FORMED: August 1991

With their angst-filled hybrid of Van Morrison, the Band, and R.E.M., Counting Crows became an overnight sensation in 1994. Only a year earlier, the band was a group of unknown musicians, filling in for the absent Van Morrison at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony; they were introduced by an enthusiastic Robbie Robertson. Early in 1993, the band recorded their debut album, August & Everything After, with T-Bone Burnett; it was released in the fall. It was a dark, somber record, driven by the morose lyrics and expressive vocals of Adam Duritz; the only up-tempo song, "Mr. Jones," became their ticket to stardom. What made Counting Crows was how they were able to balance Duritz's tortured lyrics with the sound of the late '60s and early '70s; it made them one of the few alternative bands to appeal to listeners who thought that rock & roll died in 1972. Recovering the Satellites followed in 1996, and in 1998 they issued the two-disc Across a Wire--Live in New York. Counting Crows' third studio album, This Desert Life, appeared in 1999. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

This Desert Life

01. Hanginaround
02. Mrs' Potter's Lullaby
03. Amy Hit The Atmosphere
04. Four Days
05. All My Friends
06. High Life
07. Colorblind
08. I Wish I Was A Girl
09. Speedway
10. St. Robinson In His Cadillac Dream

Recovering The Satellites

01. Catapult
02. Angels Of The Silences
03. Daylight Fading
04. I'm Not Sleeping
05. Goodnight Elisabeth
06. Children In Bloom
07. Have You Seen Me Lately?
08. Miller's Angels
09. Another's Horsedreamer's Blues
10. Recovering The Satellites
11. Monkey
12. Mercury
13. A Long December
14. Walkaways

August & Everything After

01. Round Here
02. Omaha
03. Mr. Jones
04. Perfect Blue Buildings
05. Anna Begins
06. Time and Time Again
07. Rain King
08. Sullivan Street
09. Ghost Train
10. Raining In Baltimore
11. A Murder Of One