The Black Crowes All Summed Up

[Zzzptm]

As of this writing in 2026, The Black Crowes have 10 albums of original material.

I listened to all their stuff so you wouldn't have to.

TOP FIVE:
Shake Your Moneymaker (1990)
The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion (1992)
By Your Side (1999)
Happiness Bastards (2024)
A Pound of Feathers (2026)

All five of these are great killer-no-filler albums. I haven't ranked them in 1-5 order, but present them as a block representing their best work. All five of these have butt-kicking rockers, a few well-done ballads, and some more good rockers. Good range of genres in them, and the band is performing to its strengths on these five. All of them made me wanna sing along on a track or three or more.

BOTTOM FIVE:
Amorica (1994)
Three Snakes and One Charm (1996)
Lions (2001)
Warpaint (2008)
Before the Frost... Until the Freeze (2009)

Honorable inclusion here is their EP of all covers, 1972, released in 2022 when the band got back together. Of these, 1972 isn't all that bad, but it's still a tentative feeling in the band that comes through in the recording. It could have been better if they were more sure about their working relationship.

Warpaint and Amorica have some good tunes that make me want to revisit them. Lions was all right. Three Snakes and One Charm kinda played through without anything remarkable happening. I just listened to Before the Frost right now and it's all over the place, mixing in semi-acoustic Grateful Dead-sounding tunes with funk and disco and I'm like... huh??? The confusion deepens when they do a Dead-style jam in the middle of a funk tune so... yeah... points for many styles blended together, but deductions for doing them in straaaaaaaaange ways. But I'd prefer this to Three Snakes or Lions.

So if you want to get into the Crowes, get their first two and their last two and add in By Your Side. You'll have five strong albums that will satisfy.

The other five aren't terrible or anything like that. It's just how math works to have 10 albums split into the top half being stronger than the bottom half. Of the botto five, I'd say Warpaint and Amorica are worth a further listen or two. Lions is still pretty decent, all things considered. Before the Frost could be cut from 20 songs to maybe 10, I'm guessing. Maybe 8. Or 6. This is one strange, rambling album that's like two different musical trains collided and the rock and roll got thoroughly mixed in with the folk music. Three Snakes just didn't do it at all for me.

All albums are up on the YouTube, should you want to try before you buy. (Or just listen to and pass on that purchase...)

I'm going back to By Your Side right now because that opening track "Go Faster" is a real great rocker and I want to do a deeper dive into how the top 5 stack up.

[Thelemech]

Check out the album with Jimmy Page
Live At the Creek

[Zzzptm]

Check out the album with Jimmy Page
Live At the Creek

That's my plan after I sort out the studio LP rankings.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I do own $hake Your Moneymaker... but if my memory serves the disc is faulty and doesn't play. I think I bought because I liked the song Hard to Handle off of it.

[Zzzptm]

OK, here's my ranking of their 10 studio albums:

1. Shake Your Moneymaker - 1990 release, excellent work, great intro to the band. Sharp playing all around.
2. Happiness Bastards - 2024 release, every bit as good as the first album, I just deferred to SYM because it was done first.
3. A Pound of Feathers - 2026 release, a real banger of an album. Close third to what's in front of it.
4. By Your Side - 1999 release, it's a return to form after some wandering around musically, and it's quite strong.
5. The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion - 1992 release, there are some who consider this the Crowe's finest, and I won't argue with them. But it lacks the intensity of the other top five albums, in my opinion. This is when the band started to ramble and experiment and go down the Grateful Dead road, which isn't where they're strongest. Hard rocking is what the Crowes do best, and that's what's got the top four where they are.

6. Amorica - 1994 release and that erosion of their core sound is in greater evidence here. It's still a great album, in spite of a reduced hard rock edge.
7. Warpaint - 2008 release... they're still wandering around in the ozone, but remember that they used to be a hard rock band.
8. Lions - 2001 release... this album is OK, but not outstanding.
9. Before the Frost - 2009 release and if you want folk music or bluegrass, this one has got what you're looking for. If you want hard rock, pass.
10. Three Snakes and One Charm - 1996 release and they've lost their steam at this point. Does nothing for their legacy. It's OK, but forgettable.

I'll add that those who put Southern Harmony as their favorite Crowes album also like the more experimental/rambling albums and aren't thrilled when the Crowes get back to basics as they've done in their latest reunion. But to those guys I'll say this: Happiness Bastards got a Grammy nod because the rest of the world thinks it's a damn good album.