Counting Crows Album: “Recovering the Satellites”

This is supposedly Adam Duritz's favorite of all their albums and it is mine as well. The Crows got their bearings on their instruments and are coupled with Duritz's painful lyrics. It is definetly the darker and moodier of their four studio albums and it worth a second listen. If you loved August and Everything After chances are you'll at least like this one.

It has been said that Counting Crows hit their peak once they made their debut album, "August and Everyhting After", but this is not true. While their debut is a classic for sure, their sophomore album, "Recovering the Satellites", is a masterpiece. Never have the Crows rocked harder or played better. The songwriting of Adam Duritz is perfected on this record. Never has something so outwardly sad become so uplifting and comforting. Duritz has a voice that is so personal, it can't help but touch you. The beauty of the songwriting is that it is just SO personal. There isn't always a need for the song to have a universal appeal towards everyone's emotions. Here we are allowed to look inside this man, to see what his life is like, and to know what is going on. Duritz paints beautiful and compelling pictures with this album's songs, but the accents placed on the music by Dan Vikery's guitar and Charlie Gillingham's Keyboard, along with the excellent low end of Matt Malley and rhythm of David Bryson. And by the way, Ben Mize....awesome drummer. Buy this album. If you feel anything at all, buy this album. If you like emotional, deep, dark music, you will love "Recovering the Satellites."

Ive listened to everything: from the Beatles to Pink Floyd, from Radiohead to U2, even Jazz, country, and indie music(Chet Baker, Garth Brooks, Elliot Smith). Im a musical-junkie like those guys from the book/movie "High Fidelity". And after years of musical journeys and discoveries, nothing satisfies my musical crave or touches my soul like the artistic-music created by the Counting Crows, and that goes espesially for this album.

For me, "Recoverig the Satellites" was like the diamond in the ruff; the needle in the haystack. I know people who recall having their lives changed by albums such as "abbey road" or "OK Computer", but to me, those cant even compare to the deep emotional and beautiful music captured inside this record. Lead singer, Adam Duritz, claims this his favorite one, and i totally understand why. The music is timeless. So i guess its pretty obvious, i'd recommend this cd above anything else out there.

My four favorites songs: Recovering the Satellites, Long December, Millers Angels, and Catapult.

ALSO: theres a couple crows songs that are absolutly amazing that you cant find on an album, you have to buy them on single-discs, or just download them, whatever you do - you must hear these: Chelsea(live album), Baby Im A Big Star Now(single), Mercy(single), someday(amazing cover song)

thx for reading,

Styck

counting crows is my favorite band. i started out with august and everything after, then i got this desert life, which was their recent album at the time, and then got the live cds which are awesome. i was always missing the second album, but i figured i covered most of those songs with the live cds, and i had also never heard anything truly positive about recovering the satellites. this past summer, a friend of mine had the cd, and i started listening to it. i could not stop. people couldn't understand why i didn't stop listening to this cd. in my opinion, it's incredible. august and everything after was a way for adam duritz to play around with his poetry, transforming it into music. this cd is counting crows really being a band, and an incredible band at that. they play around with the piano a lot more which is beautiful with duritz's voice. every song is good, i haven't found one that i don't like yet. contrary to popular belief, i think that this cd is by far their best. i recommend anyone to buy it and listen to it through. it's a true counting crows experience.

I became a huge Counting Crows fan about a year and a half ago, and the first purchase I made of theirs was-of course-'August and Everything After' and naturally, I was amazed!! I then had to go out and buy 'Recovering the Satellites'. I hurried home to put my new album on and to be honest, I was quite disappointed-it sounded really to different to 'August' and I was convinced that it would never grow on me. However, I persevered and listened to it a couple more times and I started to properly listen to the music and the lyrics and something just clicked-I loved it!! It may be different to what you are used to if you only have 'August' at the moment, but it has to be said that the change is not a bad one at all-if anything, it could be said that it is even more mature. The song and music writing is as good as ever and Adam Duritz is-of course-still fantastic!! As I listened to the album more and more, I began hearing and noticing new things-its one of those albums that you think you know really well and then one day when you put it on, you hear something that you'd missed before-you just keep discovering new things about each song and I think that is the beauty of this album!! Outstanding tracks to listen out for on the album are "Angels of the Silences", "Goodnight Elisabeth" (my absolute fav on the album-a really beautiful track), "Have You Seen Me Lately?", "Recovering the Satellites" and "Walkways". "Walkways" is a really clever song, it is purely acoustic with Adam singing over the top and its only just over a minute long!! "'I gotta rush away', she said, 'Been to Boston before, and anyway, this change I've been feeling, doesn't make the rain fall'"-brilliant track!!

So, do not despair!! If you already have it or are going to buy it-you may fall in love with it straight away!! Its true that you can really tell a distinct difference between this album and 'August', but I think it's a good thing because it shows that they are moving onwards and upwards and at least it can certainly be said that their songs do not sound the same!! 'August' was a fantastic debut for the Crows and in my opinion, it will never be bettered-so I am just thankful to the guys for doing their best and coming up with a brilliant second album!!! But take my advice-if you think you don't like it at first, just play it a few more times and you will understand why everyone thinks its such a good album!!