- Recovering the Satellites
-
Recovering the Satellites 
Studio album by Counting Crows Released October 14, 1996 Recorded January–March 1996, Hollywood, San Francisco and The Sound Factory, Hollywood Genre Alternative rock Length 59:22 Label Geffen Producer Gil Norton Counting Crows chronology August and Everything After
(1993)Recovering The Satellites
(1996)Across a Wire: Live in New York City
(1998)Recovering the Satellites is the second album by Counting Crows, released on October 14, 1996 in the United Kingdom and two days later in the United States. Released three years (and two years of relentless worldwide touring) after their debut album, it reached #1 in the United States and was a top seller in Australia, Canada, and the UK as well.
For this album, the quintet became a sextet, with fellow San Franciscan Dan Vickrey added, contributing a second guitar as well as sharing in songwriting credits on four of the fourteen tracks. Steve Bowman was replaced as drummer by Ben Mize.
Counting Crows brought in famed producer Gil Norton for Recovering the Satellites.
Contents
Reception
Writing for Rolling Stone, Anthony DeCurtis gave the album a star rating of four out of five stars. He said that the band's second album develops the sounds of August and Everything After and that they "largely achieve their serious ambitions". He praised Adam Duritz' lyrics and called the album "deeply satisfying".[1]
In a review for Allmusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album a rating of four stars out of five. He called it a "self-consciously challenging response" to their successful debut album. He described the songs as "slightly more somber" than those on the first album but "more affecting". He noted an occasional "pretentiousness" on the album but praised "A Long December" as particularly articulate.[2]
Andy Gill from The Independent gave the album a more negative review. He criticized Duritz' song-writing as "self-pity[ing]" and called him a "classic solipsistic soul-barer, he just won't shut up about himself". He called the album "bland" with "obvious" influences (including R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen and Lynyrd Skynyrd). Gill had some praise for producer Gil Norton's work on the album.[3]
In a review for Entertainment Weekly, Ken Tucker also had negative feelings about the album, and gave it a "C" grade. He criticized Duritz' "yowling" and "moans" and called Counting Crows a "pastiche of its influences".[4]
Track listing
All tracks written by Adam Duritz unless otherwise indicated
- "Catapult" (Duritz, David Bryson, Charlie Gillingham, Matt Malley, Dan Vickrey, Ben Mize) – 3:34
- "Angels of the Silences" (Duritz, Gillingham) – 3:39
- "Daylight Fading" (Duritz, Vickrey, Gillingham) – 3:50
- "I'm Not Sleeping" – 4:57
- "Goodnight Elisabeth" – 5:20
- "Children in Bloom" – 5:23
- "Have You Seen Me Lately?" – 4:11
- "Miller's Angels" (Duritz, Vickrey) – 6:33
- "Another Horsedreamer's Blues" – 4:32
- "Recovering the Satellites" – 5:24
- "Monkey" – 3:02
- "Mercury" – 2:48
- "A Long December" – 4:57
- "Walkaways" (Duritz, Vickrey) – 1:12
Personnel
- Counting Crows
- David Bryson – guitars, Dobro, tambourine, vocals
- Adam Duritz – piano, tambourine, Wurlitzer, vocals
- Charlie Gillingham – Hammond B-3, piano, Mellotron, Wurlitzer, accordion, harmonica, vocals, string arrangements on 3, 4, 9
- Matt Malley – electric bass guitar, double bass, vocals
- Ben Mize – drums, tambourine, light bulbs, Zippo lighter, vocals
- Dan Vickrey – guitars, vocals
- Additional musicians
- Paul Buckmaster – Orchestra conductor on 3, 4, 9
- David Immerglück – pedal steel guitar on 8, octave mandolin on 8
- Marvin Etzione – mandolin on 12
Charts
- Album
Year Chart Position 1996 The Billboard 200 1 UK Albums Chart 4 Australian Albums Chart 7 1997 Billboard Top Canadian Albums 19 - Singles
Year Single Chart Position 1996 "Angels of the Silences" Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 4 Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 3 "A Long December" Billboard Adult Top 40 6 Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 9 Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 5 Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 7 1997 "Daylight Fading" Billboard Adult Top 40 20 Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 24 Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 26 Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 26 Billboard Top 40 Adult Recurrents 2 "Have You Seen Me Lately?" Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 34 Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 34 Certifications
Organization Level Date RIAA – U.S. Gold December 19, 1996 Platinum Double Platinum June 6, 1997 BPI – UK Gold March 1, 1997 Covers
The song Goodnight Elisabeth has been covered by the Dutch duo 'Acda & De Munnik' as 'Slaap zacht, Elisabeth' for their 1998 album Naar Huis.
Dutch duo Nick & Simon covered Angels Of The Silences for the limited edition of their 2010 album Fier.
References
- ^ DeCurtis, Anthony (November 4, 1996), "Counting Crows: Recovering the Satellites", Rolling Stone (Wenner Media), archived from the original on April 22, 2009, http://replay.web.archive.org/20090120185303/http://rollingstone.com/artists/countingcrows/albums/album/201223/review/6067405/recovering_the_satellites, retrieved April 26, 2011
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas, "Recovering the Satellites: Review", Allmusic (Rovi Corporation), http://www.allmusic.com/album/recovering-the-satellites-r241489/review, retrieved April 26, 2011
- ^ Gill, Andy (October 11, 1996), "Album Reviews: Counting Crows Recovering the Satellites", The Independent (Independent Print Limited), http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/album-reviews-counting-crows-recovering-the-satellites-1357794.html, retrieved April 26, 2011
- ^ Tucker, Ken (October 25, 1996), "Recovering the Satellites", Entertainment Weekly (Time Warner), http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,294676,00.html, retrieved April 26, 2011
External links
Preceded by
Falling into You by Celine DionBillboard 200 number-one album
November 2–8, 1996Succeeded by
Best of Volume I by Van HalenCategories:- 1996 albums
- Albums produced by Gil Norton
- Counting Crows albums
- English-language albums
- Geffen Records albums
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