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Underwater Sunshine
(Or What We Did On Our Summer Vacation)
Counting Crows
Label: Collective Sounds
Release Date: April 10, 2012
Review Date: April 15, 2012
Every once in awhile I’m asked to critique a local band somewhere in this great country of ours whose desire is to take their act to the next level. Usually, these bands are cover bands that don’t have any original material of their own. The first bit of advice that I give them is to write some great original material.
After giving that advice, I usually turn on my TV and watch American Idol where future stars make their way to fame and fortune as they’re being judged on how they perform covers of great songs. Afterwards, I’ll play some tunes on my iPod of known talent who, invariably, do a phenomenal job covering a great classic rock tune.
I don’t think I have much of a career in the area of band consulting. Oh well.
Back to covers by known talent.
A great, new album of covers by known talent is the latest album by Counting Crows entitled Underwater Sunshine (Or What We Did On Our Summer Vacation). It’s chock full of covers of both well known and not so well known tunes by other artists – all with that signature Counting Crows sound.
Baby boomers are going to immediate recognize and love the band’s treatment of the Pure Prairie League’s Amie. While not a replacement of the original it’s a great cover and well deserving of repeated slaps of the repeat button.
A Boomerocity favorite on Underwater is the cover of the Faces classic, Oo La La. The boys did a phenomenal job on this song! I won’t be at all surprised to hear that some or all of the former members of The Faces wind up performing this tune with Counting Crows. That in itself would be worth the price of admission to watch.
Another Boomerocity favorite is Return of the Grievous Angel. Listening to this version, I couldn’t help but think that Gramm Parson was smiling down on the boys of Counting Crows as they played this tune. He would have to be incredibly proud of their performance – it’s that good.
Not only will Counting Crows fans want this album, but so will music nuts who really enjoy great covers of great tunes from various decades and genres.
Written by Randy Patterson
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