The departure (via fax) of guitarist Mark Ford, whose work over the years has helped the Crowes avoid boilerplate southern rock, makes Warpaint a somewhat transitional affair, seven long years in the making. Faced with all the personal and professional turbulence, the band retreats into a well-trod comfort zone: blues-heavy rockers ("Wounded Bird") and power ballads ("There's Gold in Them Hills"). Overall, it isn't their best, but when "Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution" opens with a tambourine groove and Exile guitars, it demonstrates how well they've aged.