Counting Crows
Recovering The Satellites

THE REVIEW

It was 1996. Another damn autumn. Autumn depresses me, I don't know about you...
But I knew that year I had a good reason to face it with a little less depression.
Yes, indeed... Counting Crows were about to release their second album, after that masterpiece which is August And Everything After.
The wait had become spasmodic. On October 15, 1996, I was holding in my sweaty, trembling hands the long-desired CD, dark green, with that comet star...

When I listen to an album from a band I love for the first time, I feel the same sensation as when you meet old friends after a long time. And a lot of silence. And you have so many things to tell each other... Adam Duritz really has a lot to say, with his voice, with his melodies that enter your head and gift you images sometimes dim, sometimes terribly clear...
I have always been amazed at how and how much my life is reflected in the music of Counting Crows.

This second album is different from their first; on the first listen, it appears a bit darker, a bit edgier. Dan Vickrey's guitar (a new addition to the band) is definitely noticeable in these 14 tracks. The album is a succession of emotions and moods, of images and melodies, of laments and moments of reflection.
From the compelling rhythms of "Angel Of The Silences" and "Have You Seen Me Lately" to the unforgettable ballads "Goodnight Elisabeth" and "A Long December." I listened to the latter live, with Adam on the piano... I still get chills now!
Let me mention two more: "Miller's Angels," beautiful, and "Walkaways," an acoustic gem, a small diamond to cherish among the most precious things.

That autumn eventually passed... even to the notes of these songs. When we're with our dearest friends, time always seems to run away fast... it happens to me that way. Also thanks to Adam and the Counting Crows.