Reviews
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | |
Trouser Press said of the album:
- (DeVille) begins Crow Jane Alley on a dubious note with "Chieva," an ambivalent song about recovering from heroin addiction, but then turns his attention to romance and gets it all right. His renditions of Bryan Ferry's "Slave to Love" and Jay and the Americans' "Come a Little Bit Closer" bring their own drama and gravity to the material, while such homemade numbers as the convincingly authentic mojo-wielding "Muddy Waters Rose Out of the Mississippi Mud," the surging "Right There, Right Then" and the rustic waltztime "(Don't Have a) Change of Heart" are small strokes of heartfelt majesty.
Richard Marcus said of the album, “Crow Jane Alley is the work of an artist who after thirty plus years in the business still has the ability to surprise and delight his listeners. Listening to this disc only confirms that Willy DeVille is one of the greats who have been ignored for too long.
Allmusic said, "Crow Jane Alley is a very respectable collection from this journeyman, starting off with the single 'Chieva' and continuing with DeVille's novel exploration of sound and clever merging of styles."
Uncut said, "DeVille continues to excel at conjuring new tricks from old genres — Drifters-scented barrio pop, booming melodrama and accordion-laced trysts are rendered with verve and sensitivity. An ill-conceived Tom Waits/Captain Beefheart-style Muddy Waters tribute and the dreary "Slave To Love" apart, a welcome slice of swamp-pop heaven."
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