Be Myself

For other uses, see Be Myself (disambiguation).

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]

Be Myself
Studio album by Sheryl Crow
Released	April 21, 2017
Recorded	September 9 – October 16, 2016
Studio	Old Green Barn (Nashville, Tennessee)
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]

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]