A song a day: Counting Crows - Anna Begins

Weird - I literally just time travelled. I went for a shower and a shave and came out to the bedroom and my girlfriend was playing Counting Crows debut album (which is also weird). This is something that my long gone girlfriend in 1994 would have done as well. And if it was 1994, this album doesn’t sound that bad. At the time, they were touted as the next big thing because Mr Jones nicked Van Morrison’s sha-la-la’s and name checked Bob Dylan. In retrospect, that seems pretty calculated but at the time the music press saw it as revelatory. I guess this was before the Michelle Branch duets and the Shrek theme tunes. As these kind of bands go, I don’t think anyone really touched American Music Club in terms of lyricism and musicianship but I have to say Anna Begins is ok as are about three or four other tracks on August and everything after. So in 1994, this is pretty good but I’m glad I’m not caught in a time trap. --