Unlike August, I was one of the first(if not THE first) to get myself a copy of the Crow’s follow up record "Recovering the Satellites", amongst my friends. Hell, I’d been waiting(along with every other Crows fan) for what seemed to be an eternity. To add to my "torture" I had to wait a long time before I could actually listen to it, since I bought it while accompanying my girlfriend to the mall, and had to wait for her to finish up at the parlor. So there I was pacing excitedly around the mall, with the most precious object(for the moment) in my arms, and not a single soul to share my happiness with.

Before actually buying the album, I had already heard the first single, "Angels of the Silences" on the radio. Like any Crow fan, it was not hard to realize that their sound had changed dramatically into a heavier, harder-edged sound. This worried me a lot since it was the gentle, and soothing sound of August that I had grown to love. But I wasn’t about to let that worry spoil the moment.

As soon as I got home, I went straight into my room and popped the disc into my player, sat back and listened. Pretty soon, came the soothing(almost carnival-like) notes out of Mr. Gillingham’s organ to lead the way only to be abruptly interrupted by a sudden guitar "twang" which just bled slowly into soft feedback and echoed on. Then one by one, all the familiar sounds came in up until a familiar, soft and vulnerable voice started singing, "All of a sudden she disappeared…." And at that moment on, I was in heaven.

The rest of the album just came in like a flash, I slowly tried to listen to each song but I guess I was just so exited that the moment seemed to go past so fast. Collectively, the album was heavier than August, and so at the start, I was a little disappointed. It wasn’t as easy to digest, most obviously, the newest "ingredients" to the formulae , first, the lead guitar of Dan Vickery. The guy joined the group after August, and what he adds to the band’s sound is very obvious. It’s also very obvious that he fits in very nicely with the formulae. He’s simply amazing in my opinion. Instead of doing blazing guitar solos or deafening distortion flooded noise, he adds a slick and often biting sound which easily blends in with the background and leaps up to take center stage only when needed. Finally, they have a new drummer on board, Ben Mize. I have heard people say that he's not as good as the original one, but I just have to disagree. His playing is just so alive. Listen to his playing on songs like "I'm not Sleeping" and "Another Horsedreamer's Blues". His drumming is so crisp, the snare just bites and is almost hypnotic. Theis additions to the group are just perfect.

After my first listen certain songs had already struck me, most notably "Another Horse Dreamer’s Blue" with Duritz’s dreamy "chant" and collective swing to the song, and simply elegant "Recovering the Satellites". It took more time to appreciate the other songs, but eventually I came to love this album just as much as their first, at certain times, maybe even more.

It’s obvious to see that the band’s sound has matured. The first album was a product of a group newly assembled by Duritz. Here was the same group after having gone through the rigors of touring and have just gathered up so many collective experience. This was more of a "team" effort, and it shows. Emotionally, this album hits higher ground, it’s more interesting. Where as the first album invoked a more "innocent" feeling. It was a band longing for something (fame? recognition? A sense of belonging? whatever…). This is the second chapter. Their first album got them tons of money and everything else that comes with it, good and bad. Here, we now have them at a "been there" stage. Now there’s more pain and experiences to talk about, it’s a gradual but expected transformation. And boy do they have a lot to say, fourteen songs worth. Some people may not like their new sound, I too miss the old band’s sound, but things change, the Crows have grown and we’ll just have to learn to live with that.