Customer Reviews

New Amsterdam: Live at Heineken Music Hall

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Counting Crows has joined the trend of releasing your own bootlegs, made common by Dave Matthews and Pearl Jam, with this 15 track collection culled from the 2003 Crows European tour in support of the Hard Candy album. This is essentially a record for the true fans of the band, the ones who prefer Perfect Blue Buildings to Mr. Jones, the ones who appreciate the subtlety of Holiday in Spain, the ones who know the words to Richard Manuel is Dead. This is not a commercial album by any means, but can be a decent addition to your collection.

Sound quality is quite good for a live recording, the band is tight, and Duritz sounds less strained than he does when I have seen him live. The track selection delves heavily into Hard Candy tracks, which is logical considering this was the Hard Candy promo tour they were on at the time. A few classic tracks are thrown in like Omaha and Goodnight Elizabeth and Perfect Blue Buildings. Each song is performed quite well, Miami sounds especially good as does Richard Manuel Is Dead. Though there are some tracks I would have liked to hear, especially A Long December, I can't be too disappointed considering this was a fairly stealthy release with no massive publicity blitz. This was one released for the fans, not the hook hungry, rabid masses looking for the next commercial sensation. Overall this is a pleasing, relaxing album that makes for nice background music. I consider it a bonus until an album of new material comes out. Recommended for the serious Crows fan...

A.G. Corwin
St Louis, MO

Im a pretty big Counting Crows fan and I always enjoyed their music since they were The Himalyans. I have always thought that their music was best heard live. On Across The Wire they showed the harder side and the softest of sides on a 2 disc live. This could really be a sequel to those discs by showing both of those sides on this single disc. This is basically just act 3 on their career spanning the period after the first 2 discs and relies heavily on live doses of Hard Candy which wasnt out during the other live disc releases. I recommend this disc to any countin crows fan or any fan of music in general. This cd can be hard, soft, and absolutely beautiful.

In high school, my favorite band was probably Counting Crows. Their first two albums hit me and that way that only teenagers can really be hit by music. That whole "this song sounds just like my life" kind of way. I was obsessed. I had everything they recorded, every soundtrack they had a song on. And, as good as the albums were, they were a LOT better live. The guy could write, no question about it, but he could also perform.

As time went by, they ended up sort of lumped into a category with Dave Matthews, one of the most unfair groupings in music history, if you ask me. Their third and fourth albums had their moments, but weren't as good as the first two, on the whole. The online CC fan community was my real introduction to the sick, sad world of internet message boards - a habit I really wish I could break to this day - which left a sort of bitter taste in my mouth.

But, anyway, I'm so ashamed that I didn't even realize that they had a new live album out until after it was released. Been a long time since their last album. On the one hand, I thought it looked great: mostly obscure songs, not the big hits. The "Songs from the Attic" gambit that tends to pay off well for a lot bands. On the other hand, more than half of the songs were from the last two albums, and the recording is already a few years old; I'm more interested in what they're doing NEXT, not what they did in 2003.


And yet, here I sit, listening to the live album, and it's FANTASTIC, showing off sultry, somewhat slowed-down versions of a bunch of album tracks. they all run together and cast this spell that may be a lot of what was missing from the 3rd and 4th albums. I can't think of when they've ever sounded much better.

Perhaps Nick needs to listen to albums before he chooses to review them. New Amsterdam is the live album I have always hoped Counting Crows would make. It features a great setlist (the absence of many of their "hits" is a plus, because it features many great, underplayed songs) and a fantastic mix that allows the listener to clearly hear every instrument. The arrangements of the songs showcase their talented instrumentalists, and Adam is in great form.

I've never really understood the reputation Counting Crows have with some people as a terrible live band - I listen to a lot of live music, and to my ears they're a fantastic live band. If you're not a fan, I doubt anything will convert you, but if you are, this is an essential purchase.

Why is it the opening notes on "Rain King" from the Counting Crows New Amsterdam: Live at Heineken Music Hall sound so elegiac, so utterly lost and sad? When this song was first released on August and Everything After, it sounded like an anthem.

Here Adam Duritz sounds tired, lost, and perhaps even afraid, and he lets it be known in the grain of his voice that that's
exactly what was going on. While the band roars to life on "Richard Manuel Is Dead," Duritz lets out the words "I've been walking in the dark/but now I'm standin' on the lawn..." like he's singing from someplace so deep inside himself it's as if the band (pianist Charlie Gillingham was still a member then) has disappeared behind him.

It's the only moment where this happens, but it's so significant because it's obvious that he's out on some ledge hoping and praying for rescue that may be available but he can't see it, and
he wants to enter the world so bad you can almost taste the desperation.

This live record is official, but it feels warts-and-all like a special kind of bootleg. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, it doesn't feel complacent in any way, but it does feel lost in the melancholic fog, full of tension and an over-the-line subtlety that makes you feel as if you're witnessing a train wreck.

Bob Clearmountain's mix is solid because it takes nothing away from the feel of near implosion. They barely hold it together
here though the band's playing is nearly flawless technically. These fellows are holding their singer up. The stories about this are many, but New Amsterdam is the audio evidence.

The content comes from across their catalog, except for "Hazy," composed by Duritz and Gemma Hayes, but it was, according to his blog, completely improvised on the spot. The brokenness in this solo cut is so desperate you almost feel embarrassed to be so close to hearing it as it happens. It's a marker; these 14 songs come across not so much as a final will and testament, but the sound of a band, and a frontman, at some crossroads where
everything that counted is gone, and there's something's coming that isn't clear.

It's followed by the wah wah fuzzed-out guitar Counting Crows play like it's all at risk, but as if they've gained and lost plenty. "Perfect Blue Buildings" punches holes in the night sky with Duritz bringing the band out there with him in facing the void. There is a struggle happening. While the chords and melodies are familiar, there is something so anxious here
that you may grit your teeth. It's only on "Hangingaround" where he rises above the murk and lets everybody remember he's a rock & roll singer.

If you're a fan, this is the kind of inner vision you long for; if you're someone wondering what the fuss has been about since the '90s, this will be appalling evidence. If you are a train spotter seeking dissolution and desperation, Live at Heineken Music Hall will fulfill your vampiric thirst for blood.

But Duritz is no Nick Drake -- these songs go to war against the
darkness even when being immersed in it. He's always pushing, from inside the song itself, to break out into the world around him and for the band to push him harder! This set, as strange and beguiling as it is, is flawed and fitting testament to Counting Crows' continued trudge out there on the margins of rock & roll.

They've never fit anywhere, and listening to this,
it becomes obvious why.

This is the Counting Crows second live CD release on a major label (see also Across A Wire). Adam Duritz (lead singer of Counting Crows) stated in his blog a few weeks ago that he considers New Amsterdam a bootleg and that fans should classify it along side their other Counting Crows bootlegs. If you consider this album part of that series it would be the third bootleg the band has released, the other two (By The Time We Got to Woodstock and Face the Promised Land) were self-produced and sold exclusively through their website. Unlike those two unoffical live albums, New Amsterm is professionally produced and well mastered. In terms of sound quality is their most polished live album to date (heavy on prestine sound quality, light on the rough improvisions that make Counting Crows such a great live band)

The set list appears to be fan-focused in that it covers tracks that the bands other live albums (unoffical and offical) this is probably not intentional since this set was recorded during the bands last tour to support Hard Candy, so it's not too surprising that it has a lot of Hard Candy tracks here; Overall this is very good mix of songs that will please fans.

I give this live collection only three stars because 1. Its a collection of songs recorded over three nights... Looking at the set list from those nights we see there was enough material for a two disc set, but the band wanted only choice cuts here... 2. The band recorded video footage these nights as well, that footage was produced in widescreen high definition format and all ready to be put on DVD a few years ago but the band pulled the plug... That footage was later aired on HDNet concerts as a cable special, but we never got a DVD. Fast forward to 2006 and now the band has gone forward with this album which contains audio from those shows. How hard would it have been to throw in the DVD and charge a few extra bucks (or better yet as a freebie?). Just knowing how little effort it would have taken for the band and the record label to make that happen has upset quite a few fans and its another reason why I'm not going above three stars.

This CD is a classic example of why you just can't please everyone. If you are not a fan of the Crows, then this CD, is not going to change your mind about the band. One of the many reasons why the Crows are so successful is because they play a lot of their songs differently in concert. If you have never been to a Crows concert, you still had at least got a taste of this on their last live CD some songs like "Angels of the Silences" were played purposely two different ways. This is not a new concept by the band.

As for the track list itself, while most of the tracks are from Hard Candy at least 2 tracks are played from the previous three albums before Hard Candy. I was happy to see that the cover song "Four White Stallions" made the cut. If you haven't head it yet, you are missing out on a classic hit. The rest of the tracks as stated before are played like they do in concert, some like their album version and some at a different pace. "Rain King" is slower, it was slower on the last live CD as well. It's still great song played at either pace.

There used to be a time when a band would release one live album, and that would remain the definitive statement of their live performance. In the seventies, it's hard to think of a major act that did not release the prerequisite double album of live material. The trend has changed since then, and Pearl Jam stood the entire concept on its head by releasing what seemed like a billion CD's of live shows as a means of controlling bootleg recordings, while simultaneously providing fans with adequate souvenirs. That idea was surely overkill, but it seems as though Counting Crows have at least warmed up to the concept of the idea. After one "official" live recording and a few others that were made available only through the band's website, they have now released "New Amsterdam: Live at the Heineken Music Hall February 4-6, 2003." My only question is, why on earth has it taken more than three years for this to see the light of day?
Adam Duritz, the band's lead singer, has stated that the band considers `New Amsterdam" as another of their sanctioned `bootleg' recordings, but the truth is that there is more here than any bootleg album would normally offer. First of all, the music is culled from three night's worth of performances, which is very un-bootleg-like. Secondly, the production is flawless, featuring a crystal clear mix that utilizes the sound of the hall to its best advantage. A typical `bootleg' board recording would never catch as much nuance as is audible here. Finally, the song selection has been whittled down to fit on a single disk, so it is much more representative of an official release than a bootleg recording - which happens to be made even more obvious by the "Geffen" logo that adorns the packaging.
All that being said, "New Amsterdam" is a wonderful and reasonably priced gift for true fans of the band, and an excellent means of introduction (or re-introduction) to the state of the band for those who haven't been paying attention since the days of "Mr. Jones." The European tour that contained this show occurred after the release of the "Hard Candy" CD, so many of the songs were culled from that album. It is decidedly not a `best of' live collection, but it still sounds extraordinarily representative of the band. The emphasis here is on nuance, so there are few songs that overwhelm. Rather than bowl you over, the songs simmer to a slow boil. As is his wont, Duritz keeps things moody, reflective, and emotionally taut. Some might consider his style to be overwrought, so what you hear depends on whether or not he has convinced you of his sincerity - Ultimately, his emotional honesty rests in the ears of the listener. As far as live albums go, this is much more introspective than celebratory, but the songs are so well executed and the production is so spot-on perfect that it is hard to fault this release. This is a live album that is not meant for a party. It is meant for personal listening, and it succeeds brilliantly on its own terms. B+ Tom Ryan

If you have ever seen the counting crows live, then this album will reignite that spark in you that's been lost since that last show ended. This isn't another "Across a wire" and it isn't something that's been generated for mass appeal. This album is about the raw power and emotion that the band has live, how dark the sound can feel, and how powerful music really can be.

Rain King, Four White Stallions, GoodNight Elisabeth, and Holiday in Spain are the real stars on this one. And although it is a show chopped up over 3 performances, I don't see anything wrong with that. Every now and then you get a really awesome performance one night with something somewhere that goes wrong, wouldn't make for a good live album for at least 1 track or something like that. This way they picked the best of the best from the tour and laid it down for us.

Hazy is a cool new song and included because it's a selling point and it does fit the feel of the rest of the "live album" very well. However, the piece is rough and nowhere near an instant classic.

All in all, a very solid album. Why did I give it 4/5? a few reasons. First off, they could have done a lot more with this and made it 2 CDs. The real fans are going to be the ones to buy this anyways, you will not see it high on the charts or advertised on MTV. So if the only people who are going to buy it are the dedicated group, why not give them a little more? Album should have been 2 discs, so shame on Geffin for not doing that. Secondly, these amsterdam shows are nothing new. These shows are from 3 years ago and have been seen on TV, bootlegged and heard a million times over from fans. Cut us a little slack here. That knocked it down a bit.

All in all, a good live album that captures the soul of the band beautifully - you won't be disappointed.

Short and sweet......this is a magnificent compilation. It has been years since I have enjoyed listening to a CD to the point of having to pry it from my machine. Can we please see a companion DVD!!