COUNTING CROWS
''SOMEWHERE UNDER WONDERLAND''
SEPTEMBER 2 2014
41:25
1 Palisades Park
Adam Duritz 8:21
2 Earthquake Driver
Adam Duritz / David Immerglück 3:32
3 Dislocation
Adam Duritz / David Immerglück / Millard Powers / Dan Vickrey 4:55
4 God of Ocean Tides
Adam Duritz / Millard Powers / Dan Vickrey 3:12
5 Scarecrow
Adam Duritz / David Immerglück / Millard Powers / Dan Vickrey 4:47
6 Elvis Went to Hollywood
Adam Duritz / David Immerglück 3:56
7 Cover Up the Sun
Adam Duritz / David Immerglück / Millard Powers / Dan Vickrey 3:46
8 John Appleseed's Lament
Adam Duritz / David Immerglück / Millard Powers / Dan Vickrey 4:43
9 Possibility Days
Adam Duritz 4:12
10 Earthquake Driver [Demo]
Adam Duritz / David Immerglück 3:32
11 Scarecrow [Demo]
Adam Duritz / David Immerglück / Millard Powers / Dan Vickrey 4:15
- AMG (Allmusic)
Jim Bogios /Drums, Group Member, Handclapping, Percussion
David Bryson /Group Member, Guitar (12 String Electric), Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Tenor)
Brian Deck /Engineer, Glockenspiel, Handclapping, Mixing, Producer
Adam Duritz /Composer, Group Member, Lyricist, Piano, Vocals
Charles Gillingham /Arp Odyssey, Group Member, Hammond B3, Mellotron, Piano, Vox Continental, Wurlitzer Piano
Eric Hillman /Vocal Engineer, Vocals (Background)
Brian Holl /Vocals (Background)
David Immerglück /Composer, Group Member, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Mandolin, Pedal Steel
Millard Powers /Composer, Guitar (Bass)
John Paul Roney /Vocals (Background)
Dan Vickrey /Composer, Group Member, Guitar, Guitar (12 String Electric), Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric)
Rev. Curtis Watson /Trumpet
- OR (Wikipedia)
Jim Bogios – drums, backing vocals
David Bryson – guitar, backing vocals
Adam Duritz – lead vocals, piano
Charlie Gillingham – accordion, clarinet, keyboards, piano
David Immerglück – guitar, pedal steel guitar, banjo, mandolin, vocals
Millard Powers – bass guitar, piano, backing vocals
Dan Vickrey – lead guitar, backing vocals, banjo
Brian Deck - Production
REVIEW
by Fred Thomas
By the time of Somewhere Under Wonderland, it had been a long, rocky road between albums for alternative folk-rock superstars Counting Crows. Plenty of music had come and gone since 2008’s emotionally divided concept album Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings -- a few live albums, a record of covers, and countless shows on multiple tours. These recordings all fell short of presenting that much in the way of new original music from the band, possibly due in part to the turbulent years that followed Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings, an album that would be their last for long-time label Geffen and immediately precede a stretch of personal loss and struggle for Crows singer/songwriter Adam Durvitz. Despite a long period of upheaval and heavy changes, the nine songs that make up Somewhere Under Wonderland find the band sounding relaxed, optimistic, and even somewhat giddy at times. The record eases into being with the eight-minute long first single “Palisades Park,” a suite that glides through different atmospheres, lingering with the same dreamlike fluidity and colorful observational storytelling that Joni Mitchell displayed on The Hissing of Summer Lawns. The lengthy tune breezes by, shifting through Beatles-esqe organ tones, tempo changes, and Durvitz’s signature characters and poetic scenes. The largely acoustic “Earthquake Driver” sounds stuck somewhere between Thin Lizzy's energetic juvenilia and Paul Simon's soul-searching wordplay circa Graceland. The band doesn’t stick with one mood for too long over the course of the album, offering Neil Young-inspired guitar rootsiness on standout track “Scarecrow,” gentle acoustic meandering and folksy vocal harmonies on “God of Ocean Tides,” and an upbeat country-rock ramble on “Cover Up the Sun.” All these stylistic detours fall under a very wide umbrella that makes Somewhere Under Wonderland distinctively Counting Crows. Durvitz's raspy voice and lucid, lyrical stories always hold just a hint of desperation, and even decades into a staggered career, these new tunes can’t help but feel like part of a larger narrative that began during the band’s '90s glory days but finds further, greater refinement here.
BIOGRAPHY
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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 and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony; they were introduced by an enthusiastic Robbie Robertson. Early in 1993, the band recorded its debut album, August and Everything After, with T-Bone Burnett. Released in the fall, it was a dark and somber record, driven by the morose lyrics and expressive vocals of Adam Duritz. The only uptempo song, "Mr. Jones," became their ticket to stardom, and Counting Crows enjoyed a significant amount of success throughout the '90s and beyond.
What made Counting Crows unique 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 "A Long December" was a Top Ten hit on both the Modern Rock and Adult Top 40 charts. The band issued the two-disc Across a Wire: Live in New York in 1998, and the following year saw the release of Counting Crows' third studio album, This Desert Life. In the midst of recording and collaborating with Ryan Adams on his sophomore album, Gold, Duritz joined his band in the studio as well. The fruit of those sessions was the group's Steve Lillywhite-produced fourth album, Hard Candy.
The next year saw the release of the best-of Films About Ghosts, and in 2004 Counting Crows reminded fans of their ability to write a hit single with "Accidentally in Love," which appeared on the Shrek 2 soundtrack. Two years later, New Amsterdam: Live at Heineken Music Hall, recorded from a show on February 6, 2003, was made available to the public. In 2008 the band issued Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings, a concept record divided into two halves: the more rowdy, upbeat rock of Saturday night soundtracks and the mellow alt-country side of Sunday morning hangovers.
In 2009 the band parted ways with its longtime major-label home Geffen Records, but continued to tour and write new material as feverishly as ever. Duritz struggled with mental problems and prescription drug addiction following the split with Geffen, working on solo material that he released in part online. August and Everything After: Live at Town Hall, the band's third official live album, was released in 2011. To tide fans over until the release of an album of new material, the band offered up a collection of cover songs entitled Underwater Sunshine (Or What We Did on Our Summer Vacation) in 2012 and yet another live album, Echoes of the Outlaw Roadshow, the following year. While touring in 2013 the group started to write material for what would become its seventh album. Recorded at the end of 2013 with producer Brian Deck, Somewhere Under Wonderland saw release in September 2014.
''SOMEWHERE UNDER WONDERLAND''
SEPTEMBER 2 2014
41:25
1 Palisades Park
Adam Duritz 8:21
2 Earthquake Driver
Adam Duritz / David Immerglück 3:32
3 Dislocation
Adam Duritz / David Immerglück / Millard Powers / Dan Vickrey 4:55
4 God of Ocean Tides
Adam Duritz / Millard Powers / Dan Vickrey 3:12
5 Scarecrow
Adam Duritz / David Immerglück / Millard Powers / Dan Vickrey 4:47
6 Elvis Went to Hollywood
Adam Duritz / David Immerglück 3:56
7 Cover Up the Sun
Adam Duritz / David Immerglück / Millard Powers / Dan Vickrey 3:46
8 John Appleseed's Lament
Adam Duritz / David Immerglück / Millard Powers / Dan Vickrey 4:43
9 Possibility Days
Adam Duritz 4:12
10 Earthquake Driver [Demo]
Adam Duritz / David Immerglück 3:32
11 Scarecrow [Demo]
Adam Duritz / David Immerglück / Millard Powers / Dan Vickrey 4:15
- AMG (Allmusic)
Jim Bogios /Drums, Group Member, Handclapping, Percussion
David Bryson /Group Member, Guitar (12 String Electric), Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Tenor)
Brian Deck /Engineer, Glockenspiel, Handclapping, Mixing, Producer
Adam Duritz /Composer, Group Member, Lyricist, Piano, Vocals
Charles Gillingham /Arp Odyssey, Group Member, Hammond B3, Mellotron, Piano, Vox Continental, Wurlitzer Piano
Eric Hillman /Vocal Engineer, Vocals (Background)
Brian Holl /Vocals (Background)
David Immerglück /Composer, Group Member, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Mandolin, Pedal Steel
Millard Powers /Composer, Guitar (Bass)
John Paul Roney /Vocals (Background)
Dan Vickrey /Composer, Group Member, Guitar, Guitar (12 String Electric), Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric)
Rev. Curtis Watson /Trumpet
- OR (Wikipedia)
Jim Bogios – drums, backing vocals
David Bryson – guitar, backing vocals
Adam Duritz – lead vocals, piano
Charlie Gillingham – accordion, clarinet, keyboards, piano
David Immerglück – guitar, pedal steel guitar, banjo, mandolin, vocals
Millard Powers – bass guitar, piano, backing vocals
Dan Vickrey – lead guitar, backing vocals, banjo
Brian Deck - Production
REVIEW
by Fred Thomas
By the time of Somewhere Under Wonderland, it had been a long, rocky road between albums for alternative folk-rock superstars Counting Crows. Plenty of music had come and gone since 2008’s emotionally divided concept album Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings -- a few live albums, a record of covers, and countless shows on multiple tours. These recordings all fell short of presenting that much in the way of new original music from the band, possibly due in part to the turbulent years that followed Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings, an album that would be their last for long-time label Geffen and immediately precede a stretch of personal loss and struggle for Crows singer/songwriter Adam Durvitz. Despite a long period of upheaval and heavy changes, the nine songs that make up Somewhere Under Wonderland find the band sounding relaxed, optimistic, and even somewhat giddy at times. The record eases into being with the eight-minute long first single “Palisades Park,” a suite that glides through different atmospheres, lingering with the same dreamlike fluidity and colorful observational storytelling that Joni Mitchell displayed on The Hissing of Summer Lawns. The lengthy tune breezes by, shifting through Beatles-esqe organ tones, tempo changes, and Durvitz’s signature characters and poetic scenes. The largely acoustic “Earthquake Driver” sounds stuck somewhere between Thin Lizzy's energetic juvenilia and Paul Simon's soul-searching wordplay circa Graceland. The band doesn’t stick with one mood for too long over the course of the album, offering Neil Young-inspired guitar rootsiness on standout track “Scarecrow,” gentle acoustic meandering and folksy vocal harmonies on “God of Ocean Tides,” and an upbeat country-rock ramble on “Cover Up the Sun.” All these stylistic detours fall under a very wide umbrella that makes Somewhere Under Wonderland distinctively Counting Crows. Durvitz's raspy voice and lucid, lyrical stories always hold just a hint of desperation, and even decades into a staggered career, these new tunes can’t help but feel like part of a larger narrative that began during the band’s '90s glory days but finds further, greater refinement here.
BIOGRAPHY
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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 and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony; they were introduced by an enthusiastic Robbie Robertson. Early in 1993, the band recorded its debut album, August and Everything After, with T-Bone Burnett. Released in the fall, it was a dark and somber record, driven by the morose lyrics and expressive vocals of Adam Duritz. The only uptempo song, "Mr. Jones," became their ticket to stardom, and Counting Crows enjoyed a significant amount of success throughout the '90s and beyond.
What made Counting Crows unique 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 "A Long December" was a Top Ten hit on both the Modern Rock and Adult Top 40 charts. The band issued the two-disc Across a Wire: Live in New York in 1998, and the following year saw the release of Counting Crows' third studio album, This Desert Life. In the midst of recording and collaborating with Ryan Adams on his sophomore album, Gold, Duritz joined his band in the studio as well. The fruit of those sessions was the group's Steve Lillywhite-produced fourth album, Hard Candy.
The next year saw the release of the best-of Films About Ghosts, and in 2004 Counting Crows reminded fans of their ability to write a hit single with "Accidentally in Love," which appeared on the Shrek 2 soundtrack. Two years later, New Amsterdam: Live at Heineken Music Hall, recorded from a show on February 6, 2003, was made available to the public. In 2008 the band issued Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings, a concept record divided into two halves: the more rowdy, upbeat rock of Saturday night soundtracks and the mellow alt-country side of Sunday morning hangovers.
In 2009 the band parted ways with its longtime major-label home Geffen Records, but continued to tour and write new material as feverishly as ever. Duritz struggled with mental problems and prescription drug addiction following the split with Geffen, working on solo material that he released in part online. August and Everything After: Live at Town Hall, the band's third official live album, was released in 2011. To tide fans over until the release of an album of new material, the band offered up a collection of cover songs entitled Underwater Sunshine (Or What We Did on Our Summer Vacation) in 2012 and yet another live album, Echoes of the Outlaw Roadshow, the following year. While touring in 2013 the group started to write material for what would become its seventh album. Recorded at the end of 2013 with producer Brian Deck, Somewhere Under Wonderland saw release in September 2014.
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