Counting Crows - Anna BeginsAlbum: August & Everything After [1993]
when the prevailing guitar jingle of "mr. jones" cascaded over radio in the early '90s, it was a sure sign that counting crows were a musical force to be reckoned with. their debut album, "august and everything after", burst at the seams with both dominant pop harmonies and rich, hearty ballads, all thanks to lead singer adam duritz. ultimately, it's one of the most complete and breathtaking debut albums of the '90's along with pearl jam's "ten" and blind melon's self-titled album. every song features an acoustic guitar coupled with the sweet, in-front pull of duritz's voice. the starkly beautiful and lonely sounding "round here" captured the band's honest yet subtle talent for singing ballads, while "omaha" is lyrically reminiscent of a springsteen tune. the fusion of hauntingly smooth vocals with such instruments as the organ and the accordion pumped new life into the music scene, and their brisk sound catapulted them into stardom. on "rain king," the piano takes over as its aloof flair dances behind duritz with elegant crispness. the slower-paced numbers like "anna begins" and "raining in baltimore" paint a perfectly gray picture and illustrate the band's ease at conveying mood by eliminating the tempo. most of the songs here engage in overly contagious hooks that won't go away, making for a solid bunch of tunes. containing the perfect portions of instrumental and vocal conglomeration, the group showed off their appealing sound to its full extent with their very first album, and unfortunately (but understandably) weren't able to match it after.
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