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THE VERY BEST OF SHERYL CROW
(A&M)
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Ever since her 1993 debut, roots-pop princess Sheryl Crow has excelled at pushing her clever, heartfelt songs to the top of the charts. The first single from her new greatest-hits album is a cover of Rod Stewart’s 1970s soft-rock cover of Cat Stevens’s "The First Cut Is the Deepest," a lilting tearjerker that suits her so well, it’s almost too obvious a choice. She and current songwriting/production partner John Shanks (of Michelle Branch fame) generate more sparks on the disc’s other new recording, the lush, driving "Light in Your Eyes."
But it’s the old stuff — most of the hits, plus a solid selection of deep cuts — that makes this 16-track anthology a must-have in jukeboxes across America. The barroom reveries "All I Wanna Do" and "If It Makes You Happy" are as wacky as they are propulsive; the plaintive ballad "Strong Enough" is a Lilith Fair classic. In recent years, Crow’s hits have gone to extremes: "My Favorite Mistake" is the most melancholy, "Soak Up the Sun" the most buoyant. And Kid Rock may be the one with the big ideas on the countrified smash "Picture," but Sheryl is the one with the big voice.
