Sheryl Crow
Live From Central Park

THE REVIEW

Late '90s: the peak period for MTV's musical-media dictatorship: the years of Britney Spears, NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, and so on; years when Blink-182 captured the hearts of "rebellious" teenagers and talented bands like Fastball were happily dismissed after a single; in that era, it was truly rare for people with real talent to reach the highest peaks of musical popularity, and rightly so, those who achieved it had the sacred right to self-celebration, even lavish and ostentatious.

Take Sheryl Crow, for example: born in 1962 in Kennett, Missouri, in the heart of America's countryside, and having reached success at the age of 31 after a long and tough grind, with three studio albums under her belt and more than eight million records sold, a perhaps mediocre figure for an upstart who makes scantily-clad videos panting like a calf in heat, but of absolute value for a singer-songwriter, musician, and performer in her own right (sad but true) in 1999 decides to celebrate herself live, and so far everything is normal: the first live album of Ms. Crow's career is recorded at Central Park, NYC, and the choice of this prestigious location already hints at the ambitions and intentions of the Missouri Diva; the live setlist features songs like "Gold Dust Woman" (Fleetwood Mac), "Happy" (Rolling Stones), "White Room" (Cream), and "Tombstone Blues" (Bob Dylan), guest stars of the event are the Dixie Chicks, Sarah McLachlan, Stevie Nicks, Eric Clapton, and Keith Richards.

This whole parade of stars presented like this might also seem an unnecessary exhibition, even a bit opportunistic unless you consider that we're dealing with Sheryl Crow, someone who has clawed her way to every bit of success she's achieved, and who knows how to express all her charisma and personal artistic creed even live: supported by an excellent band, SC (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, harmonica) brings to life a sparkling performance where she excels in "White Room", a song already powerful and evocative that gains a particular, almost exotic touch thanks to Sheryl's voice blending perfectly with that of the legendary Slowhand and in the biting finale "Tombstone Blues", a tribute to one of her greatest inspirations, performed with the right energy and abrasive edge; but this is above all a Sheryl Crow concert, showcasing her versatility, with her inimitable voice that shifts from one register to another with the style and savoir-faire typical of the greatest, expressing different moods: there's the engaging energy of the opener "Everyday Is A Winding Road" and the grittier and more shameless rhythms of "A Change Would Do You Good", "There Goes The Neighborhood", and "All I Wanna Do", reinterpreted in a talking-blues style and much more mature and edgy compared to the studio version; and if it's no surprise that an arena anthem like "If It Makes You Happy" gets a perfect rendition, with its guitar framework almost urging the listener to join SC in singing that memorable chorus at the top of their lungs, a stunning and self-deprecating "Leaving Las Vegas" is surprisingly positive, delivered lightly, like a soft, almost spoken lullaby with a gently intoxicating aftertaste, bringing a smile and a pleasant sense of fulfillment, almost of inner peace.

Of course, manifestos like the sweet "Strong Enough", here supported by the Dixie Chicks' backing vocals, which immediately captivates with its straightforward and fresh simplicity, and "My Favorite Mistake", in my opinion, one of the most elegantly sexy and provocative songs of all time both musically and lyrically, can't be missed; it's accompanied by two lesser-known gems like "It Don't Hurt" and "The Difficult Kind", masterfully duetted with Sarah McLachlan, both from "The Globe Sessions," the most difficult album of Sheryl Crow's entire career; probably I would have preferred a live album that was solely and exclusively SC, perhaps including little masterpieces like "Solidify", "The Na-Na Song", "Oh Marie", and "Free Man", just to name a few; conceived under the "Sheryl Crow and Friends" formula, this album perhaps loses a bit of uniqueness, but should be interpreted with a specific perspective; namely as a demonstration of strength by an artist at the peak of her career, who with a grand show filled with illustrious guest appearances wants to prove that it's still possible to create great music, real music, and reach a large audience (unfortunately never large enough, especially in the old continent of Katy Perry and Amy Winehouse), this is my personal interpretation, but upon closer inspection, it would be typical of Sheryl Crow's style, a style that since I've had the chance to know, I have never stopped loving and appreciating, for which at least for today, neither Whiskey nor Cointreau, I am drunk on Sheryl Crow.