With its first two albums, The Black Crowes appeared willing and able to carry the torch for the defunct Faces and the aging Stones. Alas, too many drugs and too much infighting sapped the band's energy and blurred its focus on albums No. 3 and 4, which were largely comprised of self-indulgent twaddle. Fans of The Black Crowes can now breathe a sign of relief, however, as the Atlanta group has revamped its lineup, signed to a new label (Columbia), hired a new producer (Kevin Shirley, of Aerosmith and Silverchair fame) and rediscovered the soulfulness and spirit that infused Shake Your Money Maker and The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion. Best of all, the new songs are as hard and tightly packed as a diamond. Go Faster is all hopped-up on bloozy guitar riffs and is as auspicious an album opener as Exile on Main Street's Rocks Off. The title track has the loose-limbed gait of Tumblin' Dice, and the impressive trio of Only A Fool, Welcome to the Goodtimes and Diamond Ring bring some Memphis R&B into the mix via beefy Hammond organ and gritty horn arrangements. Rich Robinson handles all the guitar chores and sounds like Mick Taylor and Keith Richards in one considerably younger package, while sibling Chris somehow evokes Rod Stewart's raspiness and Paul Rodgers' bluster simultaneously. A boozy, swaggering good-time record, then, approximately a million times better than Bridges to Babylon.