“The Globe Sessions”

Sheryl Crow

The cover of Sheryl Crow’s “The Globe Sessions” sets the tone for the whole album. She has the fatigued, tired-of-living look in her penetrating, pale-blue eyes.

Crow appears to be thinking “I’m hurt because I can’t find love or trust. I’ve been scarred by the men in my life. What’s wrong with me?,” to borrow a line from a previous record.

With the successes of her preceding albums and tours, why in the hell is Crow so sad?

She graduated from the University of Missouri in Columbia and received her degree in musical composition, performance and teaching. She took a job helping children with special needs learn about music. Crow packed up and left Missouri to escape a relationship gone bad and to pursue a career in music.

Before making it big herself, Sheryl sang backup vocals for Michael Jackson on his “Bad” tour. She also sang with the likes of George Harrison, Joe Cocker, Stevie Wonder and Rod Stewart.

In 1993, she began her solo career and released her multi-platinum debut on A&M Records, “Tuesday Night Music Club,” which was catapulted to stardom by the hit “All I Wanna Do.” She garnered three Grammys for the album, including Record of the Year.

The artist released her self-titled CD in 1996 that was devoured by pop radio. After its release, you could hardly turn the station without hearing “Everyday is a Winding Road” or “If It Makes You Happy.” People can’t get enough of the unsympathetic sensibility in her music.

“The Globe Sessions” gives her audience a better understanding of who she is personally. Crow is more than just a happy-go-lucky, photogenic A&M Records poster girl. Her emotions run much deeper.

The majority of the tracks on the album document the struggle of mistrust and broken relationships. If you’re looking for the lackadaisical “Everyday is a Winding Road” or “All I Wanna Do,” look elsewhere. You won’t find that type of trippy gushing on this record.

“The Globe Sessions,” on the whole, is solid. Crow knows how to roll up her sleeves and rock out like a Jagger or a Plant, and she can woo you with syrupy vocals like a Paul Simon or a Natalie Merchant. She’s versatile.

“My Favorite Mistake” is the first radio single, and on it she makes no bones about covering up past mistakes as she sings the lullaby chorus: “Did you know when you go/It’s the perfect ending/To the bad day I was just beginning?/When you go, all I know is/You’re my favorite mistake.”

“Riverwide” sounds like a Gaelic-tinged version of Zeppelin’s “Kashmir,” though it’s a little more delicate. The textured song features Crow on acoustic guitar and is set to a backdrop of wailing violins.

“Anything But Down” is a brutally sad song about wasting time in a dead-end relationship. Crow bares her sensitive and most vulnerable side.

Her raspy voice wanes at the beginning of the song and then waxes at the chorus as she chants scathing lyrics like “Maybe I’m not your perfect kind/Maybe I’m not what you had in mind/Maybe we’re just killing time.”

“Members Only” is wacky, though it’s one of the most singable songs on the album. It pokes fun at a man who Crow calls “Uncle Larry.”

Crow says Larry is stuck in the ’80s and wears his Members Only jacket because “he thinks it turns on all the ladies.” The song won’t receive pop radio airplay due to several lines describing various members of society “shaking their asses.”

In “Crash and Burn,” Crow changes shoes from the lovelorn to the one dishing out the advice. She sings “Well love might be great but why lose your head?”

Crow should take her own sage wisdom. Chin up, girl. We’re digging your style.

4 stars out of five

— Jason Young