Recovering the Satellites reviewed

Counting Crows, Recovering the Satellites, (**1/2 out of four)

The success and quality of the Crows' first album, a baby boomer magnet that sold 6 million copies, raised expectations that this second release doesn't meet. Though rife with pretty melodies and rich arrangements, Satellites suffers under the self-indulgent tendencies of Adam Duritz, a singer/songwriter whose misguided passion and lack of discipline often sabotage his powerful pipes and poetic elegance with lyrics. Emotional self-absorption, unchecked vocal mannerisms and endless musings on sleep, dreams and angels mar Miller's Angels and I'm Not Sleeping. Duritz is most effective when the focus is external, as in the sumptuous Mercury and Another Horsedreamer's Blues, a winsome portrait of a racetrack addict.

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