Hard Candy

by

Counting Crows

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The Counting Crows have proven themselves masters of sophisticated pop music and on Hard Candy they continue to deliver the goods. Adam Duritz, the group's lead singer and primary lyricist, has said that Hard Candy is a return to form, harkening back to 1993's critically lauded August and Everything After. In my opinion, this holds true.

Steve Lillywhite's (producer for U2, Dave Matthews Band) influence can be felt throughout the album, giving the songs a certain internal strength that the Crow's last two albums (This Desert Life and Recovering the Satellites) failed to elucidate. Lillywhite's genius is that he was able to rope in the passion of the Counting Crows, holding the rope taut, not allowing Duritz and company to meander into the maudlin and the mundane, which they have a tendency to do.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to infer that Lillywhite is the man behind the curtain. On the contrary, the Counting Crows are a band hitting their stride. Duritz's lyrics are confident and playful, while his bandmates' musicianship is virtually unparalelled in rock and roll.

The title track, Hard Candy, is a beautiful, tight pop song, while the first single off the album, American Girls, is an amalgamation of Tom Petty and Big Star, a killer combination if there ever was one. The rest of the album is filled with poetic, perfect little pop songs sprinkled with show tune gusto, fervid lyrics, and climactic guitars.

If you're a Counting Crows fan you will not be disappointed. Come to speak of it, if you're not a Counting Crows fan, this album will make you one.

I hate to give this album 3 measly stars but there's nothing I can do but be brutally honest. I just wonder what happened to the Crows I fell in love with. Their entire vibe changed with the release of this and has caused controversy amoung their fans.

True, many feel betrayed by the pop-ness of the songs but Adam Duritz's lyrics are still touching and wonderful. The music isn't as morose as it has been on previous albums but bands, like the people in them, change.

All I can say is that I was disappointed by this but it has it's good points. Don't start here, instead, build up to it.