 |
A great album recorded during the bands heyday. Featuring songs from the first two albums, the first disc is an unplugged styled performance. Personally this the best of the two. As a lifelong fan of the band, i prefer the folkier material.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Clean and kept well. No scratches doesn't jump/skip. Ive missed this album
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Occasionally, in this day and ages case, very occasionally, a band comes along that offers something very good. Very, very good. They have talent, the capabilities, beautiful and magnificent musicianship, and could astound you in any form, whether they're fully-fledged rockers, beautiful ballads, or both cut down to their rawest form. And then an extra bonus is that they are a fantastic live band. Counting Crows are one of those bands. Except rather than being amazing in the studio before donning their shoes and going live and proving a brilliant show piece, they are more known for their wonderful live performances than their out of this world, bizarre studio skills. "Across A Wire: Live In New York City", gives you not just one show but two shows, both very different and very diverse, and once more laying a stake in the fact that Counting Crows are one of the best bands you are likely to here in modern times... It's also worth noting that 'Across A Wire' was released back in 1998, just two albums into the Crows career, which many other bands were doing at the time, usually to much critical scoffing. The difference between those and Counting Crows is that CC are so differing in each and every show, it's like having a studio album in itself. Strangely, I'm going to tell you about disc 2 first. Disc 2 consists of the final tour date in New York City on the 'Recovering The Satellites' tour, as noted by Adam Duritz at least once, and contains many of the Crows classics from their first two albums, 'August And Everything After' and 'Recovering The Satellites'. Opening in lively fashion to their latter's title track, you just know that this is going to be the greatest show on earth...A near perfect version of 'Angels Of The Silences' is a great little ear opener, but is nothing when compared to Counting Crows sublime ability to almost read each others minds, and improvise and enhance songs, make them longer, add new sections and new passages and new lyrics on the spot. 'A Long December', features a fine piano opening to stir the fans, before kicking in to the opening of the song, which was always going to drive the delirious fans absolutely potty, never mind having a fine piano and organ opening. That which makes the Crows the most unique show on earth crops up a lot, but is most notable in the sublime 10 minute extended version of their early classic, 'Round Here', including sections from 'Have You Seen Me Lately?' almost effortlessly, adding more and more new musical sections, that don't grow tired, making a classic 4 minutes or so into over 10 classic moments...Duritz, the tainted gentlemen as ever, ends the show by thanking the support act...again...and tells people all about the causes that the Crows support and what the fans could do, before finishing with a perfect version of 'Walkaways', making this an essential show for the Counting Crows fan, and for the generally extravagant, and it just goes to show once you've heard it, you'll understand why they're bootlegged quite so much. Disc 1 consists of the VH1 Storytellers show, which in actual fact turns out to be more like an MTV Unplugged session, and certainly the highlight of 2 terrific discs. While making classics such as 'Round Here', and 'Mr Jones' (with Duritz opening with the words 'This is a song about my dreams' before opening with a haunting guitar line), and 'Anna Begins', while proving that even upbeat Crows songs can sound just as good in acoustic mode, if not better,Read full review
Counting Crows have never really been a singles band.There popularity and fame has always been because of their live performances.Infact,if you ever hear them live more than once,you will notice they never play the same song in the same way twice. This cd contains live tracks from their first two albums.The first cd(entitled VH1 storytellers)is completely acoustic.Starting with the atmospheric and moving Round Here,encompassing their best loved track Mr.jones,before ending on Anna Begins a song about unrequieted love. On its own,this cd would be worth buying,but then you get the second cd(MTV live from the 10 spot)which is a live gig from 1997.Admittedly,four of the songs appear on the first cd,but the arrangements are completely different and offer a different interpretations of these songs. I bought this cd because i had bought it on its first release,but had lost it,then when i saw it on ebay it was too good an opportunity to miss adding it to my collection again! I would recommend this cd to any Counting Crows fan or anyone who has a love of acoustic music.Plus i would recommend this to anyone who maybe has never heard of Counting Crows,but likes bands like;Ben Folds Five,Jeff Hyatt etc!!Read full review
Great live material from a truly great band CC are one of those bands who are always on my ipod 'August' album is just :) was using spotify the other day and played this live album and iked the versions on it , so popped across to ebay for a look and what a bargin :) I know I could of downloaded it as such , but i'm a bit oldschool and still like to own the cd, the best backup imo ;)
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best-selling in CDs
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Save on CDs
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- You may also like
