Be Myself

For other uses, see Be Myself (disambiguation).

Be Myself
Studio album by Sheryl Crow
Released	April 21, 2017
Recorded	September 9 - October 16, 2016
Studio	Old Green Barn (Nashville, TN)
Genre	Rock
Length	45:20
Label	Wylie Songs, Warner Bros.
Producer	Sheryl Crow, Jeff Trott
Sheryl Crow chronology
Feels Like Home (2013) Be Myself (2017) Threads (2019)
Singles from Be Myself
"Halfway There" Released: March 3, 2017 [1]

Be Myself is the tenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow. The album was released on April 21, 2017, by Wylie Songs and Warner Bros. Records. ^{[2] [3]} Produced by Crow and Jeff Trott, who also worked with Crow on her self-titled 1996 album and 1998's The Globe Sessions , it features a return to a more rock-driven sound following Crow's 2013 country album, Feels Like Home . ^[4]

Release

Singles

The album's lead single, "Halfway There", was released on March 3, 2017. ^[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	69/100 [5]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
American Songwriter	[6]
Blurt	[7]
Exclaim!	6/10 [8]
The Guardian	[9]
Mojo	[10]
PopMatters	[11]
Rolling Stone	[12]
Slant Magazine	[13]

Be Myself received mostly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 69 out of 100, which indicates "generally favorable reviews" based on 10 reviews. ^[5]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic rated the album four out of five stars and calls it "set of strong, sophisticated pop." ^[4] Writing for Rolling Stone and rating the album three out of five stars, Rob Sheffield calls it "excellent" and "a full-blown return to her fierce rock-queen glory." ^[12]

Dave Simpson from The Guardian gave 3 out of 5 stars and stated "After a short-lived dabble in country music, Be Myself reunites Sheryl Crow with 1990s collaborators Jeff Trott and Tchad Blake and returns to the sassy, carefree, stripped down folk-pop-rock that brought her massive success in that era" ^[14]

Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine rated 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Be Myself might lack the quirks that made Sheryl Crow so distinctive (it opened with a song about aliens, after all), but the album proves that some alliances can outlast even the latest planet-shrinking technology". ^[15]

Track listing

All songs written by Sheryl Crow and Jeff Trott, except where noted. ^[4]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Alone in the Dark"	3:40
2.	"Halfway There"	3:59
3.	"Long Way Back"	5:07
4.	"Be Myself"	4:22
5.	"Roller Skate"	3:19
6.	"Love Will Save the Day"	4:58
7.	"Strangers Again"	3:51
8.	"Rest of Me"	3:52
9.	"Heartbeat Away"	5:35
10.	"Grow Up"	3:27
11.	"Woo Woo" (Crow, Toby Gad, Trott)	3:14
Total length:		45:20

Target and Japanese bonus tracks ^{[16] [17]}

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Disappearing World"	4:17
13.	"The World You Make"	4:25
14.	"Long Way Back" (Acoustic version)	4:47
Total length:		58:49

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic. ^[18]

Musicians Doyle Bramhall II – soloist, vocal harmony Gary Clark Jr. – electric guitar, soloist Sheryl Crow – bass, celeste, Fender Rhodes, acoustic guitar, piano, tambourine, toy piano, vocals, Wurlitzer Mark Douthit – saxophone Fred Eltringham – drums, handclapping, percussion, tambourine Audley Freed – acoustic guitar, soloist Toby Gad – bass guitar, Moog synthesizer Josh Grange – flute, baritone guitar, electric guitar, lap steel guitar, Mellotron, pedal steel guitar, piano Barry Green – trombone Robert Kearns – bass guitar

The McCrary Sisters – background vocals Adam Minkoff – keyboards Doug Moffet – baritone saxophone Steve Patrick – trumpet Andrew Petroff – bells, drum brushes, drum loop, acoustic guitar, handclapping, keyboards, percussion, shaker, strings, synthesizer, tambourine, Wurlitzer Rick Purcell – handclapping David Rossi – strings Tim Smith – background vocals Jeff Trott – bass guitar, acoustic guitar, baritone guitar, electric guitar, acoustic-electric guitar, Moog synthesizer, pump organ, sitar, slide guitar, soloist, SynthAxe, tom-tom, vocal harmony, background vocals, wah wah guitar, Wurlitzer

Technical personnel Tchad Blake – engineer, mixing, photography Drew Bollman – engineer Sheryl Crow – producer Bob Ludwig – mastering Frank Maddocks – art direction, design Andrew Petroff – engineer Rick Purcell – studio technician Matt Rausch – engineer David Rossi – string arrangements Mark Seliger – photography Jeff Trott – producer Alberto Vaz – engineer

Charts

Chart (2017)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [19]	97
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [20]	104
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [21]	51
Canadian Albums (Billboard) [22]	59
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [23]	97
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [24]	67
New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ) [25]	8
Scottish Albums (OCC) [26]	35
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [27]	68
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [28]	43
UK Albums (OCC) [29]	47
US Billboard 200 [30]	22
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [31]	3

Release history

List of regions, release dates, formats, label and references

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label	Ref.
Worldwide	April 21, 2017	CD LP digital download	Warner Bros.	[32]

References

1. "Sheryl Crow: Halfway There: Music". ASIN   B06XB3YGWW. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
2. "Be Myself by Sheryl Crow on Apple Music". Itunes.apple.com. 2017-04-21. Archived from the original on 2017-04-22. Retrieved 2017-04-22.
3. Chris Willman (2017-03-04). "Sheryl Crow Reemphasizes the Rock in Club Preview of New Album". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2017-04-22. Retrieved 2017-04-22.
4. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Be Myself – Sheryl Crow". AllMusic . All Media Network. Archived from the original on April 21, 2017. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
5. "Reviews for Be Myself by Sheryl Crow". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 24, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
6. Horowitz, Hal (April 17, 2017). "Sheryl Crow: Be Myself". American Songwriter. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
7. Taylor, Tiffini (April 21, 2017). "Sheryl Crow – Be Myself review". Blurt . Archived from the original on April 24, 2017. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
8. Greene, Sarah (April 19, 2017). "Sheryl Crow – Be Myself". Exclaim! . Ian Danzig. Archived from the original on April 24, 2017. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
9. Simpson, Dave (April 20, 2017). "Sheryl Crow: Be Myself review – a punchy return to form". The Guardian . Archived from the original on April 22, 2017. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
10. "Review: Be Myself by Sheryl Crow". Mojo . London: 87. June 2017.
11. Driver, Richard (April 24, 2017). "Sheryl Crow: Be Myself". PopMatters . Archived from the original on April 25, 2017. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
12. Sheffield, Rob (April 20, 2017). "Review: Sheryl Crow's 'Be Myself' Is Her Toughest, Best in a Decade". Rolling Stone . Wenner Media LLC. Archived from the original on April 21, 2017. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
13. Cinquemani, Sal (April 20, 2017). "Sheryl Crow – Be Myself review". Slant Magazine . Archived from the original on April 24, 2017. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
14. Simpson, Dave (2017-04-20). "Sheryl Crow: Be Myself review – a punchy return to form". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2020-07-30. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
15. Cinquemani, Sal. "Review: Sheryl Crow, Be Myself". Archived from the original on 2019-03-26. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
16. "Sheryl Crow – Be Myself (Target Exclusive)". Target. Archived from the original on 2017-04-23. Retrieved 2017-04-22.
17. "Be Myself Sheryl Crow CD Album". CDJapan. Japan. Archived from the original on 2017-04-23. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
18. "Be Myself – Sheryl Crow – Credits – AllMusic". AllMusic . All Media Network. Archived from the original on April 23, 2017. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
19. "ARIA Chart Watch #418". auspOp. April 29, 2017. Archived from the original on February 3, 2020. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
20. "Ultratop.be – Sheryl Crow – Be Myself" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
21. "Ultratop.be – Sheryl Crow – Be Myself" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
22. "Sheryl Crow Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
23. "Offiziellecharts.de – Sheryl Crow – Be Myself" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
24. "シェリル・クロウのランキング" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on August 10, 2017. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
25. "NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. June 12, 2017. Archived from the original on September 17, 2017. Retrieved June 9, 2017.
26. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
27. "Top 100 Albumes — Semana 17: del 21.04.2017 al 27.04.2017" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
28. "Swisscharts.com – Sheryl Crow – Be Myself". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
29. "Sheryl Crow | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
30. "Sheryl Crow Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
31. "Sheryl Crow Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
32. "Sheryl Crow: Be Myself: Music". ASIN   B06XDFJNKN. Archived from the original on April 24, 2017. Retrieved April 22, 2017.