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Amorica

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This article is about the Black Crowes album. For the region of Brittany, see Armorica.
Amorica
a close-up photo of woman’s crotch clad in an American flag bikini bottom. Her black pubic hair is noticeably protruding. “Amorica” is written in lower case with a period near her navel.
The original cover of the album.
Studio album by
The Black Crowes
ReleasedNovember 1, 1994 (1994-11-01)
RecordedMay–August 1994
Genre
Length54:13
LabelAmerican
Producer
The Black Crowes chronology
The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion
(1992) 		Amorica
(1994) 		Three Snakes and One Charm
(1996)
Censored cover
an American flag bikini bottom on a black background. “Amorica” is written in lower case with a period above it.
Editions sold by big box retailers have a cropped image.

Amorica (stylized as amorica.) is the third studio album by U.S. rock band The Black Crowes. Spawned from the band's unreleased Tall album sessions, Amorica was released on November 1, 1994, on American Recordings. Amorica reached gold status in the United States, shipping 500,000 copies.

The album cover notably featured a close-up photo of the pelvic region of a woman wearing a U.S. flag bikini bottom with pubic hair showing at the top. The photo was taken from the cover of the July 1976 issue of Hustler magazine. The album with this cover was subsequently banned from chain stores like Walmart and Kmart, resulting in the cover being censored with a solid black background displaying only the garment.[2]

Other songs recorded during the Amorica sessions were "Feathers," "Tied Up and Swallowed" and "Chevrolet" (a Taj Mahal cover), which were later released as B-sides, bonus tracks or on compilation albums.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Chicago Tribune[4]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[5]
Kerrang!5/5[6]
Los Angeles Times[7]
NME8/10[8]
Q[9]
Rolling Stone[10]
Select4/5[11]
Uncut9/10[12]

"The Crowes haven't ceased their cocky pillaging of the universal jukebox – echoes of the Stones and Led Zep abound," wrote Rolling Stone's Paul Evans, who awarded the album three and a half stars. "But in joining the mix with offbeat kicks (Latino rhythms, wah-wah guitar, strange vocal treatments), they sound remarkably fresh."[13]

In July 2014, Guitar World chose Amorica as one of "50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994".[14]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Chris Robinson and Rich Robinson

Amorica track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Gone"5:08
2."A Conspiracy"4:46
3."High Head Blues"4:01
4."Cursed Diamond"5:56
5."Nonfiction"4:16
6."She Gave Good Sunflower"5:48
7."P. 25 London"3:38
8."Ballad in Urgency"5:39
9."Wiser Time"5:33
10."Downtown Money Waster"3:40
11."Descending"5:42
US bonus track
No.TitleLength
12."Tied Up and Swallowed"4:16
Japanese bonus track
No.TitleLength
12."Chevrolet"3:32
1998 reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
12."Song of the Flesh"3:45
13."Sunday Night Buttermilk Waltz"2:46

Personnel

The Black Crowes

Additional personnel[15]

Production

Charts

Chart performance for Amorica
Chart (1994) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[16] 11
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[17] 13
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[18] 17
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[19] 17
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[20] 40
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[21] 39
Scottish Albums (OCC)[22] 7
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[23] 25
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[24] 35
UK Albums (OCC)[25] 8
US Billboard 200[26] 11

Certifications

Certifications for Amorica
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[27] Silver 60,000^
United States (RIAA)[28] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ a b Kemp, Mark (2004). "The Black Crowes". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 75–76. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  2. ^ Morse, Steve (March 23, 1995). "The Black Crowes: Rock rebels take home-grown spirit on tour". The Boston Globe. p. 18.
  3. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Amorica – The Black Crowes". AllMusic. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  4. ^ Kot, Greg (November 10, 1994). "Black Crowes: Amorica (American)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  5. ^ Eddy, Chuck (November 4, 1994). "Amorica". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
  6. ^ Elliott, Paul (November 5, 1994). "Amorican Dream!". Kerrang!. No. 519. pp. 42–43.
  7. ^ Crisafulli, Chuck (October 30, 1994). "The Black Crowes 'Amorica' American". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  8. ^ Patterson, Sylvia (October 29, 1994). "Get Your Rooks Off!". NME. p. 46.
  9. ^ Gill, Andy (December 1994). "Draining". Q. No. 99. p. 128.
  10. ^ Evans, Paul (November 3, 1994). "Amorica". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  11. ^ Collis, Clark (December 1994). "Southern def cult!". Select. No. 54. p. 88.
  12. ^ Deusner, Stephen (2023). "High Flyers". Uncut. No. 320, Review of the Year 2023. p. 36.
  13. ^ Evans, Paul (November 3, 1994). "The Black Crowes: Amorica". Rolling Stone. No. 694. pp. 95–96.
  14. ^ "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994". GuitarWorld.com. July 14, 2014. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  15. ^ "The Black Crowes - Amorica". Discogs. 31 October 1994. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  16. ^ "Australiancharts.com – The Black Crowes – Amorica.". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  17. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 2654". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  18. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Black Crowes – Amorica." (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  19. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  20. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Black Crowes – Amorica." (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  21. ^ "Charts.nz – The Black Crowes – Amorica.". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  22. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  23. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – The Black Crowes – Amorica.". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  24. ^ "Swisscharts.com – The Black Crowes – Amorica.". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  25. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  26. ^ "The Black Crowes Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  27. ^ "British album certifications – Black Crowes". British Phonographic Industry.
  28. ^ "American album certifications – The Black Crowes – Amorica". Recording Industry Association of America.
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