Customer's review

outstanding but give it time to mellow in your mind

as a CC fan, big time, I was more than glad to get hold of this. First listen said, this stuff is strange, there is a discordant note running through it, deliberate discord, which is -not quite offputting but uncomfortable in a way. Then the second and third listens and you realise it is what Adam Duritz was aiming at, the album is not intended to sit easy in the mind, hence the discordant piano here and there and the strange repeated lyrics. Overall I found it a good mix, a good balance, I found the same lonely/needing/heartache/misunderstood lyrics along with some good fast rocking numbers which made the drive to work, when all music is listened to, within the confines of the car, very loud, a real treat. It is worth persevering with this album, it will become a CC classic, given time and a few plays. Don't dismiss it on first hearing, whatever you do. It has a lot to offer.

Not hard candy... more like hard listening

I was really hoping for some good Crows music but was greatly disappointed by this album. This album sounds like it was created in about a weekend....which is really annoying...as I really don't take to paying for listening to a mediocre jam session. There is no depth, passion, or solid musical creativity in any of the songs. If you are a Crows fan... you can safely skip this album. It was literally hard to listen to all the songs, I kid you not...you will be looking for the 'stop' button. Painful. Stick with old Crows for the time being.

Let's hope Monday they get back to real work.

As the main songwriter for Counting Crows Adam Duritz has to take the brunt of the negatives being levelled at this album. Not only do the lyrics here sound like his live ad-lib meanderings al la "my favourite Orang-utan..." and the typical nicking of themes from other crows tracks. The tunes and melodies are practically none existent here. The lyrics often drop in to cringe inducing flotsam.

As for the band, this album is musically stunted and not worthy of the crows. In fact it sounds like a crows tribute band trying to write crows songs.Alternately, it sounds like two extended weed induced jams split in to songs with Adam thinking he can turn up, stand in front of a mic and waffle.

The only track which doesn't fit on this album is Baby, I'm a big star now. The reason...it was written and recorded before Hard Candy and was a "B" side of Hanging around the first time it was released (Not that dreadful rock mix!) This smacks of a band believing there own hype.

The Crows are still a great band if you listen to the music up to lunch time on Saturday. Saturday night and sunday morning stinks (Can you see what I did there?;-) ) Let's hope they take the rest of Sunday off and come back refresshed on Monday for some proper work.

It's really not good enough

I have tried to like it, listened to it again and again but I'm sorry, it's just OK. Adam's voice sounds soulless like he is strolling through the songs and not feeling them and in the end the division of rock and country as oppose to a normal track listing just makes it boring. They're my favourite band in the world but seem to be running out of ideas. My wife is a massive fan and she fell asleep half way through!

A great return - even if it takes a few plays

Counting Crows are probably my favourite band and are, in my opinion, are also one of the most underrated bands on the planet so you can hardly expect this to be a balanced review. I would rate all of their albums as five star although I would need a couple more star to rate August and Everything After, so you can imagine my expectations of this return album after so long out of the studio.

Was I disappointed? Initially I was - to some extent. I thought the album was good but I wasn't blown away as I had hoped to be. Rather than writing a review on this basis I decided to persevere and see if the album grew on me and I'm glad to say that it did - big time! After a dozen or so plays I really think this rates a close second to `August' and has some really great songs on it. My particular favourites are Cowboys, Anyone But You and On a Tuesday in Amsterdam Long Ago all of which are the equal of anything the band has ever produced. As for the other 12 tracks - they're all almost as good.

So, if you love Counting Crows but haven't bought this yet - do! If you have bought it and have abandoned it after a couple of plays give it another try. It may be a slow burner but it's really worth the effort.

Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings

Customer's review

outstanding but give it time to mellow in your mind

Not hard candy... more like hard listening

Let's hope Monday they get back to real work.

It's really not good enough

A great return - even if it takes a few plays

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