Sheryl Crow

From the whining and groaning of the opening seconds of Sheryl Crow’s self titled second album, you can tell something strange is in the air. The galumphing trip hop folk of “Maybe Angels” announces a record of exhausted women navigating worlds caked in sweat and cigarette smoke, where conspiracy theories become small talk, and the ghosts of fallen peers haunt every turn. The radio flirtations of “A Change Could Do You Good” and “Everyday Is A Winding Road” belie the throat ripping phenomenon of “If It Makes You Happy,” a song whose heartbreaking DNA can be heard in miles and miles of roots rock acolytes. And despite all the grunge, the doom, the Maries and Rosalyns, there is only one Sheryl, and that voice - a sweeter Lucinda Williams with a knife in her fist - carries you to the edge of a good time. And then pushes you off.