Live In Central Park

12/07/1999 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Ken Barnes

From a largely forgettable first album (save for the unforgettably irritating "All I Wanna Do"), Sheryl Crow has made remarkable strides since she asserted full control on her second album. She's managed the singular accomplishment of blending Dylan's sneer and lyrical loopiness and the Stones' propulsive riff-crunching, an achievement no female rocker (and precious few dudes) has pulled off. It's only fitting that Keith Richards is among the guests acknowledging Crow's well-deserved ascendancy here, although he does so in typically piratical fashion, commandeering the band to sing his own "Happy" with Crow relegated to a verse plus backgrounds.

Elsewhere amongst these concert selections (it's longer than the Fox broadcast but doesn't encompass the entire show), Chrissie Hynde proves an admirable choice to collaborate on "If It Makes You Happy," the Dixie Chicks add zest to "Strong Enough," and Sarah McLachlan duets pleasantly on the pretty "The Difficult Kind." Stevie Nicks and Eric Clapton follow Keith's lead in reprising their own material, the former in strong voice on "Gold Dust Woman" and the latter thundering through "White Room."

But it's Crow's show. Some of the songs are a touch long, new track "It Don't Hurt" doesn't sound quite up to snuff, and "All I Wanna Do" is unavoidably present in all its faux-boho-a-go-go languor. But the hits from albums No. 2 and 3 are thrilling, and she wraps up the whole Dylan/Stones combo platter by ringleading the entire cast through a riproaring "Tombstone Blues." This keepsake's a keeper.