This Desert Life is the third studio album from American rock band 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 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 2, 1999 | |||
| Recorded | 1998 in a house in California | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 59:46 | |||
| Label | Geffen | |||
| Producer | David Lowery, Dennis Herring | |||
| Counting Crows chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from This Desert Life | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [2] |
| Entertainment Weekly | C+[3] |
| Los Angeles Times |  [4] |
| Q | [5] |
| Rolling Stone | [7] |
| Spin | 6/10[5] |
| The Village Voice |  [6] |
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.
Background
editTwo years after the release of Counting Crows' second studio album, Recovering the Satellites, in 1998, the band collaborated with producers David Lowery and Dennis Herring in a rented house in Hollywood, Los Angeles to record their third album.[9] Describing the content of the album in comparison to other releases by the band, lead singer and primary song writer Adam Duritz remarked, "I think the first [album] was really about yearning for a change where you are, and I think the second album was very much about having gotten that change and being thrown up in the stratosphere and kind of come crashing down, and I think [This Desert Life] is about sort of recognizing that life is about confusion and change".[10] In addition, producer David Lowery also compared Counting Crows' past works from a more commercial aspect, stating, "Commercially it's been very successful for [Counting Crows] to be very introspective and sort of sad, so on this record, I thought we'd get a least a little bit of this humor and reverence to come through".
While writing and recording this album, the band used "Colorblind" in the soundtrack to Cruel Intentions and also the non-album track "Baby, I'm a Big Star Now" Rounders. The latter film did not have a soundtrack release and Duritz was concerned about having too many songs from this album released in other places, and when This Desert Life was finished, he could not find a way to sequence this track with the other songs, so it ended up being left off of any album.[11]
Track listing
editAll 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.
"Colorblind" was featured in the 1999 movie Cruel Intentions and the 2014 film Mommy.
Personnel
edit- 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 Hasal – Recording engineer
- Rocky Schenck – photography
- Jim Scott – mixing
- Jeff Sheehan – engineer
- Janette Sheridan – production coordination
Release history
edit| Country | Date |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | November 1, 1999 |
| United States | November 2, 1999 |
Charts
edit| Chart (1999) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[12] | 20 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[13] | 26 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[14] | 21 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] | 36 |
| Irish Albums (IRMA)[16] | 56 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[17] | 19 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[18] | 9 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[19] | 54 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[20] | 20 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[21] | 19 |
| US Billboard 200[22] | 8 |
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada)[23] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[24] | Gold | 100,000* |
| United States (RIAA)[26] | Platinum | 1,100,000[25] |
|
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ a b "This Desert Life CD Album". CDUniverse. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
- ^ Christgau, Robert (2000-03-07). "Cleanup Time". The Village Voice.
- ^ Hunter, James (1999-11-25). "Counting Crows: This Desert Life". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2007-10-24.
{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Counting Crows To Headline NARM Event". hive4media.com. February 12, 2002. Archived from the original on March 2, 2002. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
- ^ Scanlon, Gina. "The Untold Truth of Counting Crows". Grunge.com. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
- ^ "Counting Crows: Behind the Music II". Youtube. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
- ^ Pelsor, Matt (2023-05-29). "WTTS in Conversation – Adam Duritz of Counting Crows". WTTS. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
- ^ "Australiancharts.com – Counting Crows – This Desert Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Counting Crows – This Desert Life" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Counting Crows – This Desert Life" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Counting Crows – This Desert Life" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
- ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Counting Crows". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
- ^ "Charts.nz – Counting Crows – This Desert Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
- ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Counting Crows – This Desert Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Counting Crows – This Desert Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
- ^ "Counting Crows Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
- ^ "Canadian album certifications – Counting Crows – This Desert life". Music Canada.
- ^ "British album certifications – Counting Crows – This Desert Life". British Phonographic Industry.
- ^ "Counting Crows Content In 'Candy' Land". Billboard. 15 March 2002. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
- ^ "American album certifications – Counting Crows – This Desert Life". Recording Industry Association of America.
