Sheryl Crow reviewed
Sheryl Crow
Detours
(A&M)
A number of Sheryl Crows are at work on Detours, though they don’t all get along.
Half of the album was fully expected: Since 2005’s Wildflower she has beaten cancer and broke up with super-bicyclist Lance Armstrong. “Now That You’re Gone,” “Drunk With The Thought Of You,” and “Diamond Ring” all deal with the split, and the title track is stricken by a fear presumably brought on by disease. Her bitterness, sarcasm, vulnerabilities, and regrets are all on display and, for the most part, she’s comfortable and convincing on her return to the smalltown earthiness she wears well.
On the other hand — and she has an activist history, so it’s not a total surprise — her evolution into left-leaning social consciousness grates on the other half of Detours: “Out Of Our Heads” chances early dismissal as a celebrity harping on societal excess; the snarky “Gasoline” manipulatively dresses up as “All I Wanna Do” while taking lightweight potshots at government; and “Shine Over Babylon” is a plodding world-decay anthem with all the insight of a 9th-grade term paper. We’re clearly expected to accept Crow in her new guise without holding her to standards.
The most memorable songs are “Love Is Free” and “Peace Be Upon Us,” light-and-airy crowdpleasers that should eventually rank among “Soak Up The Sun” and “Everyday Is A Winding Road” in her canon of catchy-as-hell guilty pleasures. It’s a Sheryl Crow we’ve come to expect and the personality to which she brings the most energy. There’s no denying her depth and passion; unfortunately *Detours* has its dead ends.
— Steve Forstneger
