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Recovering the Satellites

Counting Crows

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Album Review

For their second album, Recovering the Satellites, Counting Crows crafted a self-consciously challenging response to their unexpected success. Throughout the record, Adam Duritz contemplates his loss of privacy and sudden change of fortunes, among other angst-ridden subjects. In one sense, it's no different from the subjects that dominated August and Everything After, yet his outlook is lacking the muted joy that made "Mr. Jones" into a hit. Similarly, the music is slightly more somber, yet the approach is harder and more direct, which gives even the ballads a more affecting, visceral feel. Recovering the Satellites occasionally bogs down in its own pretentiousness — for a roots rock band, the group certainly has a lot of artsy goals — yet when they scale back their ambitions to simple folk-rock, such as on the single "A Long December," they are at their most articulate.

Customer Reviews

Don't write this album off

Like "August & Everything After" the best part of this album is the lyrics, it would be a average album at best if it wasn't. Listening to the slow and sometimes hurt Adam makes the lyrics put on a new dynamic, something more then what is said...this being said, if you can stand to listen to this slow and "depressing" album and still love it then most people would be impressed. After listening to AAEA listen to this album, but carefully listen and try not to listen to the entire album all at once. This is a great album so just drink it in slowly don't just write this album off before you have really heard it.

Solid, but without a doubt a step down from August and Everything After (AAEA)

The band definitely takes a heavier, less acoustic approach to their 2nd album, and unfortunately it's not as good as AAEA (but realistically, I don't know of another album by anyone that's as good as AAEA so maybe expecting an encore is too much to ask). This album takes longer to grow on you, but once it does, there is some solid stuff here. Goodnight Elisabeth eventually moved into my top 5 CC songs, A Long December immediately moved there (it's the poppiest song here), and Mercury is brilliant for anyone who has ever felt the frustration of loving someone who's emotionally unstable. Walkaways is worth listening to, albeit a little on the short side. Some great tunes here for sure, but not nearly as strong top-to-bottom like AAEA. I gave it a 3, but really, it's more of a 3 1/2 for me.

Biography

Formed: August, 1991 in San Francisco, CA

Genre: Rock

Years Active: '90s, '00s, '10s

With their angst-filled hybrid of Van Morrison, the Band, and R.E.M., Counting Crows became an overnight sensation in 1994. Only a year earlier, the band was a group of unknown musicians, filling in for the absent Van Morrison at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony; they were introduced by an enthusiastic Robbie Robertson. Early in 1993, the band recorded their debut album, August and Everything After, with T-Bone Burnett. Released the fall, it was a dark and somber record, driven by the morose...
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