Sheryl Crow DVD Review

The new DVD of the “Sheryl Crow Live” episode of the “Soundstage” series is 92 minutes and 17 songs worth of Sheryl Crow playing music, in her own words “without all the bells and whistles and strippers and dancing monkeys that we usually have”.

VH1 and MTV have done this masterfully in the past almost two decades with their “Storytellers” and “Unplugged” series, respectively. Those series created the art form of taking a rock concert and turning it into something that translates into something palatable on a TV screen in one’s living room.

The stripped-down element Crow is looking for here works well on a few toned-down songs towards the end such as “I Shall Believe”, but throughout most of the DVD, Crow’s lyrics are drowned out by electric guitars and feel distorted overall.

This could have been remedied with an option to have on-screen lyrics, but said option is nowhere to found, as are any other special features.

Where the DVD failed was making me feel like I was there (see Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton’s Unplugged DVD’s or any Martin Scorsese concert films for successes if this). Yet this DVD made me wish I was there, and made me more likely to want to see Crow live on her next tour.

As far as it’s content is concerned, this DVD serves as a time capsule of sorts for Crow fans, as even though it will be available to the public July 8th, 2008, the concert and sold-out world tour which it was a part of, took place five years ago, in 2003.

Since then, Crow had a hit with Kid Rock (“Picture”) from her “The Very Best of Sheryl Crow” album, and released the 2005 album “Wildflower”, and this years “Detours”. So needless to say, the material will most likely please casual Crow fans who may only be familiar with her Greatest Hits, and may even feel tiresome for fans who have already heard these songs on countless tours, multiple DVDs, and the 1999 live album.

Although notably absent are Crow hits including “The Difficult Kind”, “There Goes the Neighborhood” and “Sweet Child O’ Mine”. This is sure to be a non-issue for die-hard fans, but will turn off others who may know Crow mainly through these songs,

“Sheryl Crow Live” does offer two rarities for that should appeal to casual and die-hard fans alike. The first is a cover of “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding”, which is well intentioned, but is another song which suffers from lack of lyrical clarity on the DVD presentation. The other is a song called “Let’s Get Free”, seen on no Sheryl Crow album before or since.

I would recommend this to Crow fans who already have deeply felt relationships with these songs. For everyone else, these songs are worth getting to know, just don’t start here.