of Jeff Beck Group-era Rod Stewart, Chris Robinson's vocals sound better than ever, and the band has tightened into the kind of Southern-rock machine Lynyrd Skynyrd eventually became. But the Crowes still haven't fully found their focus. Three Snakes works best when it forsakes album-oriented pretension for singular clarity, from the oblique Beatles references on "Nebakanezer" and "Bring On, Bring On" to the Sly Stone-cum-Al Green funk of "(Only) Halfway to Everywhere" and the warm acoustic resignation of "Better When You're Not Alone." (RS 740)

EDDIE HUFFMAN