Sheryl Crow, Threads Album Review
Threads is the last album of Sheryl Crow‘s illustrious career. And over 17 tracks, the nine-time Grammy winner shows us that she’s still amazing and there’s a good reason we’ve been waiting for this record to be released.
26 years after the release of her debut album (the 7-times RIAA Platinum) Tuesday Night Music Club, Sheryl Crow has evolved and embraced new opportunities and sounds on Threads. The duets on this record range from legends to cool kid favourites, with 25 artists credited alongside Crow. It’s an impressive list in size, talent, and accomplishments, and it’s equally impressive having the Missouri native act as a bridge between the legends and the new era of artists.
Note: It is very important to note that Threads is not the end of Sheryl Crow’s recording career. The future Hall of Famer has said that singles are still on the table for her moving forward, but this will be the last full-album project of her career.
Threads opens with a powerful trio of voices as Crow, Stevie Nicks, and Maren Morris come together on Prove You Wrong. It’s a perfect start, showing that this album is going to turn genres on their heads and bring together artists that we wouldn’t have thought of ourselves. It’s also a really fun listen, rolling from start to finish in a toe-tapping, singing along fashion with great guitar work and energy.
As she’s done throughout her career, Sheryl Crow once again takes rock, country, and pop and puts them all together to create her album. None of that is a surprise. But the combination of Chuck D, Andra Day, and Gary Clark Jr. on Story Of Everything did come as an unexpected treat. The bluesy guitar of Clark Jr., the cadence and weight of Chuck D’s lines, and the sweet sweet compliment (and talent) that Andra Day’s voice offers throughout is everything we didn’t know we needed on Sheryl Crow’s last album.
In talking about just those two songs, we’ve named six featured artists on the album. That leaves 19 more on the remaining 15 tracks. Legends like Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, Neil Young, the late Johnny Cash, and more. As well as critically acclaimed (and fan beloved, even if they aren’t well-known) artists like St. Vincent, Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton, and Brandi Carlile. And even that still leaves 10 more names we haven’t listed.
When explaining the creation of Threads and the duets from top to bottom (particularly the legends) Crow said, “It’s the most important people who I have worked with throughout my life, my career or the people who I wanted to emulate when I was a kid, and whom I’ve gotten to know. Stevie Nicks, whom I adore, Keith Richards and Willie Nelson, people who embraced me and welcomed me to the party.”
Note: Sheryl Crow belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Every time you think of the Hall of Fame, remember that she is not a member (as of August 2019) and how deserving of that honour she is.
There are some special events on this album. Lonely Alone with Willie Nelson fits that description, and it’s easy to add Border Lord with Kris Kristofferson to that list too. But, the Redemption Day duet with Johnny Cash stands out as maybe just a little more exceptional. The song was on Crow’s self-titled 1996 album and Cash recorded it before he passed away, and it was released on his posthumous album, American VI: Ain’t No Grave. This new version puts some of Cash’s recorded lyrics with her own and the result hit me harder than I expected. And I’m glad we get to hear it presented this way.
For an hour and 14 minutes, Sheryl Crow offers up a series of songs that feel like they mean just a little more than we expected. It’s partly the duets. It’s partly accepting that this is the last album of new music we’re going to get from Sheryl Crow. I don’t know if it’s a 50/50 split on those two factors, but that combination is real.
As she sings with Emmylou Harris, Nobody’s Perfect, but Threads as a concept, a collection of songs, and a final album is pretty darn close as far as I’m concerned.
Sheryl Crow, Threads Tracklist
1. Prove You Wrong (feat. Stevie Nicks & Maren Morris)
2. Live Wire (feat. Bonnie Raitt & Mavis Staples)
3. Tell Me When It’s Over (feat. Chris Stapleton)
4. Story Of Everything (feat. Chuck D, Andra Day & Gary Clark Jr.)
5. Beware Of Darkness (feat. Eric Clapton, Sting & Brandi Carlile)
6. Redemption Day (feat. Johnny Cash)
7. Cross Creek Road (feat. Lukas Nelson & Neil Young) (digital/physical)
7. Cross Creek Road (feat. Margo Price & Neil Young) (vinyl)
8. Everything Is Broken (feat. Jason Isbell)
9. The Worst (feat. Keith Richards)
10. Lonely Alone (feat. Willie Nelson)
11. Border Lord (feat. Kris Kristofferson)
12. Still The Good Old Days (feat. Joe Walsh)
13. Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You (feat. St. Vincent)
14. Don’t (feat. Lucius)
15. Nobody’s Perfect (feat. Emmylou Harris)
16. Flying Blind (feat. James Taylor)
17. For The Sake Of Love (feat. Vince Gill)
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