Sheryl Crow - Detours

[sara1998]

Anyone else buy it?

I'm not too sure about all of it, but I know I do like Shine on Babylon, Love is Free, and Motivation.

Any thoughts?

[DrummerDeanna]

This is the first time in my Sheryl Crow fandom that I have not gone right out and bought the album and listened to it the first day.

I have it - but after hearing several glowing reviews (sarcasm) I am just not in a hurry to hear it.

[vivfox]

I thought her last album was awful and I bought it the day it was released. Let her prove herself on the radio first with a few hits and then I'll consider spending my money. I loved the C'mon C'mon album and the one before that.

[BombaySapphire3]

I bought it today and judging from one spin so far it is easily her best since "The Globe Sessions" The critical reviews are mostly great with Rolling Stone giving it 3 and a half stars and Entertainment Weekly an A..it is much more consistently strong then her last 2 with C'Mon C'Mon ranking as her weakest and most uneven but even it has it 's moments..Sheryl is a very talented girl.

[BombaySapphire3]

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Nothing puts life in perspective like a brush with death and that truism is brought into blazing relief on Sheryl Crow's sixth album, Detours. Sheryl Crow survived a battle with breast cancer in February 2006. Around that same time, she separated from fiancée Lance Armstrong and, roughly a year later, she adopted a son. That's a decade's worth of life packed into two years, but these highs and lows - or Detours as she calls them - have lead Crow to produce her liveliest, weirdest album since 1996's messy masterpiece Sheryl Crow. On that record, Crow shook up her success by undercutting the retro-rock of Tuesday Night Music Club with loping looped beats and a skewed lyricism that kept even bright tunes like "A Change Will Do You Good" slightly off-kilter, but ever since that album her records grew increasingly mannered, as she whittled away her eccentricities. All those eccentricities return on Detours, partially due to that tidal wave of life events, but also to the revival of her relationship with producer Bill Bottrell, the man who helmed Tuesday Night Music Club. Bottrell and Crow had an acrimonious split during the making of the second album - several of their collaborations did make that record, including "Maybe Angels" and "Hard To Make A Stand" - and while Sheryl sustained her stardom, no producer let her be as loose or revealing as Bottrell, as he helped give her pop tunes odd, distinguishing touches and kept her ballads spare and haunting. These gifts are put into sharp relief on Detours - perhaps a shade too sharp, actually, as the album is divided into a half of careening protest-pop and a half of moody introspection, which may further appreciation of how Bottrell captures Crow's distinct moods, but doesn't quite give this album the classicist flow of her first records. Even if the album slows down a bit too much on its second stretch - the one containing unadorned confessionals of broken engagements ("Diamond Ring"), cancer ("Make it Go Away (Radiation Song)") and adoption ("Lullaby for Wyatt") - the individual moments all work according to their own merits, while that first half contains Crow's most compelling music in years. Much of this is explicitly political - references to war, petroleum and New Orleans all run rampant - but compared to her sometimes didactic public speeches, her socially-conscious writing is surprising, filled with odd juxtapositions and sly jokes. That sense of humor alone is a relief, but its married to music that's restless, encompassing the worldbeat textures of "Peace Be Upon Us" (featuring Ahmed Al Himi on backing vocals), the lopsided shuffle of "Love is Free" and the sultry '70s Stones swagger of "Gasoline." Crow hasn't been this free or fine since Sheryl Crow, but there is an emotional directness on Detours that makes this a progression, not a retreat…and, with any luck, this album isn't a one-time journey down a side road but rather the touchstone for the next act in her career.
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from having heard the album this one from allmusicguide is pretty accurate and balanced

[sara1998]

I bought it today and judging from one spin so far it is easily her best since "The Globe Sessions" The critical reviews are mostly great with Rolling Stone giving it 3 and a half stars and Entertainment Weekly an A..it is much more consistently strong then her last 2 with C'Mon C'Mon ranking as her weakest and most uneven but even it has it 's moments..Sheryl is a very talented girl.

I agree. IMO, The Globe Sessions was without any doubt her best, and it's been downhill since. I'm still a big Crow fan, but C'mon C'mon had a couple worth listening to and the rest was crap, and Wildflower was the same. I hope this new one grows on me more. I already like a few real well, so we'll see where the rest of the album takes me.

[mylittledemon]

Anyone else buy it?

I'm not too sure about all of it, but I know I do like Shine on Babylon, Love is Free, and Motivation.

Any thoughts?

i have not heard it...my brother bought it and said it was a "return to form" for her. Whatever that means.

[vivfox]

i have not heard it...my brother bought it and said it was a "return to form" for her. Whatever that means.

It's the same as saying the Mirage album was a return to form for Fleetwood Mac(after the Tusk debacle).

[rbs3676]

I'm a Sheryl Crow fan, have all the CDs but the last one really sucked. Like the majority of Ledgies who posted, The Globe Sessions is hands down my favorite release of hers.
I'll buy the CD this weekend and listen to it while I drive up to Austin...

rbs

[sara1998]

I'm a Sheryl Crow fan, have all the CDs but the last one really sucked. Like the majority of Ledgies who posted, The Globe Sessions is hands down my favorite release of hers.
I'll buy the CD this weekend and listen to it while I drive up to Austin...

rbs

It's starting to grow on me. I can't stand Diamond Ring though.

[eric51078]

I just can't get into it :(

[Lee]

The only CD that I have of Sheryl Crow is her Best of. I went out yesterday & picked up Detours @ K-Mart (the last one they had I might add). I haven't gotten all the way through it yet (I'm about halfway through.) & so far, I like it. I, too, read the reviews before deciding to buy CDs. I read Rolling Stone's & USA Today's & both gave it good reviews. I can't say that I have a favorite yet because I haven't listened to the whole thing yet, but Love is Free is good & I did see the video for this.

Lee :)

[Standback383]

I can't find the damn CD at the stores around here! On Tuesday Circuit City, Target, Borders, etc. didn't have a single copy; I'm hoping after work today I'll be able to hit up some of the smaller record stores and pray they have the CD!

[Standback383]

I'm a Sheryl Crow fan, have all the CDs but the last one really sucked. Like the majority of Ledgies who posted, The Globe Sessions is hands down my favorite release of hers.
I'll buy the CD this weekend and listen to it while I drive up to Austin...

rbs



Yes, the last CD definitely sucked -- I've only listened to the whole record once. The Globe Sessions is amazing, but what about TNMC? I love her first CD....I never get sick of hearing those songs. I did, however, listen to "Gasoline" on Youtube yesterday...and it's.....interesting.....but kind of funky and fun. "Love is Free" is definitely the kind of upbeat song you want to blast while you drive around with the windows rolled down during the summer time on your way to the beach (or, at least, that's what I would do :) ).........

[JazmenFlowers]

I just can't get into it :(
me either.

there are several Sheryl songs I really like, but I just can't hop on the "look at me, I'm a real artist" bandwagon she likes to steer.

[HejiraNYC]

I picked it up on a whim yesterday at Costco- it was only $10.99. Still haven't opened it. I'm not exactly excited, even though I used to be a huge Sheryl Crow fan. For me, I think Sheryl "jumped the shark" when she released the best-of collection and did that cornball duet with Kid Rock. And those other new tracks on that collection were just so shamelessly commercial... And when Wildfire was such a huge disappointment, I just kinda gave up on her.

Anyway, I am encouraged by some of the reviews that I've read about the new album, so I am hoping that I can get some of that old Sheryl love back. So far I've only heard "Shine Over Babylon" on the radio, which, at first, I thought was some new singer/songwriter "chick" artist (e.g., Amanda Marshall) doing a dead-on Sheryl impersonation. :p I guess I wasn't expecting a new Sheryl song that sounded like the old Sheryl.

[highwaywomen]

I'm in the middle of writing a review of Detours for my local newspaper, and I felt the need to respond. I have been a fan of Sheryl for 15 years, and even had the opportunity of meeting her once a few years ago. On Detours, Sheryl is going back to her roots. Her themes throughout the album of love, peace, hope, and freedom are an awakening for her. Her fearlessness and raw emotion shine brightly through every track. She makes seamless transitions between tracks on subjects such as the war, global warming, love lost, love found, and cancer.

I highly recommend giving it a listen. For once, the critics are dead-on. This is her best album since 1998's The Globe Sessions, quite possibly the best of her career.

I look forward to hearing these tracks live this summer when I see her on tour. I can't wait!

Jackie

[Nico]

I'm really not a huge fan of hers, but I thought I'd give her a go. I really like the album! Especially love the first 6 songs! Very fun, great lyrics, and I'm ready to hear it again.

[louielouie2000]

I too am a big Sheryl fan... have all her albums. But I haven't bought "Detours" yet. I was going to buy it the day it came out, but then I heard "Shine Over Babylon," and it turned me off. I've heard some of the other tracks from "Detours" here and there, and I honestly can't say I care for any of them. I'm sure I'll still go pick it up at some point, but for me she can't top what she's already released (most notably her self titled album and The Globe Sessions).

I don't get people's criticism of "Wildflower"... that's one of my favorite albums of all time. It's the 'going back to simple roots' album she needed so badly after "C'mon C'mon," with it's over production and superstar guest on every track. "C'mon C'mon" was just over the top, too commercial, and felt empty to me. "Wildflower" really seems to have come from the heart IMO, like it's the album she did HER way for HERSELF. It's such a great mood album... my favorite album to listen to while I'm driving through the mountains in the fall with the top down on my convertible :thumbsup: .

[tuigirl]

she's in the uk at the moment promoting the CD (was on "this morning" yesterday actually).looked great..but when does she never!!! and spoke at length about her breast cancer and Wyatt...really interesting. I see she's also due to play here in June at the "Rock Calling" concerts in Hyde park along with Eric clapton and co....would love to go...