COUNTING CROWS According to public opinion, Counting Crows were '90s-specific, hit-friendly alt-rockers who, with their three-year creative peak between "Mr. Jones" and "A Long December," single-handedly eased radio out of the grunge era. Since then? Nada, save that annoyingly peppy song from Shrek. True, in the 10 years since Recovering the Satellites, the Bay Area septet have released only two studio albums and a greatest hits collection, all while touring alongside Live, John Mayer and this summer's humanoid jukeboxes, Goo Goo Dolls.

Yet the Crows have increasingly (and deliberately) flown in the face of commercial appeal. In concert, Adam Duritz and company painstakingly rearrange old favorites and elongate lesser-knowns with stories, turned phrases and near-nervous breakdowns that come with each freshly raised memory. But above all, each set is wholly raw, emotional and on the fly, as evidenced by June's New Amsterdam: Live at Heineken Music Hall. For most bands, their musical legacy resides in the sum total of their recorded albums. For Counting Crows, the recordings are merely where the legacy begins.
Source: Nashville Scene

Author: JULIE SEABAUGH