Counting Crows Albums Ranked

Counting Crows is an American rock band from Berkeley, California, formed in 1991. The band consists of Adam Duritz (lead vocals), David Bryson (rhythm guitar), Charlie Gillingham (keyboards), Dan Vickrey (lead guitar), David Immerglück (guitars), Jim Bogios (drums) and Millard Powers (bass).
Counting Crows gained popularity following the release of its debut album, August, and Everything After (1993). Featuring the breakthrough hit single “Mr. Jones” (1993), the album sold more than seven million copies in the United States. The band received two Grammy Awards nominations in 1994, one for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal (for “Round Here”) and one for Best New Artist. Other hit singles include “Rain King”, “A Long December”, “Hanginaround”, and a cover version of Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi”. Counting Crows received a 2004 Academy Award nomination for the single “Accidentally in Love”, which was included in the film Shrek 2. The band has sold more than 20 million albums and is known for its dynamic live performances.
Here are all of the Counting Crows’ albums ranked.

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8. Echoes of the Outlaw Roadshow (2013)

“I’ll confess I love this band , Ive seen them live every time they’ve come to the UK so you are not going to get a totally unbiased review. To see the Crows live is one of life’s great pleasures , its being transported to a another place, their world of sheer joy, angst and their shared love of music. This album contains some of their well known songs and covers from the brilliant Underwater Sunshine . Crows live recordings always contains mash-ups of songs they love this is no exception , a taste of Van Morrison , a slither Springsteen and helping of Elbow. If you like the Crows buy it if you are new to them start with August & Everything EverAfter and this album . If you do buy it you are in for a treat its simple wonderful.”

7. Underwater Sunshine (or What We Did on Our Summer Vacation) (2012)

“After a gap of several years, I am really not sure why on their return, they have released an album of cover versions. Yes this album is entertaining up to a point, but I would have much preferred an album of original songs, rather than an hour of covers. Some of this is poor see “Ooh La La” for example, but most of this is ‘ok’, and as we know ‘ok’ is not particularly a strong, confirming word. This is an ‘ok’ album and that’s the best I can offer. Some of you will know the majority of these songs, but some, like me, will not know many. Are these songs fantastic anyway? Not for me – they are just ‘ok’.”

6. Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings (2008)

“This barely squeaks into 3 star territory, and only because there are 5 or 6 really good songs. That’s not great considering there are 14 tunes on the record. All the rockers are crammed into the front of the album which really makes for slow going on the last 30 minutes. One becomes so dulled over by the slow second half that it is easy to miss one pretty decent ballad, “On a Tuesday in Amsterdam Long Ago.” I suggest playing the fast ones, skip to the above-mentioned ballad, and forget the rest.

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5. Somewhere Under Wonderland (2014)

“Wonderland is the album we’ve been waiting for from Counting Crows ever since Recovering the Satellites, and is so much more in step with the tone of Satellites and its predecessor August and Everything After than the often maligned albums in between. Whereas Hard Candy and This Desert Life provided a couple of catchy tunes in each playlist surrounded by sub-par, tonal-challenged riffs, Wonderland is a complete album from start to finish. Every song feels like it fits and every progression along the tracks feels like the next step of a journey. The emotion is all there. The brilliant, thought provoking, mind-melting lyrics are all there, accompanied by that piano-tickled, accordian-splashed, guitar-infused sound that made so many of us fall in love with Counting Crows so many years ago.”

4. Hard Candy (2002)

“Adam and the boys return with true audio “candy” this time. You can hear the magic again in the music. You can hear reflections of the melodic hooks that made the Crows great (something that was sorely missing on the last album)….its the old sound Crows fans love….just updated to help it grow and reach new levels of appeal. Credit Steve Lillywhite (of DMB fame) for finding the soul of the band again!! Even the lyrics reflect a growth and departure from pure melancholy. The songs take the listener around the world from LA to Spain to Miami to the French Quarter.”

3. This Desert Life (1999)

“This Desert Life has a looser, slightly more upbeat sound for The Counting Crows. Adam Duritz provides the lyrical weight to keep these from being the cheerful pop tunes that some of the melodies suggest. But even Adam’s starting to lighten up, if only a little. It’s an evolution, not a revolution. The first track (and single) Hangin’ Around is a pleasant jam. The Dylanesque epic Mrs. Potter’s Lullabye runs over 7 minutes and leaves you wanting more. Amy Hits the Atmosphere sounds like an outtake from the Recovering the Satellites sessions. Four Days reminds me of early REM. All My Friends is vintage Crows with Adam singing “All my friends and lovers, leave me behind”. A real highlight of the CD is the hidden track Kid Things (Track 10 9:00) which sounds like a lost Rolling Stones cut from the ’70’s. Tell me you don’t hear Keith Richards in the guitars and Adam’s not doing Mick Jagger on this track.”

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2. Recovering the Satellites (1996)

“he album is an outstanding bunch of compositions. At least half of the songs makes me feel like if I were listening to a mix of pop/rock with classical music. Maybe it’s the string sections, maybe the well performed drums, maybe the structure of the songs or the well played drums, but songs like “Another Horsedreamer’s Blues”, “I’m Not Sleeping” or “Children In Bloom” are superb compositions which reach high levels of intensity. Of course there are some good songs that have nothing epic, but there’s no one I can think of that bores me.”

1. August and Everything After (1993)

“‘A very nice album to debut, with some good tunes. Unfortunately, this guys were forever doomed to be associated eith “Mr. Jones”, one of the biggest hits of the 90’s music, in all it’s extent. After that, that big fantom chased them, and to many people, they were just forgotten, until a green ogre called Shreck appeared. None of the less, they have an interesting “in-between” life, with great songs like that magical “A long December”. Maybe their only problem was being behind a tremendous hit song, and are frequently uoted as the “Mr. Jones’s band”.”