Sheryl Crow has every reason to be happy. She's at the peak of her musical game and she's engaged to Lance Armstrong. One would think that her next album would be full of songs dedicated to the happiness of life and love. Wildflower is not that record. It is a string-laden and filled with lovelorn ballads. The orchestration is beautiful and the lyrics contain Ms. Crow's usual sharp incites. The album isn't as immediate as her other works, the songs are deeper and darker. There is one exception, the ultra-catchy and upbeat "Live It Up" which has a great chorus and vocal. "Chances Are" has a pretty melody build around an acoustic guitar and tabla, "Perfect Lie" has a torch song feel and the title track has a folk vibe. "Lifetimes" has a rock edge, though it is not a rocker. The best track on the album is the gorgeous "Always On Your Side". It has an achingly beautiful melody with a sparse arrangement and maybe the bets vocal of Ms. Crow's career.

I have always marginally liked Sheryl Crow. In my opinion, she was not a great natural talent, but an extremely hard worker. With Wildflower she has entirely convinced me she is one of the great talents of our time.

On October 2, 2005, Sheryl and Lance Armstrong put on a concert for the city of Austin, Texas, which I was fortunate enough to be able to attend. Sheryl was right on vocally, and hearing her new songs led me to purchase this album.

The album is very solid all the way through. My favorite songs are Good is Good and Perfect Lie. The DVD included in the Deluxe Edition is fantastic. Usually these DVDs are some crap thing that is in 2.0, looks like a camcorder shot it, and is pretty boring. This DVD is widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1, and very professional. The sound mix is incredible. Very clean and tight with no fakey acoustics.

Thank you Sheryl for this great album.

I always liked Sheryl Crow, because even though folks have tried to pigeonhole her sound, Sheryl is about making music that everyone can relate to & enjoy. My boyfriend got me more into Sheryl's music, which prior I used to only jam to on the radio. I purchased Sheryl's whole catalogue & fell in love with her recent release "Wildflower".

To me, "Wildflower" see's Sheryl channeling her idol/mentor, Stevie Nicks' mystical elements to great effect. She started this on 1998's "The Globe Sessions", another personal favorite.

Here, Sheryl spins lyrical tapestries about living in a modern world & doing your best to love yourself & others around you. Musically, the "Nicks" element comes in with the use of different studio effects, various percussion sounds, violins, & at times, quieter guitar work. These, amongst other elements, blend seamlessly to give Sheryl sonics that blend & form to her words rather than the other way around. Her words drive the songs.

"Chances Are" is probably one of the best songs here. In this cut, Sheryl talks about human evolution, "hybrid lives" specifically. In a fashion how she, and ourselves have all become disconnected from the world due to the fast pace in which we move. This is written in such a way that, it doesn't come off as pretetntious, but more of a warning or a call to show us what is happening.

Other songs deal with the complications of love, in it's various forms or another. The title track is a utterly beautiful, which finds Crow singing in a higher, yet hushed tone telling of a lover whose existence in her life, is that of (you guessed it) a rare wildflower. I found that euphenism to be rather simple & for me something I could relate to on a personal level with my current relationship. It captures that uniqueness that attracts us to individuals beyond what we see on the outside. Other highlights include the lead single "Good Is Good", the stomper "Live It Up" (really like this one), & "Lifetimes" amongst other.

Vocally, this is Crow's best record. She alternates between a lot of different takes, the "Wildflower" take being a favorite, gives her a very vulnerable feel. Her voice, like Nicks, has a specific character & it shines here.

The record is only eleven tracks, but I'm all for lean albums. Here, Crow picked the best songs & it shows because each song is good, & warrants a re-listening. I recommend this to anyone who wants an album they can listen to during a difficult time or even if they are having a good time, "Wildflower" is a very life-affirming record. With Crow's recent tribulations (my prayers to her) I'm sure she'll use them for engaging inspiration for the follow-up.

Sheryl Crow has consistently proven herself a talented musician and song writer. This is a good cd with great sound. Since I picked up Wildflower when it came out in 2005, there are now two additional editions.

The deluxe edition includes a bonus DVD with seven acoustic tracks: Where Has All the Love Gone, Letter to God, I Know Why, Perfect Lie, Lifetimes, Good Is Good, and Always on Your Side. It also has the video for "Good Is Good."

The bonus tracks edition adds an Always On Your Side remix as a bonus track. The standard cut of Always On Your Side is included as with the original edition as well.

It'll be hard to pick a favorite, but you still will really like each and every song.

There's something immensely appealing about Sheryl Crow. I admire that she not only beat the sophomore slump but did so by releasing a truly astonishing recording (1996's self-titled album). "The Globe Sessions" cemented her status: as a singer, she was versatile, earthy, and engaging. As a writer, she was capable of documenting emotional lows without losing her frisky sense of humor.

In some ways, Sheryl's last few recordings have felt like the works of a different artist. Where did all the rough edges go? The production has been slicker than snakeoil, the vocals have been smoothed out with auto-tuning, and she's relied more heavily on cliches as a writer. Sheryl has spoken about the pressures of competing in the pop world, and these stresses have been showing in her work.

That said, I do not expect her to stay the same forever, and I find much to cherish in her recent offerings. She's still a master tunesmith, and she knows how to spot a good hook a mile away. "Good is Good" was a strong (and underrated) single. "Letter to God" and "I Don't Want to Know" are urgent and passionate. "Always on Your Side" is a bit obvious and sentimental, but it's a lovely, bittersweet, classic ballad. "I Know Why," "Perfect Lie," and "Chances Are" are all beautifully arranged and performed.

My main gripe is that I find it slightly disappointing that an album that was supposed to be as intimate as "Wildflower" would feel so slickly produced and forced in spots. Ultimately, I do think that this is a strong set of songs, but it feels somewhat compromised. Outside of the problems with the production, the vocals are less assured than usual, and she sounds thin and reedy in spots (namely the title track). This was not a problem when I saw her in concert promoting this album--she sounded confident and proved that she has not lost any of her vocal prowess. Also, at least one track ("Live It Up") feels blatantly tacked-on as a potential single in case the more mellow tracks flop on radio. It disrupts the flow of the record.

Overall, I think this album has many beautiful moments, and I would recommend it. I don't think it shows off all that she is capable of, though. She's spoken about making a more blatantly country-ish album at some point. Given her influences--Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams--I think this would be something worth hearing. I know she has it in her, and it sounds like that is where her heart is.