Upon release, The Black Crowes’ sixth studio album ‘Lions’ was met with reviews that were significantly less positive than the ones its predecessors received. Being fifteen years old and not having a lot to spend, I ignored it at the time, thinking there had been an unwelcome stylistic shift. Years later, I did eventually pick it up and was surprised how good the songs were. Sure, the songwriting is not quite as tight as on some of the Crowes’ even better albums. ‘Lions’ sounds more like a live performance of the band would sound, only with new material that is better than it often gets credit for.

In a way, ‘Lions’ is the result of the freedom The Black Crowes experienced after changing record labels. It sounds less like someone was trying to squeeze another ‘Shake Your Money Maker’ out of the band and more like they were letting the album be what it wanted to be. There are pros and cons to this approach. On the one hand, the band’s strongest suit in my opinion is Rich Robinson’s songwriting, which tends to get pushed to the background a bit here. However, the grooves on ‘Lions’ are irresistible and the loose playing has an infectious amount of musical joy to it.

That does not mean there aren’t any well-written songs on ‘Lions’. In fact, the best moments on the album could be described as such. The understaded ‘Miracle To Me’ is one of my favorite ballads the band ever recorded and the americana turning into jubilant sixties soul of ‘Soul Singing’ is catchy as any single the band ever released. The filthy riff on the funky ‘Lickin” is one of the best pieces of songwriting on the album and the raucous, almost Stonesy ‘Come On’ is one of the hardest rockers The Black Crowes have released to date.

Some songs really benefit from being allowed to breathe a little more than on the likes of ‘Shake Your Money Maker’ and ‘By Your Side’ though. Any producer that would have attempted to tighten up the fantastic opening track ‘Midnight From The Inside Out’ would have killed the hazy, yet powerful atmosphere of the track. And the dark, slinky grooves of the soulful ‘Ozone Mama’ would probably have been shot down as not being “Black Crowes” enough by any producer that isn’t Don Was. It is a good thing that this has not happened, as it is one of the greatest songs on the album.

You won’t hear me say that ‘Lions’ is a perfect album. ‘Cosmic Friend’ is weighed down by its powerless chorus and the track sequencing could have been improved to not have so many americana tracks near the end. Anyone who enjoys The Black Crowes as a live band should be able to find something to enjoy on ‘Lions’ though. A bigger focus on Rich Robinson’s songwriting is definitely what I personally prefer to hear, but The Black Crowes have never again found a middle ground between that and their concerts as well as they did on ‘Lions’.

Recommended tracks: ‘Midnight From The Inside Out’, ‘Ozone Mama’, ‘Lickin”