Recovering the Satellites

Recovering the Satellites
Studio album by Counting Crows
Released	October 14, 1996 (1996-10-14)
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
Counting Crows chronology
August and Everything After (1993) Recovering The Satellites (1996) Across a Wire: Live in New York City (1998)

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 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 producer Gil Norton for Recovering the Satellites.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Entertainment Weekly	C[2]
The Independent	(unfavorable)[3]
Q	[4]
Rolling Stone	[5]
Spin	(6/10)[4]

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".^[5]

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.^[1]

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".^[2]

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

• David Bryson – guitars, Dobro, tambourine, vocals
• Adam Duritz – piano, tambourine, Wurlitzer, vocals
• Charlie Gillingham – Hammond B-3, piano, Mellotron, Wurlitzer, accordion, harmonica, vocals, string arrangements on "Daylight Fading", "I'm Not Sleeping", and "Another Horsedreamer's Blues"
• Matt Malley – electric bass guitar, double bass, vocals
• Ben Mize – drums, tambourine, percussion, light bulbs, Zippo lighter, vocals
• Dan Vickrey – guitars, vocals

Additional musicians

• Paul Buckmaster – Orchestra conductor on "Daylight Fading", "I'm Not Sleeping", and "Another Horsedreamer's Blues"
• Marvin Etzione – mandolin on "Mercury"
• David Immerglück – pedal steel guitar and octave mandolin on "Miller's Angels"

Charts

Album

Singles

Certifications

References

External links

• Official website (archived)
• Retrospective by The A.V. Club