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Recovering the Satellites | 
| Artist: Counting Crows
Label: Geffen Records
List Price: $13.98
Buy Used: $0.48
You Save: $13.50 (97%)
New (61) Used (123) Collectible (9) from $0.48
Rating:  141 reviews
Sales Rank: 3581
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 4.9 x 0.4
MPN: 24975
UPC: 720642497524
EAN: 0720642497524
ASIN: B000000OVA
Release Date: October 15, 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: disc and insert only, no jewel case. cd plays fine.
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| Tracks:
| • | Catapult | | • | Angels Of The Silences | | • | Daylight Fading | | • | I'm Not Sleeping | | • | Goodnight Elisabeth | | • | Children In Bloom | | • | Have You Seen Me Lately? | | • | Miller's Angels | | • | Another's Horsedreamer's Blues | | • | Recovering The Satellites | | • | Monkey | | • | Mercury | | • | A Long December | | • | Walkaways |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Recovering the Satellites may not be quite the tower of song that the Crows' debut August and Everything After was, but it could hardly be called a sophomore slump. Vocalist Adam Duritz and crew mine similar territory on the more densely produced Satellites, couching tales of dreamers, lovers, and losers in music that's part classic rock redux and part heartfelt folk jangle. As able as the band is though, it remains Duritz's show, and his plaintive voice and serpentine lyrics are what drive this record home, particularly on "Daylight Fading," "Miller's Angels" and the aching hit "A Long December." --Michael Ruby
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| Customer Reviews: Read 136 more reviews...
 By far Counting Crows' best album August 7, 2000
Chuck (Ohio)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
While this may not be a popular opinion, I have always felt that "Recovering the Satellites" is the best album Counting Crows have put out. Duritz's lyrics, which can come across as whiny and annoying when set to a calmer backdrop, are embodied perfectly in this infused set of driven, artsy rock compositions. The tasteful, sparse use of strings throughout the album enhances the emotional impact of the songs, and the wide variety of song structures and styles brings an almost epic scope to the album. You will find the Crows exploring everything from straight-ahead power rock ("Angels of the Silences") to country-tinged pop/rock ("Daylight Fading") to more colorful explorations of sound and style ("Mercury") to the piano/jangly rock Counting Crows are known for ("Goodnight Elizabeth"). Yet despite this wide stylistic scope, "Recovering the Satellites" feels like a complex and rich journey that unfolds, climaxes, and resolves itself with wondrous grace. The hooks present on this album are stronger than any on their debut (with the exception of the overplayed single "Mr. Jones") and the generally harder sound just makes for a more engaging listen. After the excellence of "Recovering the Satellites", I suspected that they would have trouble producing a worthy follow-up, and behold -- "This Desert Life" was simply a regression to the more predictable classic-rock influenced "August and Everything After". There is no doubt in my mind that this has much to do with the lukewarm reception of "Recovering the Satellites", which alarmed many fans who preferred the folkier sound of their debut. One can only hope that they will once again get motivated to explore new musical ground and refuse to stick to predictable formats simply to satisfy fans.
As The Crows Fly December 21, 2000
Thomas Magnum (NJ, USA)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
Recovering The Satellites is the Counting Crows follow-up to their monster hit August & Everything After. While it is not as immediately accessible as their radio-friendly debut was, this album is a step forward creatively and artistically. The sound on the album is richer and more dense and Adam Duritz's lyrics more searching and mature. The band really came into its own with this release. Songs like the "Another Horsedreamers Blues" which contains a heavy orchestration and biting lyrics show their growth. The band still knows how to grab your ear with the hard driving "Angels Of The Silence", the strong title track, the soaring "A Long December" and the jangling "Daylight Fading". The best track on the album is the sweet and touching "Goodnight Elisabeth" which Mr. Duritz sings with understated grace. While it isn't the classic their debut is, the band showed it wasn't a fluke and they lived up to the potential that the first album created.
you're not giving it enough credit June 21, 2004
Charlotte R. Barbercheck (Petoskey, MI United States)
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
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.
Counting Crows Add a Harder Edge to their Innovative Sound September 4, 2004
L.A. Scene (Indian Trail, NC USA)
7 out of 12 found this review helpful
When the Counting Crows released their second album, "Recovering the Satellites", I knew the band would be facing the sophomore challenge of following up the highly successful album "August and Everything After". One thing that I feel made "August and Everything After" such a great album is that at the time it was released, it was groundbreaking. The material you hear on that album would be one of the pioneering sounds to the grunge/alternative rock sound that dominates the airwaves of today's music scene. "August and Everything After" had shown that Counting Crows had all of the seeds of being a big name group. A lot of times, groups don't live up to those expectations (i.e. remember the Hooters back in the 80s were being touted as the next big group and never lived up to expectations). The good news is the Counting Crows deliver a pretty good album in "Recovering the Satellites". They explore a new avenue in delivering a harder edged sound to some of the material, but also stick with the formula that worked on their debut album (i.e. folk and grunge influences). "Recovering the Satellites" shows the Counting Crows have lost no momentum from "August and Everything After" - proving there was no sophomore jinx for the band.
There are some slight changes in the lineup of the band. Lead singer, pianist and songwriter Adam Duritz returns along with Piano Player Charlie Gillingham, guitarist and bass player Matt Malley, and guitarist David Bryson. Gone is drummer Steve Bowman, who would then go on to be one of the founding musicians of Third Eye Blind. Ben Mize takes Bowman's place. Also added to the band is guitarist Dan Vickey. Perhaps the addition of Dan Vickey on guitars adds to the harder rock edge seen on this particular album.
The opening song "Catapult" is a nice song. You'll hear more of the harder rock edge immediately - especially from the guitar side of the band. Adam Duritz's vocals don't lose a step and the songwriting continues to have thought provoking lyrics. Another thing is that many of the songs on this collection seem to build to crescendos and it is a good thing. The second song "Angels of the Silences" has the hardest edge to it - the guitars are in full swing. Once again, there is a terrific ending to the song as Duritz sings "I'm Gone! I'm Gone!" toward the end. The fourth song "I'm Not Sleeping" continues the hard edge and crescendo theme. It is on this song, I can see some parallels with a band that came around later in the decade - Matchbox 20. "I'm Not Sleeping" has a crescendo and wraps up as Duritz sings "Rain Rain Go Away, Come Again Some Other Day" (also for those who are having children listening, there is a four letter word dropped in this song). Another sound that also has the harder edge and has a Matchbox 20 feel is "Monkey". "Monkey" is probably the most Matchbox 20 sounding song on the album. "Children in Bloom" and "Have You Seen Me Lately" while not as strong an overall song as the previous songs I mentioned, still maintain the theme of the harder sound - and both songs have a nice ending.
Despite the influence of the harder sound, there is still much more of the Classic Alternative Sound you will hear. The songs that fall into this category on "Recovering the Satellites" aren't quite as good you heard on "August and Everything After". "Miller's Angels" has much of the classic keyboard sound heard on the first album. "Miller's Angels" will contain plenty of the trademark Duritz metaphors. On the song "Mercury", there is some nice harmonica work by Charlie Gillingham and it really brings back that folksy feel. Other songs that I would say fall into this category are "Goodnight Elisabeth" and "Daylight Fading". The final track of the collection "Walkaways" starts out as "Classic Counting Crows" and it sounds pretty good - however it is only one minute long and definitely ends prematurely.
Two songs actually seem to have a good balance between the Classic Sound and the Harder Edge I have referred to. These are two pretty strong songs on the album - especially from the lyrics side. "A Long December" has some great piano and harmonica to start out. but about 2 minutes into the song - you'll hear the harder edge. This is a great song about "being on the road" and as is typical with Adam Duritz's lyrics - lots of metaphors. "Another Horsedreamer's Blues" also balances the two sounds. This is a song about horse racing and is another prime example of why Adam Duritz is one of the most underrated songwriters in the industry.
The weakest song is "Recovering the Satellites". This keeps to the harder rock theme. You'll see another 4 letter word in here (again for those who have children listening). I find this song the most boring on the album. They could have picked a better song to be the title track of the album.
The liner notes contain all band and songwriting credits. The lyrics are included for all of the songs, however I did find at times the lyrics didn't match up 100% to the song. Overall, I like the fact that Counting Crows changed things up a bit with the harder edge sound. I find - like most "alternative rock" bands, I can't listen over and over to the work without getting bored. This is not a reflection of Counting Crows as much as it is a reflection on what I think is a problen with "alternative rock". However, I do feel Counting Crows is clearly one of the better and more innovative "alternative rock" bands. This is an album worth checking out.
The best Crows album May 17, 2000
Carl B. Walker (North Cali)
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
Yes, you heard me, better than the multi-platinum all-over-radio critical-hit "August and Everything After." To me, half of the songs on that disc just seem a little flat and meandering. In contrast, every single song on "Recovering the Satellites" just hits me with the spectacular song writing and instrumenation. Although it is best known for the overplayed "A Long December," "Daylight Fading" was actually the best single off the CD. "Another Horsedreamer's Blues" impresses with its orchestral majesty and biting lyrics. "Children in Bloom" really makes you feel the bleakness of the situation Adam Duritz portrays while still making for great listening. "Goodnight Elizabeth" and "Mercury" provide the Crows take on forlorn blues/folk tunes, and "Angels of the Silences" and "I'm Not Sleeping" rock harder than any other tunes they have put out. The complexity of the songwriting, the louder rock sound of some songs, or the variety of styles helped turn many old fans off of the Crows with this album, but in fact I think these factors make it one of the best CDs I own. Give it a try!
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