谢里尔·克罗 (1996)

Sheryl Crow is the second studio album by American singer and songwriter Sheryl Crow, released on September 24, 1996, by A&M Records. Unlike its predecessor Tuesday Night Music Club, which was written by a casual collective formed by Crow and several other musicians, Sheryl Crow was entirely produced by Crow, who wrote most of the songs alone or with only two collaborators. Recorded largely at Kingsway Studios in New Orleans, Louisiana, the album covers topics of American life, relationship breakups, and moral and ethical issues, while encompassing a variety of music genres such as rock, blues, alternative rock, country, and folk.

Sheryl Crow was a commercial success, receiving triple platinum certification by both the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). It reached number six on the Billboard 200 and produced five singles, including the international hit "If It Makes You Happy". The album received acclaim from critics, who praised its intricate production and Crow's louder and more assured performance. At the 39th Annual Grammy Awards, the album won Best Rock Album and Crow won Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for the aforementioned single. Retrospectively, it is often regarded as Crow's best album.

Background and recording

Sheryl Crow is the follow-up to Sheryl Crow's 1993 album Tuesday Night Music Club, which was written by a group of musicians known as the "Tuesday Music Club". The group existed as a casual collective formed by Crow and musicians Bill Bottrell, David Baerwald, Kevin Gilbert, Brian MacLeod, David Ricketts, and Dan Schwartz. The album was a commercial success and produced several hit singles, including "All I Wanna Do", "Strong Enough", and "Leaving Las Vegas". It was certified 7× Platinum in the United States and 2× Platinum in the United Kingdom. Crow was also awarded Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and Record of the Year at the 37th Annual Grammy Awards.

Tensions between Crow and other members of the group began to arise following Crow's performance of "Leaving Las Vegas" on the Late Show with David Letterman in March 1994. Crow offhandedly agreed with the host when she was asked if the track was autobiographical, even though it was primarily written by Baerwald and based on the book of the same name by his friend John O'Brien. As a result, several members of the Tuesday Music Club group felt betrayed, and O'Brien himself committed suicide three weeks later. Nevertheless, O'Brien's parents insisted that Crow had nothing to do with the tragedy, noting that he "was just mad about it [...] But the problems that drove him toward the end were – you know, that's a long, long bloody trip."

After Tuesday Night Music Club, Crow wanted to prove her authority as a musician. According to her, "My only objective on this record was to get under people's skin, because I was feeling like I had so much shit to hurl at the tape." Work on the new album began at Toad Hall in Pasadena, California, the same studio where Tuesday Night Music Club was recorded, but sessions were then relocated to New Orleans, Louisiana because Crow "was feeling ghosts in that room". Bottrell was designated to produce the record and co-wrote three songs that would appear on the album, but eventually left because he could not sort out his differences with Crow. As a result, Crow took over production duties and wrote most of the songs alone or with only one collaborator. She also played most of the instruments on the album, including bass and guitar work and nearly all the keyboard parts. Most of the album was recorded at Kingsway Studios in New Orleans, although Crow would later return to Los Angeles to complete work at The Sound Factory and Sunset Sound. Audio mastering took place at Gateway Mastering Studios in Portland, Maine.

Music and lyrics

Musically, Sheryl Crow was described as a combination of rock, blues, alternative rock, country, folk, and light hip hop loops. Unlike its predecessor, it also features a more off-balance production and a richer instrumentation, with "lots of fuzz, wurlitzer, hammond, moog. Nothing extreme, perhaps, but almost psychedelic when joined to big mainstream melodies", one critic explained. The album covers topics of American life, relationship breakups, and moral and ethical issues, among others. For example, "Home" is a folk ballad where Crow recounts the emotional difficulties of a deteriorating relationship, while "Superstar" deals with a woman fantasizing about stardom. The song "A Change Would Do You Good", which features hand claps and organ licks, is about the need to escape a constricted life.