I've been from Antioch to Alcatraz
I can roll you one from an empty bag
But let's take it easy to avoid any snags
 

Those three lines from the opening song on the Black Crowes' penultimate album, "Warpaint", are a distillation of where the band was at that point in their career. They had been dubbed "The Most Rock and Roll Rock and Roll Band in the World" by the English music magazine Melody Maker after their debut in 1990, but had lost their way by their sixth album in 2001. After 18 years of speeding down rock and roll's long and winding road the Crowes had been there, done that, and had the legends, lesions and lucre to prove it.

It took seven years for the Crowes to regroup and refocus and fans were more than rewarded for the wait. The band that emerged from the cocoon of that long lacuna was familiar yet more grown up, like an older brother returning home from boot camp. Gone were the pseudo-hippie trappings that crowded out the Crowes' rock and roll roots as weeds do a garden, replaced by mature, complex song writing.

Gone, too, were some former band members, most notably guitarist Marc Ford. Ford was replaced by Luther Dickinson from the North Mississippi All-Stars and his impeccable slide lent a further depth that allowed the Crowes to return to their comfortable nest of swampy blues and Southern rock. The outcome was a Baptist revival meets roots rock meets classic Crowes, resulting in the band's best effort in almost a decade.

This is a rock album that, like so many classic albums before, needs to be listened to in its entirety to be fully appreciated. The lead single, "Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution", cracked the top 40 but the album landed at #5. "Warpaint" was the Black Crowes' highest charting record since "The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion" reached #1 in 1992, and it continued the band's streak of top 40 albums. In fact, none of the band's eight total studio albums charted lower than #26.

A triumphant return to form, "Warpaint" often is lost in the misty twilight of the Black Crowes' red hot run. If you are looking for the sound of their seminal albums "Shake Your Money Maker", "The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion", or "Amorica" then this album might not be for you. If you dug the Crowes back in their heyday but your tastes have grown while your hairline has receeded, then this is an album that calls you to drop the needle.