Shake Your Money Maker

This was released in 1990. Everyone involved in the production and promotion of this bargain bin blues crap should feel ashamed of themselves.

Shake Your Money Maker by The Black Crowes was a really enjoyable listen and one I can definitely see myself coming back to.

What stood out most to me was the variety across the album. It never feels one-paced or repetitive, and there’s a great mix of bluesy rock, swagger and soulful grooves throughout. The guitar work is excellent and gives the album so much energy and character. It has that classic rock sound without feeling stale, which I really liked.

There’s a real confidence to this record. The band sound tight, the riffs are strong, and the songs are packed with attitude. It’s just a very easy album to put on and enjoy from start to finish.

This was a great discovery for me and definitely an album I’ll return to again.

Favourite tracks: “Hard to Handle”, “Thick n’ Thin” and “She Talks to Angels” were all superb
Least favourite tracks: Every track on the album was worth listening to
Album artwork: Cool album cover

The Black Crowes... I'm a little surprised to see these guys on here. They were effectively trying to bring the old-school Southern rock sound into the 1990 mainstream, with some success. This is a pretty simple, somewhat generic blues-rock album that occasionally leans into country balladry. It has a couple good songs(the big hits), but it's mostly kinda mediocre. I want to enjoy it, but I find myself not caring about it. They don't really have a whole lot of musical prowess, and their songwriting is frequently lacking(both in hooks and lyrical content). The best song is an Otis Redding cover, for fuck's sake! This more or less feels like a predecessor to modern radio country(a genre with no artistic merit whatsoever), which makes me want to hate it more. This is the kind of album that is not really essential but definitely had its day in the sun, much like yesterday's altogether more enjoyable Darkness album.

This album is ranked #6 of 22 for 1990. Other 1990 albums rated by me:
People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm(2/22)-5
Bossanova(4/22)-5
Fear of a Black Planet(5/22)-5
I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got(7/22)-4
The La's(12/22)-3

The music reminds me a little of Aerosmith, only more boring. And I don't find Aerosmith particularly exciting anyway. 2/5

-This album sounds like the School of Rock band were asked to make a soundtrack for Cars 2. I honestly would probably like that better.

-The Stones cast an enormous shadow over this whole record, which is the price you pay for being such an obvious Stones worship band...

-...And these guys are like a mild flavored family vacation version of the Stones. They're decently fine at copying their basic musical maneuvers (all the bends and hammer-ons, etc.), but they completely lack the sense of musical feel the Stones had, which is a big problem because the Stones were like 90% feel.

-The drums sound awful to me and do not fit the songs whatsoever. It sounds like someone copy/pasted the drums from a Motley Crue or Bon Jovi record. There's a good reason Charlie Watts usually played an understated groove.

-I finally understand why their biggest hit was a cover song -- these guys are not great songwriters. There isn't a hook to be found anywhere on this album. Which, hey, I can't write hooks either, but that's why I don't make music like this.

The only Black Crowes album I was familiar with was *amorica*, which I quite liked. For some reason, though, I never delved deeper into the band’s discography, which is a shame, because *Shake Your Money Maker* is, in my opinion, even better: laid-back yet powerful blues rock with that early ’90s vibe. And the production is spot-on too: the songs are catchy, the arrangements make sense, the sound is both rich and transparent, and the instruments and vocals are showcased tastefully and with true virtuosity.
This is how an album should sound!

Hold da op, det var intetsigende

2.0

This is a really fun album. I really liked all the songs. All are playlist worthy. I would listen again.

Pretty lame, dudes

This is supposed to be “the most rock ’n’ roll rock ’n’ roll band in the world”? It never really feels that way. 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳 sticks so closely to a retro, blues-rock formula that it ends up sounding more studied than spontaneous. It’s not bad, and there are some solid moments, but it rarely has the grit or unpredictability you’d expect. Instead of feeling dangerous or alive, it comes across more like a careful recreation of something that used to be.

Great debut album. Blues and rock n roll from start to finish.

This debut from The Black Crowes is a solid, if highly derivative, slice of Southern rock that feels like a time capsule from 1973 despite dropping in 1990. While some call it generic, there’s no denying the tight musicianship and Chris Robinson’s charismatic vocals. It’s a polished, energetic homage to the Rolling Stones and The Faces, perfect for a summer drive with the windows down, even if it doesn't always break new ground.

The clear standout is the cover of Otis Redding’s "Hard To Handle", which arguably outshines the original with its infectious groove. Along with hits like "She Talks To Angels" and "Twice As Hard," the album balances gritty blues-rock with soulful ballads. It’s a safe classic that might not give you goosebumps, but it’s an undeniably fun listen that proved pure, unadulterated rock-and-roll still had a place in the pre-grunge era.

Bleh dad rock bar music with hints of country. Not my jam at all. It was deeply uninteresting.

I've never liked this group. I still don't. They just felt wildly inauthentic and tacky. They still do.

I haven't listened to this since the 90s, and I'm reminded why listening again. You know how you can apply the lyrics of an AC/DC song to basically any other AC/DC song? Like you'll hear a chord change and and think "Wait. Which song am I listening to again?" The Black Crowes have this same quality. For example, at one point during Could I've Been So Blind did your brain start following along to Jealous Again?

This album is admittedly fun, but it's not special in any other way. That's okay though; music can just be for fun. I just don't think an album that's JUST fun should be on a list of essential albums.

I enjoyed the nostalgia while listening. Thinking about listening to Jealous Again, Hard to Handle, and She Talks to Angels in my high school best friend's room was a nice memory, but that has been over 30 years. Those are times that are behind me, as are the times when I listen to the Black Crowes on purpose

⭐⭐⭐

Would have never expected an album from 1990 to sound like this

Wannabe Rolling Stones crossed with American Soft Rock.

Nothing original going on at all.

I find it’s just washing over me...just bland.

2

A classic bar band rocker and a stellar debut album. It's great straightforward rock and while it may not be the most innovative record, I feel like this was probably a breath of fresh air when it came out in 1990. More genuine than the 80s hair metal and not as edgy as what would be the real grunge era. Yes it can probably be called dad rock now but that's ok. But it's well recorded, well played, and well built. I dig it and would totally not be upset if this was playing at my local bar or brewery. 4/5

Honestly, it’s a 10.

The only thing I really knew about the Black Crowes going into this was the name of their lead singer, Chris Robinson, due to the Jeopardy cluewriters having a weird affinity for the guy. I didn’t know what genre they were in (though rock seemed like a safe guess), & I just assumed they might’ve been a popular-ish ‘90s band that made for decent trivia fodder. I did not fucking expect the best ZZ Top album I’ve ever heard. Hell, they kinda mogged both the ZZ Top albums on the list, at least for my tastes. I think it’s one of the very best blues rock albums we’ve gotten so far.

With the last album we got, I did some big analogy about spinning the wheel as opposed to reinventing it, yet trying not to keep such a pace on the wheel that it feels like a stale merry-go-round. This album, by comparison, feels like a fucking roller coaster; it’s not reinventing the wheel in terms of aggressive blues rock with a harder tone in the guitars, but it’s taking that energy and naturally ramping it up in a way that just feels extremely energetic. These tracks build up slowly & then release with big guitar solos & punchy drums that feel earned, feel patient, and feel cathartic. When you look at the surrounding grunge of the era, a lot of the tracks are constantly at that higher level throughout, making the times when they elevate feel less effective. With this album, every time it elevates just FEELS strong as hell, never once feeling overdone or tired. Chris’ vocals lend to that nicely; he’s got a great control of the emotion in his voice, knowing when to add the extra grit to really sell the faster portions of each track, and when to pull it back in its softer, more acoustic moments. His ability to push & pull with the same intensity as the band keeps everything in sync, and just elevates the whole album itself even further.

There’s a handful of standout tracks here. “Seeing Things” swirls up and finds an almost Aretha-esque energy to it, with Chris’ vocals feeling passionate in their delivery. There’s the Otis Redding cover (“Hard to Handle”) which I thought was just fucking incredible, and the surprisingly well-written “She Talks to Angels”. Anticipation of death in that manner feels haunting, & even with the way the soundscape just swirls through the whole time, it never really loses focus on the storytelling as the key to the track. I really liked the church-inspired ending of “Stare It Cold”; the only thing missing to tie it all together is just a choir there to respond.

This was recorded at the tail end of 1989, releasing in early 1990, and I would say it’s a hell of a way to ring in the decade by having an album with absolutely no trace of pre-programmed drum machines on it. It must’ve felt fresh for the time & I think it’s aged pretty well into today. It’s 45 minutes, yes, but the way this album paces each track makes it feel longer than it is, in a good way. It allows the digestion of every soundscape, it makes every drum hit that much more potent to stomp your foot or bop your head to, and it makes the guitar solos really stick out when they do. Combine that with some well-written tracks & some pretty well-delivered vocals, along with a sort of infectious energy that you can’t really teach, and you just get one hell of an album. I feel ignorant for not biting the bullet every time Jeopardy asks about these guys, because they were onto something. I think this is an easy, easy 10, and much like Depeche Mode’s “Violator”, one of the first albums that can truly mark the start of the 1990s. Just stellar stuff.

I expected to really not like this, but it's kinda fine. The Black Crowes were one of the earlier blues rock revival bands of the 90s, and I'm picky about my values rock proper. At best, this is earnest and energetic and even pretty during a few ballads. At worst this is derivative and a little annoying. The vocals on Hard To Handle are a bit much for example. But songs like Jealous Again and She Talks To Angels aren't bad. Overall, I put this on the low end of "fine" and it's mostly just because this isn't really for me.