Wildflower (CD)

Super Amazing Value Edition.

Originally, {$Sheryl Crow} planned to have her follow-up to 2002's Top Ten hit {^C'mon, C'mon} be two simultaneously released albums, announcing their autumn release at the beginning of 2005, but by the time the fall rolled around, the project had been scaled back to a single album: Wildflower. If {^C'mon, C'mon} was a cheerful, bright record ideal for sunny summer days, Wildflower is its opposite, a warm, introspective record that's tailored for the fall. It's not dissimilar to 1998's {^The Globe Sessions}, which felt like a somber hangover to the wonderfully weird party of her eponymous 1996 second album, but where {^The Globe Sessions} had a weary, heartbroken feel, there's a comfortable, lived-in atmosphere and sense of genuine affection on Wildflower. Celebrity press and pre-release hype attributed this love-mad vibe to {$Crow}'s romance with cyclist {$Lance Armstrong} -- the couple announced their engagement the same month Wildflower was released -- and there surely must be some sort of correlation between {$Crow}'s personal life and work, but anybody looking for an album explicitly about her relationship with {$Armstrong} (the way that, say, {$Eric Benet}'s {^Hurricane} is all about his divorce from {$Halle Berry}) will be disappointed. There are certainly plenty of songs about love here, but {$Crow}'s songs are not about specific events (unless they're neo-protest songs like the lively {&"Live It Up"}). They're open-ended, so it's easy to hear the record and never think about {$Armstrong}. As a matter of fact, the subjects of the songs matter less than the feel of the album. It's easy to spin Wildflower a couple of times before the songs start to sink in -- unlike her other records, there's nothing here that immediately grabs your attention, they're all growers -- but the mood of the record is immediately appealing. That sustained warm, burnished, relaxed feel -- at once rootsy and upscale, modest and classy -- is reason enough to return to Wildflower, All Music Guide

Performer	Sheryl Crow
Music genre	Pop Rock
Music subgenre	CD - Pop
Music release type	Release
Media format	CD
Original release date	2005-09-27
Edition	Standard Edition
Language	English
Number of tracks	10
Has parental advisory label	N
Number of discs	1
Series title	Sheryl Crow - Wildflower CD
Track listing	I Know Why,Perfect Lie,Good Is Good,Chances Are,Wildflower,Lifetimes,Letter to God,Live It Up,I Don't Wanna Know,Always on Your Side (Featuring Sting),Where Has All the Love Gone,Always on Your Side
Record label	A&M
Target audience	Family
Songwriter	Sherv
Music producer	Sherv
Number in series	1
Occasion	All Occasion
Duration	63.22 min
Digital audio file format	Cd
Music media format	CD
Is edited	N
Is enhanced	N