Customer Reviews

August & Everything After (Dlx)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's funny, revisiting an album in your new body with eyes and ears far aged from when you first encountered it (nay, became obsessed with it). such is the case with the Counting Crows deluxe edition of August and Everything After playing as I type this. They've cleaned up the masters and it does sound noticeably fuller. The extras are very nice from the demo-side and the complete concert from Paris in 1994.

But worth the entire somewhat overpriced cost of admission for the package is the liner notes. Adam's confessional tale of the signing, recording and subsequent shattering of the band from 1991 to December of 1994 (where the Disc 2 comes in) is an interesting and at times very emotional read. You forget how big Counting Crows actually was, and even more than that, you likely didn't know how close some of the musical families were (i.e. the idea of Adam Duritz at a backyard lunch with Frances Bean). The small tales are very much worth digesting, if sometimes over-written. It's probably best that Adam wrote these out instead of letting someone else interpret it in a syrupy documentary or fluffy autobiography. And while I didn't need a mini-poster of Adam in a pretty absurdly good photo shoot with some birds in motion, by the end of the notes you realize why it's there and it's pretty cool.

A nice double disc, and I'm glad I didn't do the iTunes thing, missing the liner notes.

If you're checking this special edition out, chances are you already know about the original album, so I won't talk about it. (If not, check it out...it's a classic, for sure.)

I'm not wild about the demos that follow the album on disc one. I suppose they're notable for historical reasons, to show where the band came from.

The live show on disc 2, on the other hand, is pretty spectacular. Supposedly, it's from the last show of the August & Everything After tour, a time I remember as being pretty difficult for the band (if the numerous show cancellations of the time period are any indication). The angst and energy really shows through...in particular, "Round Here" is as brilliant here as it's ever sounded.

My Biggest Complaint: I only wish the Deluxe Edition series would go down in price. $24 for two CDs? Maybe back in 1994 when this album first came out...

I wanted to like this album. I really wanted to like it. When I first heard about its release, the first thing I did was come to Amazon to pre-order it. "August and Everything After" is one of the seminal albums of the 90s, and a deluxe edition seemed like it simply couldn't disappoint. But it does.

The first disc contains the original "August and Everything After", and a handful of demos. The demos are interesting to learn more about the genesis of the band. You can hear the beginnings of the songs that you know so well. With the exception of the inspired cover of "This Land Is Your Land", I'm not sure if they'll stand up to repeated listenings, but I can't complain about their inclusion on the album.

The second disc is a live recording. Counting Crows live is an experience not to be missed. They put on a great concert. But this just doesn't sound like it. One major problem is the mixing of the album. The vocals are much too far forward in the mix. The rest of the band sounds tight, but it's hard to tell because the vocals overpower everything. I was expecting something more along the lines of their live release "Bird on a Wire", which Is a fantastic live album. This one just doesn't measure up.

If you already have "August and Everything After" and if you're not a Counting Crows completist, I wouldn't recommend picking up this album. If you don't have that album, I'm not sure if I would recommend getting this one anyway. I don't think that it adds enough to the album to justify the difference in price between the original issue and this new deluxe edition.

I'm taking the time to write this because everyone should know the live Paris show (Disc 2) is amazing. Taking advice from another fan, I read the extensive liner notes before listening; the context of what was going on for the band and Adam personally helped explain the intensity of the show. Intense is an understatement--Adam is nearly always very emotionally present--but, for me, this show is a whole new category. Being a relatively new (about 10 years) Crows fan, I hadn't heard of the significance of the Paris show before. It would be an understatement to say it is the rawest music I've ever heard. Couldn't stop thinking about it or listening for days. Buy it--you'll like it!

"August and Everything After" remains my all time favorite album. One of the very few I can listen to as a whole, song after song. Adam Duritz has an amazing poetic mind, and Anna Begins may be the most beautiful love song ever written. The sound quality of this version of the album is far superior to the original. The demos and live tracks are excellent. Buy this if you don't already own August! If you do, and you really are a fanatic, as I am, buy it anyway and love it.

I can't tell if the remastering of the original album makes this sound any different - someone with better ears than mine will have to comment - but the demos sound great! I was expecting it to be a rehash of Flying Demos, but these are different versions. I wish there was info about when they were recorded. In any case, they sound beautiful.

The live show has its pros and cons. The sound is fantastic, and I love that you can hear the nuances in the vocals much more so than on the bootleg. One reviewer commented that the vocals are too prominent - I disagree. But I do agree that it doesn't feel so much like a live show. The between-song banter is missing, as is much of the crowd noise and at least one song. Some will think this a good thing, but I think those are important to the listening experience of a concert cd. Regardless, this is one of my favorite live shows so I will be listening to this cleaned-up version just because the band was so "on" that night and the songs sound great, but I won't be giving up my bootleg copy either.

All in all, I think the demos & live disc along with the extensive liner notes and added photos make this a great package for a fan or first-time buyer.

What can I say? The B-side show is great and the songs were sung with so much enthusiasm that it's absorbing!!!
Adam's words is even more delightful, 'cause he explains a little bit about the band formation and some problems they have along the time until the Paris show.
One more thing: the bonus tracks after August original is also amazing... Thanks CC for one more pleasure hearing you!!!

I love Counting Crows and have never been disappointed by an album. This one is no exception. The extra tracks are great and it's well worth buying August and Everything After for the second time, or in my case the 5th!

I am a big Counting Crows fan and love to see this band live. I am happy that they added some new tracks to this album but half of it is just a re-release of the original album.

Counting Crows is one of the best bands of this generation.

August and Everything After is one of the best albums of the 90's.

The digital remastering of this album makes it sound even better than it originally did, which is a hard thing to do considering that the original sounded pretty darn good.

The unreleased tracks on the first disc as well as the second live disc make this album well worth the price. It's definately an essential addition to any counting crows fan's collection.