With their angst-filled hybrid of
Van Morrison,
the Band, and
R.E.M.,
Counting Crows became an overnight sensation in 1994.
Only a year earlier, Counting Crows was a group of unknown
musicians, filling in for the absent
Van Morrison at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony;
they were introduced by an enthusiastic
Robbie Robertson. Early in 1993, Counting Crows recorded their
debut album, August & Everything After, with
T-Bone Burnett; it was released in the fall. It was a
dark, somber record, driven by the morose lyrics and
expressive vocals of
Adam Duritz; the only up-tempo song, "Mr. Jones," became
their ticket to stardom. What made
Counting Crows was how they were able to balance
Duritz's tortured lyrics with the sound of the late '60s and
early '70s; it made Counting Crows one of the few alternative bands to
appeal to listeners who thought that rock & roll died in
1972. Recovering the Satellites followed in 1996, and in
1998 they issued the two-disc Across a Wire--Live in New
York.
Counting Crows' third studio album, This Desert Life,
appeared in 1999. In the midst of recording and
collaborating with Ryan Adams on his sophomore album Gold, Duritz joined
Counting Crows in the studio as well. The fruit of
those sessions was the Steve Lillywhite-produced fourth
album Hard Candy. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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