At one time, the Black Crowes released a new album, which I would line up at the music store for. The last time I was genuinely excited over a new Black Crowes album was 1996’s Three Snakes and One Charm. Following that album, The Black Crowes would deliver album after album of half-baked ideas mixed with songs that could’ve been and should’ve been timeless classics but came close with no cigar.
What once made the Black Crowes truly remarkable was the musical magic that they would make with the lineup that made the band up from the 2nd album, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, to the Amorica album/tour. There was a connection and chemistry in that lineup that couldn’t be matched. Following the departure of guitarist Marc Ford and bassist Johnny Colt, that chemistry and magic were forever lost. Over the years, the band would see more rotating guitarists than Spinal Tap had drummers, and this, in my opinion, crippled them creatively in a considerable way.
In 2021, it was announced that the Robinson brothers had buried the proverbial hatchet and joined forces again. This time, though, longtime drummer/founding member Steve Gorman was kicked to the curb. In 2024, the Black Crowes released a new album, Happiness Bastards. The result has the Black Crowes being nothing more than a host of hired guns, and with this new album, it sounds like it.
Happiness Bastards is nothing more than a collection of 10 forgettable songs that sound like a “band” grasping at straws to try and recreate and relive the glory days of old. Sounding more like a tired attempt to recreate the energy of their debut, Shake Your Moneymaker, Happiness Bastards sounds tired, uninspired, and lifeless. Happiness Bastards, in a nutshell, is the sound of two Brothers who once were the cream of the crop and reside at the bottom of the barrel.
Happiness Bastards is the sound of two brothers trying hard to show some sort of modern validity, while in reality, this is not an album that will connect with and generate a new fanbase. Happiness Bastards is nothing more than an album that will only appeal to the older Crowes fans who are okay with being underwhelmed or completists. Save yourself the heartache and revisit Amorica. That is where you will hear what the Black Crowes truly were about as opposed to the uninspired, soulless thing that is Happiness Bastards.
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