This career-spanning soundtrack to the documentary film Sheryl is both a testament to
Sheryl Crow's staying power and a generous overview of the singer/songwriter's range of strengths. Since landing in the mainstream with 1993's good-time smash "All I Wanna Do,"
Crow has amassed a remarkably consistent catalog chock-a-block with undeniable hooks and tightly crafted songwriting that evokes rock's storied past while connecting squarely with its present. She was already something of a seasoned veteran by the time the spotlight found her -- she toured as a backing vocalist for
Michael Jackson, wrote jingles, and logged studio sessions with artists like
Don Henley and
Stevie Wonder -- and it showed in the music she made which was immediate enough to satisfy the pop charts, but felt lived-in and relatable. Similar to
Tom Petty,
Crow's combination of classic roots rock and modern production touches helped make radio anthems out of songs like "If It Makes You Happy," "Everyday Is a Winding Road," and "Soak Up the Sun." By the mid-2000s, she'd won a clutch of Grammy Awards, collaborated with
Prince, written a James Bond theme, and established herself as one of rock's perennial mainstays with a platinum-selling greatest-hits album to her credit. As the documentary attests, maintaining a continued sense of relevance -- not to mention a high level of quality -- in the music industry is no easy feat. Through her struggles with fame, sexism, public romances, and cancer,
Crow's journey plays out in her emotional honesty and depth of craft, beginning with her '90s origins all the way up to
Threads, the epic 2019 duets album which featured contributions from
Mavis Staples,
Sting,
Bonnie Raitt, and
Keith Richards, among others. Along with grooving set staples like "Leaving Las Vegas" and "My Favorite Mistake" are deeper cuts like the serpentine "Riverwide" and the spectral, bluesy "Crash and Burn." There are also a pair of new songs including the excellent "Forever," an appropriately reflective ballad with a loose, vaguely psychedelic
Beatles-ish tint to it. There are already a handful of
Crow anthologies on the market, but this soundtrack is easily the most thorough retrospective of her impressive career. ~ Timothy Monger