Recovering the Satellites

Recovering the Satellites
A green cover with a crude drawing of a star and the name of the album and artist's names scrawled on it
Studio album by Counting Crows
Released October 15, 1996 (1996-10-15)
Recorded January–March 1996, Hollywood, San Francisco and The Sound Factory, Hollywood
Genre Alternative rock
Length 59:22
Language English
Label Geffen
Producer Gil Norton, Marvin Etzioni
Counting Crows chronology
August and Everything After
(1993)August and Everything After1993		 Recovering The Satellites
(1996)		 Across a Wire: Live in New York City
(1998)Across a Wire: Live in New York City1998
Singles from Recovering the Satellites
  1. "Angels of the Silences"
    Released: September 23, 1996
  2. "A Long December"
    Released: December 1996
  3. "Daylight Fading"
    Released: May 20, 1997

Recovering the Satellites is the second studio album by Counting Crows, released on October 15, 1996, in the United States. Released three years (and two years of 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 years, Adam Duritz felt this was his favorite album by the band.[1]

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 producer Gil Norton for Recovering the Satellites. (The track "Miller's Angels" was produced by Marvin Etzioni.)

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Entertainment WeeklyC[3]
The Independent(unfavorable)[4]
Q[5]
Rolling Stone[6]
Spin(6/10)[5]

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's lyrics and called the album "deeply satisfying".[6]

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's 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.[4]

In a review for Entertainment Weekly, Ken Tucker also had negative feelings about the album, and gave it a "C" grade. He criticized Duritz's "yowling" and "moans" and called Counting Crows a "pastiche of its influences".[3]

Track listing

All tracks written by Adam Duritz unless otherwise indicated

  1. "Catapult" (Duritz, David Bryson, Charlie Gillingham, Matt Malley, Dan Vickrey, Ben Mize) – 3:34
  2. "Angels of the Silences" (Duritz, Gillingham) – 3:39
  3. "Daylight Fading" (Duritz, Vickrey, Gillingham) – 3:50
  4. "I'm Not Sleeping" – 4:57
  5. "Goodnight Elisabeth" – 5:20
  6. "Children in Bloom" – 5:23
  7. "Have You Seen Me Lately?" – 4:11
  8. "Miller's Angels" (Duritz, Vickrey) – 6:33
  9. "Another Horsedreamer's Blues" – 4:32
  10. "Recovering the Satellites" – 5:24
  11. "Monkey" – 3:02
  12. "Mercury" – 2:48
  13. "A Long December" – 4:57
  14. "Walkaways" (Duritz, Vickrey) – 1:12

Personnel

Counting Crows
Additional musicians

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

References

  1. ↑ http://lipulse.com/2016/08/11/adam-duritz-reconnecting-rob-thomas/
  2. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Recovering the Satellites: Review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved April 26, 2011.
  3. 1 2 Tucker, Ken (October 25, 1996). "Recovering the Satellites Review". Entertainment Weekly. Time Warner. Retrieved April 26, 2011.
  4. 1 2 Gill, Andy (October 11, 1996). "Album Reviews: Counting Crows Recovering the Satellites". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Retrieved April 26, 2011.
  5. 1 2 "Counting Crows - Recovering the Satellites CD Album". CD Universe. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
  6. 1 2 DeCurtis, Anthony (November 4, 1996). "Counting Crows: Recovering the Satellites". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Archived from the original on April 22, 2009. Retrieved April 26, 2011.
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