Lions (album)
Lions | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | May 7, 2001 | |||
Recorded | January–February 2001 at Montana Rehearsal Studios and Theater 99 Recording in New York City | |||
Genre | Southern rock, blues rock, hard rock | |||
Length | 55:09 | |||
Label | V2 | |||
Producer | Don Was | |||
The Black Crowes chronology | ||||
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Singles from Lions | ||||
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Lions is the sixth studio album by American rock band The Black Crowes. It was released in 2001 as their first album on V2 Records following their departure from Columbia, and is their only studio album to feature guitarist Audley Freed. Lions was recorded in New York City in January and February of that year, and was produced by Don Was. Bass guitar duties were shared by Rich Robinson and Was, as Greg Rzab had left the band and was not replaced until the tour that followed the release of the album.
The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at its peak position of 20, selling more than 53,000 copies in its first week. Lions received mixed reviews; although the overall sound of the album generally garnered praise, a frequent complaint was the lack of "memorable" songs. The critics who rated Lions lowest considered it a poor imitation of the band's influences, such as Led Zeppelin.
The band supported Lions with two North American tours (one with Oasis co-headlining), and a short tour of Europe and Japan in between. Soundboard recordings of several concerts were available for download to those who owned the album. Following the tour, the band went on hiatus until 2005.
Background
The Black Crowes began writing songs for the follow-up to their 1999 album
In late 1999, lead vocalist Chris Robinson began a relationship with Kate Hudson, which would influence subtly the lyrics on Lions. The pair met at a Friday night party in Manhattan, which led to a Saturday stroll through Central Park and a Sunday move-in.[3] Their wedding at the Aspen, Colorado, ranch of Kurt Russell and Kate's mother, Goldie Hawn, followed on December 31, 2000.[1]
Before the 2000 tour with Jimmy Page, bassist Sven Pipien was fired after arriving late for a performance and missing the return flight. Rich said it was not enough to warrant termination, but Pipien's defensiveness when confronted about the incident was too much to handle. Greg Rzab and Andy Hess were considered as replacements; the band chose Rzab because he had more touring experience than Hess.[4] Rzab, however, departed before the recording of Lions.
In mid-2000, the band signed with Richard Branson's V2 Records.[5] Rich explained, "The cool thing about V2, the reason that we chose them, is that they told us, 'You guys go make the record you want to make. Then give it to us and we'll sell it.' That's what we needed to hear."[2] The freedom V2 afforded through its hands-off approach influenced not only the music, but the album title as well. According to Chris, "Lions is a symbol that stands for the fierce feeling and freedom that music allows you."[6]
Writing and production
Chris Robinson granted that the experience of playing
Chris claimed Kate Hudson's influence on his lyrics was subtle: "More so than a literal reference to her, it's the vantage point from where I'm writing. It's the reasons that I'm singing and it's the feeling. That is an influence far greater than the literal influence." He did grant, however, that "Soul Singing" and "Miracle to Me" were written with Hudson in mind, and explained that the album's track order roughly follows a path from confusion to clarity that mirrored his own.[1] Producer Don Was said of Chris, "I realized he was taking on something that was significant. He was writing about becoming a man ... There's a lot of old man/young man symbolism that's a self-conversation ... I don't know that anyone has actually chronicled being 33 [years old] as well as this album."[6]
Heated discussions during the writing of Lions were rare, owing to the Robinson brothers' usual method in which Rich writes the music and Chris writes the lyrics.[2] "Soul Singing" was the only song to cause disagreement; "I'd written this part where although the vocals changed the music stayed the same throughout. I thought we should add something or just not finish it, but Chris thought it was already a song, and a good one. So we talked about that one for a while", Rich recalled.[8]
The Black Crowes had previously sent Was demos to interest him in producing By Your Side, but Was believed the demos were good enough to be the album. Columbia Records disagreed with Was' assessment, however, leading to Kevin Shirley's hiring.[4] With complete artistic control under V2 Records, the band was free to hire Was for Lions. Recording took place in January and February 2001 at Montana Rehearsal Studios and Theater 99 Recording in New York City.[9] The recording sessions progressed as smoothly as the writing; only "Come On" caused conflict between the band and Was. Rich acknowledged, "We must have recorded 'Come On' about five times in different ways ... Then [Was] just took it away with him and came back with this different mix", which impressed the band, leading to its inclusion on the album.[8] The band ultimately was satisfied by the recording experience, finding that Was was devoted to helping realize their vision for the album rather than imposing his own.[2]
The sessions were recorded on tape and
A total of 20 songs were recorded during the Lions sessions. Of the seven cut from the album, four were mixed and mastered for potential release; three ("Last Time Again," "Love Is Now" and "Sleepyheads") appeared as
Promotion and release
Soon after the Lions sessions, V2 Records threw a "completion party" at The Bank in New York City, at which The Black Crowes performed four songs from the new album, five songs from their catalog and a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well".[15] The band then played scattered dates in the U.S. and UK, including an appearance on Later... with Jools Holland,[16] ahead of Lions' release. During this sequence of concerts, every song from the album was performed except "Losing My Mind" and "Ozone Mama"; the remaining two would be played on the album-supporting tour.[17][18]
Lions was released on May 7, 2001, in the UK and a day later in the U.S.; it subsequently debuted at its peak position of number 20 on the Billboard 200 chart,[19] and sold over 53,000 copies in its first week.[20] As of January 2002, the album had sold 192,000 copies in the U.S.[21]
Around the album's release, band members made numerous promotional appearances. Chris Robinson guested on
"Lickin'" was the first single from the album; it peaked at number 9 on Billboard's
Critical reception
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 50/100[30] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [31] |
dotmusic | [32] |
Entertainment Weekly | C−[33] |
The Gazette | [34] |
Herald Sun | [35] |
NME | 1/10[36] |
Playlouder | [37] |
Rolling Stone | [38] |
Sonicnet | [39] |
Wall of Sound | 53/100[30] |
Media reviews of Lions were mixed. Numerous writers detected a Led Zeppelin influence (which was praised by some,
Many reviewers praised the sound of Lions but felt the songs were weak.
The lyrics of Lions were another target for the critics. Mark Beaumont of NME stated that the eloquence ends at the "Come awn come awn!/Everyone!" chorus of "Come On",[36] and Stephen Thompson of The A.V. Club bemoaned that "hoary tropes abound".[47]
Concert tours
Shortly after the release of Lions, The Black Crowes and Oasis, with opening band Spacehog, embarked on a co-headlining tour of North American theaters and amphitheaters.[48] The Black Crowes had previously met Liam and Noel Gallagher and hit it off; "... so we called them and asked them if they were interested [in touring together]. And so they were like, 'Yeah, we'd love to!'" said Rich.[4] The Black Crowes performed last each night, and their seventy-five-minute set always included numerous songs from Lions. Members of Oasis typically would join them for an encore cover such as "Lucifer Sam",[49] "Can't You Hear Me Knocking"[50] or "Road Runner".[51]
The Black Crowes followed the tour with one-off dates and festivals across Europe and Japan, including shows opening for Neil Young.[52] Most of these shows, as well as most of the dates with Oasis, were made available by V2 Records as soundboard recordings. With Lions loaded in a CD-ROM drive, one could stream each show, as well as download one live track per week and one show in its entirety.[20]
Following a month-long break, the group returned to the road in late August for their
Track listing
All songs written by Rich and Chris Robinson.
- "Midnight from the Inside Out" – 4:21
- "Lickin'" – 3:42
- "Come On" – 2:58
- "No Use Lying" – 4:57
- "Losing My Mind" – 4:26
- "Ozone Mama" – 3:54
- "Greasy Grass River" – 3:20
- "Soul Singing" – 3:54
- "Miracle to Me" – 4:42
- "Young Man, Old Man" – 4:14
- "Cosmic Friend" – 5:23
- "Cypress Tree" – 3:41
- "Lay It All on Me" – 5:29
- Japanese version
- "Love Is Now" – 4:22
Personnel
|
|
Charts
Chart (2001) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA)[58] | 74 |
Canada Billboard Top Canadian Albums[59] | 20 |
Dutch Albums Chart[60] | 78 |
France Album Chart[61] | 141 |
Germany Album Chart[62] | 66 |
Scottish Albums Chart[63]
|
30 |
Sweden Album Chart[64] | 51 |
UK Albums Chart[65] | 37 |
US Billboard 200[66] | 20 |
US Billboard Top Internet Albums[67] | 8 |
References
- ^ a b c d Goodman, Dean (May 24, 2001). "Black Crowes Singer in a Whole Lotta Love". Reuters.
- ^ a b c d e Thomas, Ernie (2001). "The Black Crowes: At Long Last They Have an Album to "Crow" About!". Midwest Beat. Archived from the original on May 23, 2006. Retrieved July 10, 2008.
- ^ Guzman, Isaac (May 15, 2001). "The Black Crowes Hatch a Lovebird". Daily News. pp. Now 36.
- ^ a b c d e Cohen, Jonathan (May 16, 2001). "Roaring Like Lions: Rich". Nude as the News. Archived from the original on January 20, 2003. Retrieved June 2, 2008.
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- ^ a b Devenish, Colin (May 30, 2001). "Chris Robinson, Don Was talk of the Black Crowes' 'Lions'". liveDaily. Archived from the original on October 4, 2003. Retrieved January 24, 2011.
- ^ a b Cohen, Jonathan (May 10, 2001). "Roaring Like Lions: Chris". Nude as the News. Archived from the original on March 13, 2003. Retrieved June 2, 2008.
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External links