August and Everything After

If you're just into listening to music and being happy, this one probably isn't for you, if you want to hear the work of a group of artist expressing themselfs, you won't be able to stop listening.


A Special Place in My Heart   March 15, 2001
ryad (Oak Harbor, WA USA)
18 out of 20 found this review helpful

This album changed my life in many ways. Nothing overt, it's not like I heard this album and then suddenly I found Jesus or something. No, it was more like Adam helped me see things a bit more clearly. I know a lot of people identified with his sense of lonliness and isolation and I am no exception. I wish I could say that I empathize with him and not sound corny. When I first heard "Round Here" I literally stopped in my tracks, and to this day it still turns my head. There's something about his turn of phrase and haunting vocals that take me away to another time in my life. Once I heard the whole CD I played and I played it and I played it and I kept playing it for months I listened to practically nothing else because each time I would find something new, something that I had missed before and I would fall in love all over again. Every single song on this album, even "Ghost Train" which is my least favorite track is worth the price of this album. How many other albums can that be said about? I know this is not only my opinion because for a while back there, EVERYONE had a copy of this album and most people I know still do. They may not like the later albums, but they all have this one. It help give a voice to a part of society that feels lonely, isolated and afraid. One thing I want to stress is the WAY he sings it out to you. It comes from the depths of his soul, I can't believe he can even move after concerts the way he reaches down in and pulls it out and has all that bitterness, happiness, sadness, and lonliness bleed all over everyone and everything. If you understand what I am trying to say rather poorly here and you don't have this album, you need to hear it, honestly. This is something special, something precious and I am so grateful Adam shared his feelings with the world. I wish I could thank him and not sound like I am after something because that's all I want to do is just say "Thank you, I appreciate your time." I love Counting Crows, and it's not fair to say the band is just Adam, because he also surrounded himself with extremely talented musicians and you'd have to hear them live to truly understand what I am talking about. If I could give one album to everyone in the world, it would be this one.


Reviews won't help   September 3, 2001
18 out of 20 found this review helpful

Many people have stories to tell about this album, about how it changed their life, helped through tough times, about how a particular song always makes them cry. I haven't experienced any of those, but it is still the most emotionally charged album I have ever heard. It is not the kind of music I usually listen to - I usually go for harder bands - but once i had listened to this album properly, absorbing every heart rending facet of Adam Duritz' moving, touching, emphatic vocals I was hooked. This album has so many classics - Round Here, Mr Jones, Anna Begins, Murder of One - that a day rarely goes by 3 months and 6 albums later that I don't listen to some of it. The truths contained within the lyrics are timeless, the emotion within the singing heartfelt - by both Adam and you. The music mostly serves to lift Adam's vocals to a new level, enhancing and augmenting it. Really, though, it is impossible to tell whether or not you like other than sitting down and listening to it properly. No amount of reviews can really help you with this CD - if I had read a description of the music (country/folk/soft rock) before hand, or the bands they are compared to, I never would have bought it. But I did, and I'm glad, as it is one of my favourite albums. Just try it. It's also worth noting that if you really want something rockier you can get Recovering the Sattelites, but this is the classic and really should be your first Counting Crows album.


The Crows's Debut is a Classic   September 12, 2002
Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA)
16 out of 24 found this review helpful

The Counting Crows's "August and Everything After" launched the band into the rock stratosphere with several huge radio (and video) hits. Featuring the appealing vocals of leader Adam Duritz and some excellent, hook laden songwriting, it is an album worthy of the hype. Though the band was strongly identified with modern rock, their sound is actually a throwback to country-tinged 1970s classic rock. This point is emphasized by the fact that Lone Justice's Maria McKee and two members of the alternative country band The Jayhawks appear on the album.

The most well known tracks are the singles "Mr. Jones," "A Murder of One" and "Round Here," which are augmented by excellent album tracks such as "Sullivan Street," "Ohmaha," and "Rain King." Only a few less successful songs here and there keep the album out of true five star territory.

Overall, a fine debut that has also been to date the most successful album of the Counting Crows's career.


Crows Fly High   December 21, 2000
Thomas Magnum (NJ, USA)
15 out of 17 found this review helpful

August & Everything After is the amazing debut from Counting Crows. They mix the lyrical stylings of Van Morrison and the rustic sounds of The Band with a dash of U2 thrown in for good measure. But despite these obvious influences, they band has a fresh and unique sound all their own. Adam Duritz uses a sharp pen in his writing and he has one of the most soulful and expressive voices in music. He practically bleeds on songs like somber "Round Here", the condemning of suburban life of "Perfect Blue Buildings" and the gorgeous and lilting "Sullivan Street". "Anna Begins" is a sweet love song and "Rain King" has a soaring sound to it. "Murder Of One" closes the album in a U2-esque, spiritual like rocker. "Mr. Jones" was the breakout song from the album and the one that gained the band large airplay. It is an immediate classic with a memorable guitar riff and vivid lyrics. Mr. Duritz says he wants to Bob Dylan in the song and he comes damn close on the song. The album was an alternative to the alternative music that dominated the airways at the time. The album was heaped with well-deserved praise, as it is one of the ten best of the 90's.