A Pound Of Feathers

Add it all together and A Pound of Feathers is not only reaffirmation of their comeback, but the kind of daring and defiant record that it's a miracle that a band this far into their career could still make.

Across these 11 tracks, the Crowes have it both ways: regaling in rock’n’roll’s shielding invincibility before revealing their own hearts of glass. That it all works so well and never feels archaic or old hat is testament to some intangible alchemy.

The difference to these ears between Happiness Bastards and A Pound Of Feathers is a clear, harder edge, and more importantly, the Robinsons smell success and are fully invested in the band. That hunger is palpable as the heavy songs throughout A Pound Of Feathers kick down doors announcing The Black Crowes are fully back.

Feathers rocks just slightly harder than its predecessor. Maybe because the album was reportedly made in only eight days, probably because the brothers and Joyce are more comfortable together in the studio. However, this sounds more like the Robinsons and less like a producer trying to update their sound, no matter how slightly.

A Pound Of Feathers is not quite as immediate, then, as Happiness Bastards, but repeated listens pay off. Its relationship to that record is similar to the way recently re-released Amorica sits alongside The Southern Harmony. The Crowes’ blessed resurrection keeps rolling. [Apr 2026, p.74]