Sheryl Crow's debut as a solo artist, "Tuesday Night Music Club", was released on A&M in 1993. This is probably one of the best albums I own, one of those 'everyone should have it' sort of deals, at least in my opinion. The often quite potent lyrics placed over crazy but pop-rockishly dreamy music is a sweet combination. I recall spending many an evening listening to my tape (I never did get it on compact disc) and singing along, I've a lot of memories to go along with nearly every track. I don't know why, but I'd rather listen to the worn out tape with its less than perfect sound quality than I would anything else.. I think because it seems to fit the entire mood. "Tuesday Night Music Club" is a compilation of songs written and composed by a group, including/featuring Sheryl Crow, that would get together every Tuesday and have jam sessions. I don't think the original idea was to make an album, but it happened, and the product was one of the best collections of music that came from the early 1990's.
Track Listing (Note: interpretations are mine alone, and for that reason, might be inaccurate/different from others.):
1. Run, Baby, Run: A nice solid opening track, though I really didn't listen to it first, since I really only liked "All I Wanna Do" when I got the album in the first place. This track grew on me quite nicely.. it makes mention of Aldous Huxley's death, and is basically about a girl who really doesn't want to face any of the crap in her life, but doesn't really care that she has to run from it rather than deal with it. She finds comfort in the unfamiliar more so than the familiar.. dreamy, I can identify with that.
2. Leaving Las Vegas: I'm pretty sure this got a decent amount of air time, as it was released as a single and is one of the better tracks. It's about, well, leaving Las Vegas, if you'd believe it. It's sort of a realization song, what she needs isn't there anymore, so she's off to find it elsewhere.. "No joker, no jack, no king, can take this loser hand and make it win, so I'm leavin' Las Vegas". I guess it's also about the fact that the men she meets in Las Vegas aren't cutting it.. then, it also hints that she'd rather stay if it weren't for the fact that "there's a muddy line between the things you want, and the things you have to do".
3. Strong Enough: The "I'm so fucked up, I don't know how you could even possibly think you're ready to handle loving me", track. It's almost as if the person in the song, whoever that might be, is daring the man to even try and love her. It's also obvious she wants someone to try, but isn't sure they could deal with it if they did. I really like it. She still sings this one all the time, I think she did it with Stevie Nicks once, too.
4. Can't Cry Anymore: This is a good break-up/sick of life in general song, I think, at least in some situations. She takes off in his car because she's tired of the crap he puts her through and knows it isn't going to last anyway. "Since I left, I'm feeling better, 'cause that's what you get when you stay together too long". She wants it to be as easy as hopping on a plane and leaving her problems behind, but knows that just isn't how life works. (It isn't? Damn.) The lyrics are pretty simple, the music is catchy, vocals are nice.. good song.
5. Solidify: I guess it's okay, but I really get tired of it pretty easily. The music is sort of annoying in a way, the lyrics are good though.. it seems really unpolished, or something like that. It's really quirky/poppy, and overall not that bad, but I usually forward past it when I'm listening to the album.
6. Na-Na Song: Same thing as with "Solidify", in that I generally keep fastforwarding past this one too. It's a decent song, good rhythm, ballad about random stupid shit that goes on in the world backed with a catchy chorus. Just don't like it that much, for some reason.. but it's still good.
7. No One Said It Would Be Easy: This one's about a couple who people obviously didn't have much faith in, as far as staying together and supporting themselves. "No one said it would be easy.. but no one thought we'd come this far." This is a slow, aching song.. probably close to my favourite track, but not quite.. I always prefer Crow's quiet, slow songs.. her voice is really pretty and sweet in this song.
8. What I Can Do For You: Not a bad song, not a really great one either. The vocals kind of bother me, as do the lyrics.. but that's just me, and probably wouldn't be the same for most people. I just realized I'm making this album seem pretty mediocre.. he-he.
9. All I Wanna Do: "... is have some fun." It's a fun track, pop'y, upbeat and the one on this album that got the most exposure/attention.
10. We Do What We Can: This is the token "laying on a piano singing whilst some guy plays saxophone" song. It's dreamy, quite good.. if you're in the mood for that sort of thing.
11. I Shall Believe: This is a really nice track, very slow and beautiful.. I noded the lyrics, but you have to listen to the song to get the full effect.
So anyway, it really is a good album even though I made it seem like it floats in mediocrity. I think it's her best album, though her self-titled is more polished and has more of her in it than this one does, as this is more of a collective effort. It covers a lot of different musical ground, though.. rock ballad'y right down to the classy piano type stuff, this is admirable. In short, it's good stuff. |
