Sheryl: Music From The Feature Documentary

グラミー賞9回受賞、全世界アルバム売上枚数3,500万枚以上を誇るシンガー・ソングライター、シェリル・クロウ。米音楽イベントSXSW(サウス・バイ・サウス・ウェスト)でプレミア公開されるドキュメンタリー・フィルムから35曲を2CDに収録。大ヒット曲「イフ・イット・メイクス・ユー・ハッピー」、「ソーク・アップ・ザ・サン」、「オール・アイ・ワナ・ドゥ」などはもちろん、新曲も3曲収録。

This career-spanning soundtrack to the documentary film Sheryl is both a testament to Sheryl Crows staying power and a generous overview of the singer/songwriters range of strengths. Since landing in the mainstream with 1993s good-time smash "All I Wanna Do," Crow has amassed a remarkably consistent catalog chock-a-block with undeniable hooks and tightly crafted songwriting that evokes rocks storied past while connecting squarely with its present. She was already something of a seasoned veteran by the time the spotlight found her -- she toured as a backing vocalist for Michael Jackson, wrote jingles, and logged studio sessions with artists like Don Henley and Stevie Wonder -- and it showed in the music she made which was immediate enough to satisfy the pop charts, but felt lived-in and relatable. Similar to Tom Petty, Crows combination of classic roots rock and modern production touches helped make radio anthems out of songs like "If It Makes You Happy," "Everyday Is a Winding Road," and "Soak Up the Sun." By the mid-2000s, shed won a clutch of Grammy Awards, collaborated with Prince, written a James Bond theme, and established herself as one of rocks perennial mainstays with a platinum-selling greatest-hits album to her credit. As the documentary attests, maintaining a continued sense of relevance -- not to mention a high level of quality -- in the music industry is no easy feat. Through her struggles with fame, sexism, public romances, and cancer, Crows journey plays out in her emotional honesty and depth of craft, beginning with her 90s origins all the way up to Threads, the epic 2019 duets album which featured contributions from Mavis Staples, Sting, Bonnie Raitt, and Keith Richards, among others. Along with grooving set staples like "Leaving Las Vegas" and "My Favorite Mistake" are deeper cuts like the serpentine "Riverwide" and the spectral, bluesy "Crash and Burn." There are also a pair of new songs including the excellent "Forever," an appropriately reflective ballad with a loose, vaguely psychedelic Beatles-ish tint to it. There are already a handful of Crow anthologies on the market, but this soundtrack is easily the most thorough retrospective of her impressive career. ~ Timothy Monger