Track Listing

1. Hanginaround - Counting Crows, David Lowery, Dennis Herring, Charles Gillingham, David Campbell, Richard Hasal, Jack Joseph Puig, Martin Pradler, OK Hee Kim, Jim Champagne
2. Mrs. Potters Lullaby
3. Amy Hit The Atmosphere
4. Four Days - Counting Crows, David Lowery, Dennis Herring, Jack Joseph Puig
5. All My Friends
6. High Life
7. Colorblind - Counting Crows, David Lowery, Dennis Herring, Charles Gillingham, David Campbell, Richard Hasal, Okhee Kim, Jim Champagne
8. I Wish I Was A Girl
9. Speedway
10. St. Robinson In His Cadillac Dream/Kid Things

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7274 in Music
• Released on: 2002-12-23
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Dimensions: .24 pounds
• Running time: 75 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Two years in the making, This Desert Life is the kind of collection that will please the Counting Crows faithful and leave doubters unconverted. Adam Duritz's recognisably emotive vocals and the group's classic-rock stylings remain in the fore as the Crows stick near the nest with their third studio outing. The Mellencamp-like opener, "Hanginaround", is one of the strongest tunes here, thanks to its laid-back passion and catchy piano and percussive elements. The familiar feeling "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby" is another lively offering, but at nearly eight minutes it's too long. The emotional, Van Morrison-like lament "All My Friends" feels self-pitying, while the balance of the album is simply bland. The sound is appealing (witness the spare "Colorblind" and the waltzing "Amy Hit the Atmosphere"), but This Desert Life is, on the whole, rather dry. --Katherine Turman

CD Description
Looking beyond the puerile zeitgest that cluttered the charts in 1999, Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz continued tobe the epitome of the sensitive lyricist, using songs as a canvas for what was going on in his life. Like its predecessors, THIS DESERT LIFE contains an abundance of musical riches. Camper Van Beethoven/Throwing Muses producer Dennis Herring shares the helm with Cracker's David Lowery. The duo vigorously supports the Crows' homespun leanings while at the same time tapping into the same vein of Americana from which many insurgent country bands draw inspiration.
Duritz is adenizen of the subconscious who delves into the intertwining relationship of memories and dreams amidst the chugging pace of "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby". On the lushly bittersweet "All My Friends", he looks back at his life in the hopes of finding a future mate. Counting Crows offset the dark mood of THIS DESERT LIFE with a few less severe-sounding numbers. Thebizarre imagery of "St. Robinson in His Cadillac Dream", isundercut by chiming mandolin and sweeping organ. "Hanginaround" is akin to "Hey Jude" with a hip-hop beat. Also included is the hidden track "Kid Things", a folksy rocker reminiscent of early-'70s Rod Stewart.

Customer Reviews

Up And Down...And Up Again
Counting Crows are phenomenal. They amount of talent in this band that never seems to be recognised by a wider audience is criminally good. Adam Duritz's lyrics are while very thought provoking, brightly innocent, and just unlike anything else currently on Earth. They are currently the greatest band in the world. That's just my opinion, that's all it is. Other people may differ with me, but here is why they are the greatest band currently raining on the planet...

They've always been a very good band just for different reasons, and up until the release of their latest album 'Hard Candy', 'This Desert Life' was their most varied and imaginative album. 'August And Everything After' is incredibly simplistic in comparison to some of their later releases, but that's not a bad thing. The sheer simplicity, combined with their slightly discordant, and angst that is like nothing else, made it one of the best mainly acoustic albums of all time. But through their graduation through the years, through a much more rockier, but just as angsty effort in, 'Recovering The Satellites', they always retained that pleasant innocence, and an astounding amount of simplicity. And it is still retained on, 'This Desert Life'...

Although not their ''heaviest'' song, if you can actually call anything the Crows do as heavy, 'Hangin' Around' is their finest up-beat song up to the date of release, with some terrific guitar stomping following the band clapping to open and Duritz's vocals in their most catchy chorus the Crows ever did. Many people have heard 'Mrs. Potter's Lullaby' and compared it to their breakthrough single, 'Mr Jones', and while this is a fair analysis, 'Mr Jones' always packed a bit more of a punch, and provided an almost icy atmosphere, whereas 'Mrs. Potter's...' is a fair bit more upbeat, which seems to be the direction the Crows appear to be heading.

Of course, this is a Counting Crows record, there's going to be some terrific piano and acoustic ballads full of angst and 'shoe-gazing' qualities. 'Amy Hits The Atmosphere', 'Speedway' and album standout, 'Colorblind', provide that much needed hit of piano and guitar based angst that all the fans love them for. It'd be so easy to say that it's what they do best, but it's not, because the Counting Crows are so diverse, that they just seem to sound invincible through everything they do.

'All My Friends' provides a fine up-and-down feeling with a fine violin section during the chorus, again showing the Crows power with their instruments. It's also notable at this point that Counting Crows have often been criticised by critics and the public alike for being mere throw-backs. 'This Desert Life' and then most recently, 'Hard Candy' have shown a fine example of the Crows originality that is not often seen on the surface. 'I Wish I Was A Girl' is a fine pop-rock song, that only Counting Crows could do and pull off so perfectly, and still manage to add nice little touches and retro guitars, that compared with the rest of the album, shows their diversity and originality, but will unfortunately never really prove the critics wrong.

The rest of the tracks are just pure Counting Crows' own classic style with new ideas and out-of-this-world lyrics and pure pompous moments that are just as important as the standouts in the process of making another fine album that only they could make.

If you're in the same position as the Crows, then it would be just easier to go along with the saying 'if it isn't broken, don't fix it'. Well if you said that you wouldn't be the Counting Crows. They seem to be always striving to improve themselves and increase the quality of their music, and at this point, they have never once disappointed. This is why Counting Crows are the greatest band in the world today. It's just my opinion. And the Crows have always been about opinion.

4.5 Stars.

This Desert Life - Everything An Album Should Be
I got into Counting Crows after hearing the beautiful 'Colourblind' on Cruel Intentions. At first, I thought they were REM, because Adam Duritz's voice resembles that of Michael Stipe in my opinion. But after discovering a band named Counting Crows, I chose to buy this album.

Sophisticated, soulful, cheerful, heart-tugging, beautiful and classic are just some of the words I would use to describe this album. This is truly a masterpiece of an album, and every part of it seems to have hidden connotations, all the way to the pictures in the sleevenotes.

I am an aspiring songwriter, and believe me, if I could ever write songs as beautiful as those featured on 'This Desert Life', I will die a happy person. The songs on this album seem relevant to any feelings, be they happy or heartbroken, and it seems to be a type of music which the majority of people accept, making it a great album to listen to with your friends. The songs are beautifully written and the idea of so many instruments playing the song at the same time is a beautiful thought. This truly is a spectacular album, and I would recommend it as the first Counting Crows album you should buy.

I recommend counting crows to fans of REM, Tracy Chapman, Radiohead, Muse, Damien Rice, basically just mellow rock. Enjoy!

Quietly surprising
After hearing 'Colourblind' on the Cruel Intentions sound track, it was a mad dash to find out who sung this fantastic song. I would have to say when I found out who it was I was surprised. I had bought Hard Candy first and so I was already a fan but this song was so uncharacteristic of the crows. It was soooo good I could hardly believe it. I went straight to the shops and bought This Desert Life. And I have to say after a few listenings I was hooked. Its a CD you can listen to in any mood. Mrs Potters Lullaby was so upbeat, followed by Amy Hit The Atmosphere, a mellow, calming song with a good bass beat. The album is beautifuly arranged, every song is exactly where it should be, listening to it you can understand where this music is coming from. You don't need to know the names of the tracks to understand them, I still don't know what half of them are called. The name isn't the point, for so many artists the name explains the song - here, it makes no difference. It's not hard to know what mood and feeling is being portrayed. I personally think this is one of their best albums to date, one of the top two. Hard Candy was less impressive but still a good album. Buy this album, you can't help but love it! It desrves more than five stars.