Recovering the Satellites

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Recovering the Satellites is the second studio album by American alternative rock band Counting Crows. It was released in the United States on October 15, 1996, three years after their debut album and following two years of worldwide touring. With producer Gil Norton, it features founding members Adam Duritz, David Bryson (guitar), Charlie Gillingham (keyboards), and Matt Malley (bass), as well as new additions Ben Mize (drums) and Dan Vickrey (guitars).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Multi-instrumentalist and eventual band member David Immerglück played on the album as a session musician, as well.

Three singles were released, with "A Long December" being the best charting, peaking at number 6 on the US Radio Songs chart<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and number 1 in Canada.

The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart in the US, No. 4 on the OOC album charts in the UK, and No. 7 on the ARIA charts in Australia. It has been certified double-platinum in both the US and Canada, and well as gold in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. It received generally positive reviews.

Recording and release

As with their debut, August and Everything After, the band recorded the album with Norton by renting a large house and using the acoustics of the space for unique sounds. Marvin Etzioni produced the album's eighth track, "Miller's Angels".

Duritz recorded two songs for the album on piano with friends from the Soul Rebels Brass Band playing horns that were ultimately cut: "Chelsea" and "Good Luck". He has said that he could not figure out how to sequence the songs with the rest of the album.<ref name="wtts">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

"Chelsea" was eventually released as a bonus track on the live double album Across a Wire: Live in New York City. "Good Luck" was presumed lost for several years until in the early 2020s. Geffen Records were contacted by filmmakers making a documentary on the band for HBO, covering the period between August and Everything After and Recovering the Satellites, for music and archive information. Original masters of the recordings, once thought lost in the 2008 Universal Studios fire, and video performances were provided by the label, including "Good Luck".<ref name="wtts" />

Reception

Template:Music ratings Writing for Rolling Stone, Anthony DeCurtis gave the album four out of five stars. He said that the band's second album develops the sounds of August and Everything After and that they "largely achieve their serious ambitions". He praised Adam Duritz's lyrics and called the album "deeply satisfying".<ref name=RS /> Andy Gill from The Independent gave the album a more negative review. He criticized Duritz's song-writing as "self-pity[ing]" and called him a "classic solipsistic soul-barer, he just won't shut up about himself". He called the album "bland" with "obvious" influences (including R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen and Lynyrd Skynyrd). Gill had some praise for producer Gil Norton's work on the album.<ref name=Gill />

In a review for Entertainment Weekly, Ken Tucker also had negative feelings about the album, and gave it a "C" grade. He criticized Duritz's "yowling" and "moans" and called Counting Crows a "pastiche of its influences".<ref name=Tucker /> The Los Angeles Times concluded that "there are precious few of the killer pop hooks that made such songs as 'Mr. Jones' and 'Template:'Round Here' irresistible despite their lack of originality."<ref name=LA/>

In a review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the album a "self-consciously challenging response" to their successful debut album. He described the songs as "slightly more somber" than those on the first album but "more affecting". He noted an occasional "pretentiousness" on the album but praised "A Long December" as particularly articulate.<ref name=Allmusic />

Track listing

All tracks written by Adam Duritz unless otherwise indicated

1. "Catapult" (Duritz, David Bryson, Charlie Gillingham, Matt Malley, Dan Vickrey, Ben Mize) – 3:34
2. "Angels of the Silences" (Duritz, Gillingham) – 3:39
3. "Daylight Fading" (Duritz, Vickrey, Gillingham) – 3:50
4. "I'm Not Sleeping" (Duritz, Bryson, Gillingham, Malley, Vickrey, Mize) – 4:57
5. "Goodnight Elisabeth" – 5:20
6. "Children in Bloom" – 5:23
7. "Have You Seen Me Lately?" – 4:08
8. "Miller's Angels" (Duritz, Vickrey) – 6:33
9. "Another Horsedreamer's Blues" – 4:32
10. "Recovering the Satellites" – 5:24
11. "Monkey" – 3:02
12. "Mercury" – 2:48
13. "A Long December" – 4:57
14. "Walkaways" (Duritz, Vickrey) – 1:12

Personnel

Counting Crows

• David Bryson – guitars, Dobro, tambourine, vocals
• Adam Duritz – piano, tambourine, Wurlitzer, lead vocals
• Charlie Gillingham – Hammond B-3, piano, Mellotron, Wurlitzer, accordion, harmonica, vocals
• Matt Malley – electric bass guitar, double bass, vocals
• Ben Mize – drums, tambourine, percussion, light bulbs, Zippo lighter, vocals
• Dan Vickrey – guitars, vocals

Additional musicians

• Paul Buckmaster – Orchestra conductor on "Daylight Fading", "I'm Not Sleeping", and "Another Horsedreamer's Blues"
• Charlie Gillingham – string arrangements on "Daylight Fading", "I'm Not Sleeping", and "Another Horsedreamer's Blues"
• Marvin Etzioni – mandolin on "Mercury"
• David Immerglück – pedal steel guitar and octave mandolin on "Miller's Angels"

Charts

Weekly charts

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Chart (1996–1997)	Peak position
European Albums (European Top 100 Albums)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	14

Year-end charts

Chart (1997)	Position
Canadian Albums (Nielsen Soundscan)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	93
US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	35

External links

• Retrospective by The A.V. Club