Black Crowes
Three Snakes And One Charm

THE REVIEW

"Three Snakes and One Charm" is the least fortunate and appreciated work among the nine published so far by this otherwise fantastic band from Atlanta, Georgia, dedicated, for those who don't know, to a late yet creative southern rock, full of all the moods that have made the genre great: country, rhythm and blues, British blues, rock 'n' roll, Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin, 60s psychedelia, and who knows what else.

The mid-90s proved to be quite turbulent for the Black Crowes, a contentious and moody band. The two Robinson brothers (the very hippy singer Chris and the solid rhythm guitarist Rich) were at each other's throats over everything... they couldn't find a lead guitarist that met their expectations, resulting in entering the studio, preparing an album, and then deciding not to release it, unsatisfied with its outcome. It was difficult to stay on course and continue their career under these conditions; their issues would eventually catch up with them... however, later, after the 2000s, with the dissolution (fortunately later resolved) of their partnership. Meanwhile, the band managed to release this sufficiently varied and intense work deserving of an honorable mention, though not quite a solemn commendation.

Placed in the band's discography between the very different, but both successful works "Amorica" (1994, experimental and adventurous) and "By Your Side" (1999, a true lava flow of hard rock blues in a Rolling Stones style that the Stones themselves never have, and never will, be able to play), this fourth work dating back to 1996 has in store good, varied and entertaining songs.

The album starts with a couple of tracks with a very Stones-like flavor, the best of which is the second, "Good Friday," full of tension thanks to the solemn blues harmonica (blown and drawn by the frontman Chris), tension that then dissipates in the subsequent raucous Jagger-style chorus.

The following track "Nebakanezer" (who? A king of Babylon, apparently) is hard and edgy, with Rich Robinson's typical moderately distorted but terribly aggressive guitar, a sound achieved by saturating the power tubes of the amp while keeping the preamp tubes calm... all, of course, necessarily pounding the strings like blacksmiths.

"One Mirror Too Many" is rather limp... in my opinion, it should have been resolved with a much faster tempo. It's one of those somewhat contemplative and psychedelic episodes the Crowes (or rather their singer) often indulge in. This laziness from cannabis smokers, let's say, would be completely swept away on their next album "By Your Side", lively and adrenaline-fueled, only to return in their more recent works.

The following single "Blackberry" is very effective: continuous stops and stop&go of the instruments, quirky string plucks, full and empty sounds on which Robinson's penetrating, drawling, invaluable blues voice operates, one of the best singers the USA has given to the rock cause.

"Girl From A Pawnshop" is the first ballad, country and languid in the verses, blues and heated in the choruses, retro as it's supposed to be and reminiscent of a thousand other American tunes from forty or fifty years ago. The more than sincere approach and passion make it appreciated, but "Halfway to Anywhere" is much better, with a very Crowes-like descending harmonic progression, also heard in the previous work "Amorica". The Crowes excel in these mid-tempos saturated with electricity and intensity.

In "Bring On, Bring On" the vocalist delivers the usual "a'la Rod Stewart" performance, better than the original, while "How Much For Your Wings?" takes pleasure in that weighty acoustic form invented by Led Zeppelin, reinforcing this inspiration with the use of tight chords in the Eastern style, characteristic of several masterpieces from the Zeppelin.

The white album of the Crowes then moves forward with an upbeat mid-tempo titled "Let Me Share The Tide", followed by one last semi-acoustic ballad "Better When You're Not Alone" and ending with the reckless "Evil Eye," a mix of 60s-style Byrds resonances, Zappa-like intricate harmonies, a hammering guitar, and the other (lead guitarist Marc Ford) as smoky and psychedelic as it can get.