowesBase: May 22, 2001. crowesbase.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ Basham, David (2002-01-11). Got Charts? Making Grammy Predictions, Counting Crowes. Broadcast Music, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
- ^ The Daily Show - Chris Robinson. Comedy Central (2001-05-07). Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ The CrowesBase: May 8, 2001. crowesbase.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ The CrowesBase: May 10, 2001. crowesbase.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ Rock Walk inducts the Black Crowes; Robinson, Gallagher talk Brotherly Love tour. LiveDaily. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ The CrowesBase: June 6, 2001. crowesbase.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ a b Hot Mainstream Rock Songs - Lickin'. Billboard (2001-05-19). Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ a b Hot Mainstream Rock Songs - Soul Singing. Billboard (2001-08-18). Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ The CrowesBase: The Pretty Gurl Song. crowesbase.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ a b Cohen, Howard (2001-05-09), “New releases from The Black Crowes, Powderfinger, Mandalay”, The Miami Herald
- ^ a b McKenna, Dave (2001-05-09), “Black Crowes' Excellent Mimicry”, The Washington Post: C05
- ^ Milward, John. Dancing Days Aren't Here Again?. Sonicnet. Archived from the original on 2001-06-04. Retrieved on 2008-06-06.
- ^ a b c d Donovan, Patrick (2001-06-15), “CD Reviews”, The Age
- ^ a b Williamson, Nigel (2001-05-05), “New pop albums”, The Times
- ^ a b c Stevenson, Jane (2001-05-06), “Well, at least they can sing”, Toronto Sun: S20
- ^ Gardner, Elysa (2001-05-29), “Staind, Weezer return angry, mischievous Sticky Fingaz goes deep, Black Crowes go nowhere”, USA Today: 6D
- ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Lions Review. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2008-03-08.
- ^ Gubbins, Teresa (2001-05-09), “Reviews of releases by David Byrne, Black Crowes and more”, The Dallas Morning News
- ^ Mitch Schneider Organization (2001-05-18). "The Black Crowes and Oasis Triumphantly Launch Their Tour of Brotherly Love". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ The CrowesBase: June 8, 2001. crowesbase.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ The CrowesBase: June 1, 2001. crowesbase.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ The CrowesBase: May 31, 2001. crowesbase.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ Mitch Schneider Organization (2001-06-20). "The Black Crowes Announce European Tour Dates". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ Mitch Schneider Organization (2001-06-20). "The Black Crowes Kick Off 'Listen Massive' Tour; Shows Feature 2 Hours of Black Crowes". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ Mitch Schneider Organization (2001-06-20). "The Black Crowes Donate All Profits and 100% Merchandise Sales to WTC Relief Fund". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ The CrowesBase: September 20, 2001. crowesbase.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ The CrowesBase: October 31, 2001. crowesbase.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ Fazio, Steve. Audley Freed: A Close-up Interview. Syntrillium Software. Archived from the original on 2002-01-27. Retrieved on 2008-03-09.
- ^ a b c Lions > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
[edit] References
- The Crowesbase. crowesbase.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
[edit] External links
|
|||||||||||||||||
