| 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 | ||||
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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.
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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]
All tracks written by Adam Duritz unless otherwise indicated
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | The Billboard 200 | 1 |
| UK Albums Chart | 4 | |
| Australian Albums Chart | 7 | |
| 1997 | Billboard Top Canadian Albums | 19 |
| 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 |
| Organization | Level | Date |
|---|---|---|
| RIAA – U.S. | Gold | December 19, 1996 |
| Platinum | ||
| Double Platinum | June 6, 1997 | |
| BPI – UK | Gold | March 1, 1997 |
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.
| Preceded by Falling into You by Celine Dion |
Billboard 200 number-one album November 2–8, 1996 |
Succeeded by Best of Volume I by Van Halen |
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