Why is this album influential?
Everyone’s introduction to Counting Crows was probably August and Everything After but mine was Recovering The Satellites. Randy introduced me to this album as I was learning guitar.
This is the album that prompted me to learn guitar. I still remember playing Daylight Fading a million times to figure out how to the guitar to it. I also remember that while I had been jamming and playing tunes with Randy back home in apartment parties around Kapuskasing. Daylight Fading was the first tune that I played in front of my extended family at Aunt Dinah’s and while it was a nerve wracking experience, it opened the doors to a bond between Troy and I to play guitar for the next two decades.
Where does this album stand in the pantheon of my favourites?
Still my favourite Counting Crows album and probably the best encapsulation of a depressing, depressing mood. This is the album that made me realize that I prefer albums that capture a mood instead of varying the songs on it. I point to Neil Young as an example of this…you can go from a rocking album to an acoustic album and I prefer this compared to a mix and match of songs on one album.
But has it stood the test of time? Mmm…not sure if I would put this on my top 25 albums of all time.