Tuesday Night Music Club - Sheryl Crow

...Crow used to spend every Tuesday night having jamming sessions with - these same musicians collaborated with her on this album, co-writing, co-producing and accompanying her on the songs contained within. I think this is why the album embodies so many different styles of music within the more generalised rock genre - as she has had not only her own influences, but also the influences of so many others to help her create her own sound.

...admit, I didn't think she did initially (shame on me!) but it definitely grows on you. It has no particular SWEETNESS to it but it is both husky and melodic and she sounds far more REAL than a lot of the manufactured artists out there - which makes sense, since she isn't one of them. Her voice is also a great way for her to convey her emotions, as she shows to greatest effect with her defeated but determined tone on "Leaving Las Vegas" ... more

Even though it was over a decade ago now, I still vividly remember getting my first cd player back when I was 13. For ages, I didn't actually have any cds of my own to listen to so I would borrow ones from my dad - usually ones he had bought from Poundstretchers for about two quid. In other words, mostly junk which I didn't even want to listen to, but I was totally bewitched by the way I could skip between songs so quickly and precisely that I barely cared. Sad kid, wasn't I? Anyway, I eventually began to amass a couple of my own cds, and one of the first albums I bought was Sheryl Crow's debut "Tuesday Night Music Club".

I bought it initially due to the fact I liked the first single release "All I Wanna Do" but also I found Ms Crow kind of cool - I always thought girl singers with guitars were a bit more unique and back then, there weren't a lot of them around. I found that I was hooked on the album within a few listens and, a good eleven or so years on, I STILL love the album. It hasn't really dated at all - it's still cool, clever and full of excellent songs!

TRACK LISTING
1. Run, Baby, Run
2. Leaving Las Vegas
3. Strong Enough
4. Can't Cry Anymore
5. Solidify
6. Na-Na Song
7. No One Said It Would Be Easy
8. What I Can Do for You
9. All I Wanna Do
10. We Do What We Can
11. I Shall Believe

The album kicks off with "Run Baby Run" which is a track which had to grow on me initially, quite a downtempo rock song which is dominated by Crow's voice. "Leaving Las Vegas" has a similar vibe to this, only even more downtrodden sounding as she sings of having to get out of a destructive relationship with Vegas itself and the downward spiral she has found herself in. It is generally a depressing tune but there's a streak of determination and hope running through it which definitely makes it worth a listen.

Next up is a song which fits into my top ten favourite songs of all time, the slightly "country"-fied (in my view!) "Strong Enough" - this is a deceptively simple tune built around a bass type hook, with hauntingly honest lyrics, as Crow lays herself bare and asks if her man is strong enough to be there for her. It is undoubtedly the best song on the album and the most beautiful.

In contrast "Can't Cry Anymore" is far more upbeat than any of its predecessors - it possesses strong survivor-style lyrics, the strong guitar intro catches your attention from the start and the tune is overwhelmingly infectious, making you want to learn the words as fast as possible so you can sing along (or maybe that's just me - I realise not everyone LIKES to drown out the singer with their own voice, but that's just my way I'm afraid!). Another tune to follow this upbeat trend is "What I Can Do For You" - it's a bit darker and cynical in tone, yet has to me a certain "slinkiness" about it. This leads into "All I Wanna Do" (which is actually one of the songs I listen to LEAST on the album - think i made myself sick of it by listening to much to it in the beginning!) - catchy and bouncy, it has a very summery feel to it. I've heard people compare it to "Stuck In The Middle With You" and I certainly can understand why they find this to be the case. The music does sound fairly similar, as does the almost conversational style of singing Sheryl uses in the song.

"Noone Said It Would Be Easy" and closing track "I Shall Believe" return to the slowed down form Crow opened the album with, but both songs are exquisite. The former has a slight country edge to it and fairly sparse music in the background, the latter sounds slightly more ethereal than anything else on the album - although it contains still contains guitars like the other songs, it has a dreamier, lighter sound to it which makes it all the more appealing and, as a result, it is another favourite track of mine.

The weaker songs on the album are "Solidify", which I have never quite been able to bring myself to like completely as it sounds half-finished to me, and "The Na Na Song" which is basically a half-rapped stream-of-consciousness gone wrong - I'm a pretty random person myself but don't really like it in my music! "We Do What We Can", seemingly a tribute to jazz music and musicians based on the style, intially sounds dull but suddenly gains life midway through - so, despite the slow start, it's still an immensely cool song when you listen to it all the way through.

The name of the album "Tuesday Night Music Club" refers to the group of musicians Crow used to spend every Tuesday night having jamming sessions with - these same musicians collaborated with her on this album, co-writing, co-producing and accompanying her on the songs contained within. I think this is why the album embodies so many different styles of music within the more generalised rock genre - as she has had not only her own influences, but also the influences of so many others to help her create her own sound.

Crow has a great voice - I have to admit, I didn't think she did initially (shame on me!) but it definitely grows on you. It has no particular SWEETNESS to it but it is both husky and melodic and she sounds far more REAL than a lot of the manufactured artists out there - which makes sense, since she isn't one of them. Her voice is also a great way for her to convey her emotions, as she shows to greatest effect with her defeated but determined tone on "Leaving Las Vegas" or the false bravado behind "Strong Enough".

This is the only Sheryl Crow album that I own, but I think that her work here is superior to the majority of the singles she has released ever since. I considered buying her greatest hits album when it came out a few years ago but it seemed to me that I actually had half the songs on this album already so what was the point? While there are a few weaker tracks on the album, there are no BAD songs, which is fairly impressive for ANY album, let alone a debut. I would thoroughly recommend "Tuesday Night Music Club" - if you've got her later albums, then I have little doubt you will find that this album is just as good, but probably you'll like this one much more!

SHERYL CROW - "TUESDAY NIGHT MUSIC CLUB":
£9.99 from play.com
£7.99 from cd jungle
£6.99 from cd wow
PLUS available from £1.00 on ebay 

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