Counting Crows - August and Everything After

It's amazing the difference a year makes. Upon its release, August and Everything After sounded remarkably fresh, a welcome change from the crunch and screech of grunge. Blending the vocal athleticism of Van Morrison with the moody rock of The Band, the Counting Crows turned on a whole legion of fans turned off by modern rock. But what sounded fresh soon became stale as dozens of bands flocked to the radio with euthanized versions of the Counting Crows' sound. But you shouldn't hold that against the Crow boys. August and Everything After is a fantastic rock album. Though "Mr. Jones" was the moneymaker, the disc features such standout cuts as the dark lilt of "Anna Begins," the morose "Rain King," and the outstanding U2-meets-Grant Lee Buffalo anthem "Murder of One." Maybe time, and another listen, will heal the damage wrought. --Tod Nelson Amazon.com

 One of the best albums of the past 20 years
This is one of the best albums of at least the past 20 years!!!! It just NEVER GETS OLD! If you have only ever heard 1 or 2 songs from it; Do yourself a favor and give the entire album a listen! Every single song on it is amazing and heart felt. April 2, 2008

 A great debut album
This was like a breath of fresh air when it first came out. The only reason that it doesn't get five stars is that it tails off a little in places. When it does work though, the singles are fantastic. Everyone has heard "Mr. Jones" a million times. "Omaha" is a great tune with a country type feel to it. "Round Here" is also noteworthy. To me the prize on the disc is "Rain King" a fantastic pop/rock song.

The sad thing is that the debut album of the Crows is also their strongest album. There have been flashes since with singles like "Hanginaround" but nothing as a whole that lives up to "August and Everything After." March 27, 2008

 ahhhhhhh Adam!
Adam Duritz's voice is like ...having a 'good' cry...a a hot cup of tea, brandy in front of a fire with a lover, a warm slipper on a sore foot at the end of a hard day. I LOVE his voice, and the way he paints pictures with words. What a unique and talented band! This CD is a top ten classic! Lisa in CT February 14, 2008

 (3.5 stars) Likeable, but there are much better examples of alternative rock out there
This was a massive hit. In fact, it established them as one of the biggest bands of the early '90s that had nothing to do with grunge at all. The critics hated the group then and aren't big on them now, but I think they're pretty good. Not great or anything, but I'd put them at around the level of Stone Temple Pilots, or even (watch every rock critic sharpen their knives right now) the White Stripes - a group who makes enjoyable music at times, but whose albums are ultimately derivative and bogged down in filler. There were several single here, and they're all enjoyable: "'Round Here" is a vivid ballad that occasionally breaks into funk; "Omaha" rides an enjoyable sea-chanty melody; the optimistic "I-wanna-be-a-star" "Mr. Jones" is certainly one of the catchiest singles of the '90s (little story: I used to sing along with it when I was two, along with a zillion Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Red Hot Chili Peppers hits - this was before I understood that their lyrical content wasn't exactly something someone would want to hear a three-year-old sing), even though the lyrics are a bit stupid at times ("I felt so symbolic that day!" - good for you), and "Rain King", one of the group's few rockers, is quite a song. But if you take off the singles? Eh... it's easy on the ears, and none of these songs suck (except for "A Murder of One", the closest the group ever came to RAAAWWK!), but some of these tracks are flat five-minute bores ("Perfect Blue Buildings"; "Time and Time Again"; "Sullivan Street"), and while some of it is in an admirable folk-rock vein ("Anna Begins"), none of the album tracks come anywhere near the singles. I mean, if you take off any of them this would just be a pleasant but dull bit of retro folk-rock blatantly influenced by Van Morrison and Bob Dylan (not like there's anything wrong with that, because I love Van and Bob a lot more than Counting Crows, that's for sure), but off the power of those songs alone this album is elevated from "pretty but mediocre" to "above-average". I think the best song that wasn't a single is "Ghost Train", which does have a nice, organ-driven vibe once it actually starts. I like that piano part on "Raining in Baltimore", too, though I think I've heard it somewhere. Now, I don't love either of these songs - we must remember that "Raining in Baltimore" has an accordion - but they're good. Oh, and I've got mixed feelings about Adam Duritz's infamous voice. He's sure emotional, but when he breaks into that quivery falsetto... that's when it gets hit-or-miss, with the biggest "hit" being on "Mr. Jones" and the biggest "miss" being at the end of "Rain King". And he's got dumb hair. White guys shouldn't have dreadlocks. The rest of the group is competent, but they just don't do much for me. I mean, how many Counting Crows songs just jump at you with some astounding guitar solo? None. It's about the songwriting, which is inconsistent. Whatever.
February 1, 2008

 Love this album
I've thought about this album for a while and it really has a lot of well known classic Counting Crows songs. I highly recommend it as an introduction to anyone who doesn't know the music of this band. December 30, 2007

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