Across A Wire - Live In New York City
Counting Crows
DGC Records, 1998
http://www.countingcrows.com
REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 07/14/1998
According to the press release for the latest Counting Crowsrelease Across A Wire - Live In New York City, Adam Duritz andcompany are quickly becoming one of the most bootlegged bands ofthis time. I found this kind of funny, as I've always thought ofCounting Crows as a band that has to grow on you. I have yet toappreciate Recovering The Satellites, an album that I thought wasrecorded on Valium.
However, on this specially-priced "for the fans" set, Duritz andcrew show two different sides to their music, and create an albumthat, for the most part, should attract more interest to theband.
This two-disc set is made up of two separate shows recorded forMTV networks (the acoustic set for VH-1's "Storytellers," theelectric set for MTV's "Live From The 10 Spot"). There is minimaltrack overlapping - and not surprisingly, one version tends tostand out over another. What might shock people is that theacoustic work tends to stick out better.
Starting with just acoustic guitar and vocals on "Round Here,"Duritz adds even a little more pathos to a song that could havecome out of a Sartre novel, and makes it hauntingly beautiful. Asmore band members join in on "Have You Seen Me Lately?" this trackquickly turns into one that should have been a hit (and still couldbe, if this version is chosen as a single).
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