Across a Wire

Thank God! Finally, a new album from Counting Crows; while only one song of this double cd set is a non-album song, the new perspectives and rhythms introduced in this album make it a great addition. I first began listening to the Crows in '95 or so. Picked up August and Everything After while on vacation and instantly fell in love witht he band. Because I was a late follower, it wasn't long to wait before Recovering the Satellites hit the stores in '96. But since then I've been longing for new material, new songs.

Typically, I can listen to an album for about three or four months before I get burned out on it; but not the case with the Crows. Their two albums have always been the constants of my collection. I found out about Across A Wire while online one night, when I decided to visit the Crows website [www.countingcrows.com]. I noticed a photo of an album cover in the upper corner and realized it was -- to my pleasant astonishment -- a new album from the band! I was slightly dismayed to discover that it was only a live cd, but my dismay was overcome momentarily when I read about the album and the fresh versions of their time-honored songs.

One thing about live albums: they are, typically, used as teasers. A band will release a hit album one year, but realize it's going to take them two more years to cut their follow-up, and so they cut a live disc to whet the audience's appetite while they begin the final year before their second release. So if the Crows follow this tradition, we may not see an album for them til mid-'99 or even -- God forbid -- as late as the year 2000.

After August and Everything After, Adam Duritz -- who sang so passionately about his desire for fame in the hit 'Mr. Jones' -- realized that fame doesn't really bring you love, as he had hoped. And so, disappointed, he slipped out of the spotlight for three years, surfacing again only to release Satellites. I don't think we'll have anything to worry about in the interim between Across A Wire and the Crows much-awaited third release; Duritz and the band seem much more comfortable with their popularity.

I'm rambling here, so without further ado, I'll switch gears and slide into my reviews of the double cd album. Wish me luck; there are, if I count right, twenty-two songs to be documented here -- I'm hoping I know enough words to justify myself in writing these.

-jason