THE BLACK CROWES ROAR ONTO THE CHARTS WITH ‘LIONS’ DEBUTING IN THE TOP 20

DATE: MAY 21, 2001
FROM: MITCH SCHNEIDER/TODD BRODGINSKI/LATHUM NELSON

LIONS, the new album by THE BLACK CROWES, roars onto the Billboard pop albums chart at number 20 with first week sales exceeding 53,000 copies. This success comes in the midst of the album's top ten rock hit "Lickin'" and critical acclaim for the Don Was-produced album (their sixth studio release and V2 debut), along with the momentum of their newly launched "Tour of Brotherly Love" with co-headliners Oasis.

On Monday, May 14, the same day they arrived to Los Angeles for the first of two sold-out shows at the Greek Theatre with Oasis, THE BLACK CROWES were inducted into Hollywood's RockWalk, which recognizes those artists who've made a contribution to the evolution of rock 'n roll. RICH ROBINSON, the 31-year-old guitarist for THE BLACK CROWES, was the second youngest musician to be inducted into the RockWalk (Eddie Van Halen was the youngest musician at 30 when he was honored at RockWalk in 1985). The band's handprints will take up a permanent residence on the Sunset Boulevard sidewalk gallery alongside some of rock's greatest, including Jimmy Page, B.B. King, James Brown, Jeff Beck, Brian Wilson, John Lee Hooker, Johnny Cash and Aerosmith. On hand at the event, which was acknowledged by Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan with a proclamation, were Noel Gallagher of Oasis as well as Don Was, the latter of whom spoke to the assembled crowd, praising THE BLACK CROWES for embodying the true essence of rock 'n' roll.

While on the West Coast, THE BLACK CROWES took time out to shoot a video for "Soul Singing," with director Liz Friedlander (Deftones' "Change"). The video is both a conceptual and performance piece. The "Soul Singing" single is due to be released to radio shortly.

On the television front, look for THE BLACK CROWES to perform "Soul Singing" on the Late Show with David Letterman June 6, the day before they play three sold-out nights with Oasis at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Meanwhile–via a ground-breaking promotion by THE BLACK CROWES and their new label V2 Records, with the aid of digital distribution services from Reciprocal–the band recently announced that fans who purchase their Don Was-produced album LIONS will have access to many of the band's upcoming shows through a secure website.

This pioneering online effort is enabling fans to hear an audio stream of an array of THE BLACK CROWES' performances through Labor Day on a website that is accessible only to those with the band's new LIONS CD in their ROM drive. In addition, THE BLACK CROWES' secure website makes one live track available each week for download, giving fans the capacity to burn their own live compilation disc. Plus, fans can listen over and over to the shows, which are posted via stream, and download one show in its entirety before Labor Day. In fact, the number of fans visiting the site during the album's first week of release was so great, all of the servers crashed. The number of downloads completely passed all expectations and V2 quickly made repairs to handle the enormous amount of Internet traffic.

Here are critical soundbites, thus far, in praise of LIONS:

 "…true diversity and color of their music gets its best showcase yet in their latest effort Lions, on V2 Records. The blues and R & B roots of their passionate brand of rock is spiked with tasty shots of reggae, soul and folk. Combine the raw power of 'Midnight From The Inside Out' with the soulful inflections in 'Greasy Grass River' and 'Soul Singin','…and the intoxicating melodic twists of 'Lickin''-artfully captured by producer Don Was-and you have the classic Black Crowes album that is still fresh and unique."

"Lions is a bold gut-check of a record as impressive as anything the Crowes have thrown down in nearly a decade. Strutting like cocky vets but snarling like they've got something to prove, the Crowes show why they're kings of the rock'n'roll jungle."

"Lions is indeed a truer expression of the Crowes' potential: adventurous songwriting ensconced in a blues-and funk-inspired swagger. Tracks like the feedback-laden 'Midnight From the Inside Out,' the wistful 'Miracle to Me' and the funk-fueled 'Ozone Mama,' and the tough, staccato-laced 'Lickin'' rank among the band's best work."

"The heart of Lions lies in the best ballads the band has ever waxed…"

"…at their best, the sextet purveys an American, and particularly a southern American, tradition of musical melding, stirring together a sonic stew of classic rock, R&B, blues and gospel, with a jazzbeaux sensibility for improvising and expanding its songs. Heavy stompers such as 'Midnight >From The Inside Out' and the stuttering 'Lickin'' show some influence culled from the Crowes' 1999-2000 performances with Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, while 'Come On,' 'Ozone Mama' and 'Young Man, Old Man' are convincing Caucasian funk workouts. The Crowes' dip deeply into psychedelia on 'Cosmic Friend' and 'Greasy Grass River,' while 'Losin' My Mind,' 'Soul Singing', 'Cypress Tree' and 'Lay It All On Me' are earthly delights. The Crowes seldom stay in one place on Lions, but that's exactly what gives this set its teeth."

 "…robust, groove-heavy…the mystical melody at the heart of the churning 'Midnight From The Inside Out,' the filthy stutter of 'Lickin',' the swirling inferno engulfing 'Greasy Grass River,' the jittery stomp stolen from 'The Ocean' for 'Cosmic Friend,' the furious strings and pummeling chorus of 'Cypress Tree'…"

"The Black Crowes' hooks are stronger than ever, especially on the steamy 'Greasy Grass River,' roof-raising 'Come On,' and first single 'Lickin',' powered by Rich Robinson's effect-drenched guitar lead."

 "…with their sixth studio album, Lions, The Black Crowes roar majestically, scaling interstellar rock, ferocious R&B and organ swirling balladry…the larger-than-life 'Soul Singing' gets a gospel infusion. And with the absolutely brilliant, experimentally vital 'Cosmic Friend,' the sextet offers up the first rock & roll space odyssey of 2001…faultness epics like 'Greasy Grass River,' which hybrids flower power with diesel-fueled metal, and 'Ozone Mama,' a rollicking, blues-inspired number jettisoned by what may be Chris' finest microphone turn ever."

"Lions is a courageous and vibrant album. And there are the tunes-such as the soulful 'Midnight From The Inside Out' or the irascible 'No Use Lying'-some of which are amongst the finest the band have ever written. 'Lions' is a frequently seething and angry album, with some brilliant moments to be found sulking behind great shanks of guitar or beneath underplayed choruses. And this suits The Black Crowes just fine."

"Lions is a loose-limbed, funky piece of work that finds the veteran rock band digging deep into their musical roots."

"Unquestionably their best work since Companion, Lions is the sort of record you fall in love with…Listen to the way Robinson growls his way through the album's first two minutes, yowling about living 'midnight from the inside out,' then gets moony as he 'cascades in blue without a sound' on 'Soul Singing.' Or the way his brother rides the fuzzbox to kingdom come on 'Lickin'.' What's better is that they're now confident enough to indulge in plenty of 'White Album' weirdness (the first half of 'Cosmic Fiend,' with its cymbal washes, lap steel and cock-eyed Erik Satie piano, is the strongest thing the Crowes have ever committed to tape) and sonic-shifting ('Losing My Mind' evokes Van Morrison produced by knob-twirler Mirwais)."

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