Before the Frost/Until the Freeze

When the Black Crowes' first album appeared in early 1990, it was a record out of time--a rootsy, swaggering, Stones-meets-Faces rock & roll disc released at the height of hair metal mania. Nearly two decades later, the band had built a substantial catalog and become hailed as one of rock's most exciting live acts, yet remained as artistically uncompromising as ever. It's perhaps no surprise, then, that the group decided to record BEFORE THE FROST and its accompanying album UNTIL THE FREEZE live in the studio in front of a small audience of devoted fans over the course of just five nights. The results are suitably rough n' ready, and finds the band matching classic rock influences (as on "I Ain't Hiding," which recalls the Stones BLACK & BLUE era) with its own trademark shambling southern rock vibe.