This Desert Life
This Desert Life is the third studio album from Counting Crows. The cover art is by noted comic book artist Dave McKean, best known for his work with Neil Gaiman, and was adapted from the cover art McKean did for Gaiman's picture book The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish. The album had sold more than 2 million copies worldwide by February 2002.[8] The song "Hanginaround" was the first of three singles released from the album, and the highest charting single off the album, reaching number 1 on the US Billboard Adult Alternative Songs chart and number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as top ten in Canada and top 50 in a number of other countries.
This Desert Life | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | November 2, 1999 | |||
Recorded | 1998 in a house in California | |||
Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 59:46 | |||
Language | English | |||
Label | Geffen | |||
Producer | David Lowery, Dennis Herring | |||
Counting Crows chronology | ||||
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Singles from This Desert Life | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [2] |
Entertainment Weekly | C+[3] |
Los Angeles Times | [4] |
Q | [5] |
Rolling Stone | [6] |
Spin | 6/10[5] |
The Village Voice | [7] |
The album contains the same personnel as the band's previous studio album, Recovering the Satellites, being David Bryson (guitar), Adam Duritz (vocals), Charlie Gillingham (keyboards), Matt Malley (bass), Ben Mize (drums) and Dan Vickrey (guitars), with multi-instrumentalist David Immerglück, who formerly was credited as a session player on the previous two albums, promoted to full member. It received generally positive reviews from critics.
Track listing
All songs written by Adam Duritz except as indicated.
- "Hanginaround" (Duritz, Dan Vickrey, Ben Mize, David Bryson) – 4:07
- "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby" – 7:46
- "Amy Hit the Atmosphere" (Duritz, Matt Malley) – 4:36
- "Four Days" – 3:28
- "All My Friends" – 4:49
- "High Life" (Duritz, Vickrey) – 6:20
- "Colorblind" (Duritz, Charlie Gillingham) – 3:23
- "I Wish I Was a Girl" (Duritz, Gillingham) – 5:53
- "Speedway" (Duritz, Vickrey) – 3:44
- "St. Robinson in His Cadillac Dream" – 15:40
- "Kid Things" (hidden track)
The CD cover lists tracks one through five as "side one" and tracks six through ten as "side two". "Kid Things" is a hidden track as part of "St. Robinson in His Cadillac Dream". The vinyl release of this album also contains "Kid Things" as a hidden track along with another hidden track called "Baby I'm a Big Star Now", which is featured in the film Rounders. They are both on the side D with a text asking you not to play that side.
"Colorblind" was featured in the 1999 movie Cruel Intentions and the 2014 film Mommy.
Personnel
- Counting Crows
- Dave Bryson – guitar, slide guitar
- Adam Duritz – vocals, piano, art direction
- Charlie Gillingham – synthesizer, piano, Hammond organ, Mellotron, guitar, Chamberlin, Wurlitzer, vocals
- David Immerglück – bass, mandolin, guitar, pedal steel
- Matt Malley – bass, vocals, guitar
- Ben Mize – drums, percussion, vocals
- Dan Vickrey – guitar, sitar, vocals
- Additional musicians
- Chris Seefried – backing vocalist
- David Lowery - backing vocalist, producer
- Dennis Herring – producer, keyboards, loops, mixing
- Gary DeRosa – backing vocalist
- Cinjun Tate – backing vocalist
- Bob Ludwig – mastering
- Matt Funes – viola
- Eve Butler – violin
- Joel Derouin – violin
- Larry Corbett – cello
- David Campbell – string arrangements, conductor, orchestration
- Joe Chiccarelli – engineer
- Jim Champagne – engineer
- Clay Jones – guitar, mandolin
- Ok Hee Kim – engineer
- David McKean– art direction, illustrations
- Bill Merryfield – art direction, creative director
- Martin Pradler – engineer
- Jack Joseph Puig – mixing
- Richard Thomas Ash - engineer/second mix engineer
- Rocky Schenck – photography
- Jim Scott – mixing
- Jeff Sheehan – engineer
- Janette Sheridan – production coordination
Release history
Country | Date |
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United Kingdom | November 1, 1999 |
United States | November 2, 1999 |
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Canada (Music Canada)[9] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[10] | Gold | 100,000^ |
United States (RIAA)[11] | Platinum | 1,100,000[12] |
^shipments figures based on certification alone |
References
- Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "This Desert Life". AllMusic. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
- Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125958.
- Bautz, Mark (1999-11-05). "This Desert Life". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
- Weingarten, Marc (1999-10-30). "Some Endearing Melodies Mix With Duritz's Whine on 'Life'". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-10-22.
- "This Desert Life CD Album". CDUniverse. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
- Hunter, James (1999-11-25). "Counting Crows: This Desert Life". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2007-10-24.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
- Christgau, Robert (2000-03-07). "Cleanup Time". The Village Voice.
- "Counting Crows To Headline NARM Event". hive4media.com. February 12, 2002. Archived from the original on March 2, 2002. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
- "Canadian album certifications – Counting Crows – This Desert life". Music Canada.
- "British album certifications – Counting Crows – This Desert Life". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type This Desert Life in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
- "American album certifications – Counting Crows – This Desert Life". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.
- "Counting Crows Content In 'Candy' Land". Billboard. 15 March 2002. Retrieved 21 April 2018.