 | |
List Price: $13.98 | | Label: Geffen Records
Salesrank: 16192
Released: June 20, 2006 |
| Our Price: $8.53 |
| Used Price: $4.20 |
|
| Media: Audio CD |
|
New Amsterdam: Live at Heineken Music Hall Track Listing:
1. Rain King
2. Richard Manuel Is Dead
3. Catapult
4. Goodnight LA
5. Four White Stallions
6. Omaha
7. Miami
8. Hazy
9. Good Time
10. St. Robinson in His Cadillac Dream
11. Perfect Blue Buildings
12. Hanginaround
13. Goodnight Elisabeth
14. Hard Candy
15. Holiday in Spain
New Amsterdam: Live at Heineken Music Hall Reviews:
Fantastic Heartbreaking Live Performance 
2009-05-28 - This is a wonderful compilation of a band giving very emotional performances. The band stretches and Adam lets loose. There are moments on here that make you want to cry. Play this through headphones, sitting with a bottle of wine, scratching your dog's ears; it will get you.
I appreciate the shying away from the hits (do we really need to hear another version of Mr. Jones).
The standout tracks (IMHO):
"Rain King" - what a suprise version as the opener. Much better than the studio version.
"Four White Stallions" - almost brutal vocals. Adam really digs into this song.
"Miami" - a great building rock-out. The crowd is having a ball.
"Hazy -> Good Time" - take a breathe and miss her or him ... and then ... groove to a little west-coast psychadelica. Lots of emotion from the vocal chords and fingers (with power chords!!!). I can't listen to "Good Time" any more without the "Hazy" prelude.
"Perfect Blue Buildings" - one of this bands best songs. Still scary, thought-provoking, depressing, mesmerizing.
"Goodnight Elisabeth" - another one of their best songs. I wish I could have seen the 'Crows' faces when the crowd sang the chorus. Goose-bumbs.
Buy it ... play it ... enjoy it!!!
Thanks for this one guys.
(Can't wait to hear "Michelangelo" live on July 3rd!!!)
SUPERB!!
2008-04-13 - Short and sweet......this is a magnificent compilation. It has been years since I have enjoyed listening to a CD to the point of having to pry it from my machine. Can we please see a companion DVD!!
Worth adding to your Crows collection 
2008-04-09 - This live record is a great demonstration of the band's musicianship. I particularly admire Adam Duritz's talent to convey the original impact of the vocals on the well-known tunes, enhanced by (or derived from?) the live modifications the band makes to tempo, acoustic, electric, percussion - you name it, Adam makes it sound even better than the first time around (thanks for humoring a moment of my self-indulgence).
"New Amsterdam" sums up some of the Crows' best studio cuts in better-than-average live versions. The only reason I give 4 stars instead of 5 is that the liner notes leave something to be desired: when I purchase a live record that is subsequent to a few studio records, I expect more description of the culture of their live performances. Overall, a worthy addition to any Counting Crows collection.
An amazing performance of amazing songs
2008-02-02 - This is the only band I know of that could elevate songs of this caliber further by performance. Whether you're looking for great songcraft, an out-of-mind reworking of songs live, or just a spine-tingling recording of a tight performing band, it's hard to find one that matches this level of intensity. For the already initiated, believe it, this is a recording worthy of representing Counting Crows live shows. The performances are always this tight it seems, but the mix and mastering on this CD are EXCEPTIONAL. Turn the volume up, it sounds better the closer it gets to concert volume, believe me.
For the uninitiated, don't try to put this CD on behind anything; it will steal your attention subtly and sneak into your subconscious until you're sitting at a doctor's office humming the tune without remembering the name of the song. And with these songs, the name is worth remembering. I've spent hours comparing these side-by-side with the studio versions, and they are both so great in their own ways.
To me, the most impressive part of this performance is the dynamics they achieve. The band surges forward behind Adam (the singer), sometimes seeming to swallow him up in sound, then spitting him back out right on time to most effectively deliver the lyrics. Actually, I believe this performance is comparable to Bob Dylan's performances with the Rolling Thunder Revue. By that time, Bob had found a brand new way to perform his songs that squeezed the maximum effect out of all of his songs, making his initial studio versions sound flat. After hearing these versions of these songs, even excellent recordings like "August and Everything After" sound like slightly flattened performances. It impressed the heck out of me to hear how much the changed PERFORMANCE of these songs affects the clarity of their COMMUNICATION to the listener. Sit, back, and enjoy; you can't go wrong with this CD if you like live music.
For True Counting Crows Fans Only
2007-12-09 - I purchased this album expecting what many others probably did, another Across the Wire. It's not, in fact it's better. For those who have complained about there being no hits on this album, well your wrong. This album has what many refer to as 'underground' hits. The song that are not radio friendly, but hold just as much, if not more passion and emotion as chart toppers like 'Mr Jones' and 'Long December.' If your looking for an album of mainstream, radio exhausted songs performed live by the band, then no this album is not for you. But if your looking for an live album will Duritz singing his heart out to lesser known songs full of powerful lyrics and sometimes heart-achingly raw emotion, this go for it. You won't be disappointed.
