Counting Crows - Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings
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Free Music Notes for Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings
Free Music Review: should have been a double album
Hit: 3 Stars
I'll just breeze over the first part, YES I'm a huge fan, been one since August first came out. And yes I do understand that this is a "concept album" and rocking side (Saturday nights) and a mellow side (Sunday Mornings). Here's my problem.
Taken as a whole, the two sides are such polar opposites of each other that the end result for me is such a disjointed album.
The Saturday night side is definitely the stronger of the two, and is the
easier one to get into...but before you know it, it OVER. Too short in my opinion. Sunday mornings takes a little more getting used too but again, just as you're getting into it, it's done as well.
Since track arrangements follow the album "concept", for me the end result comes out like 2 unfinished records. They had 6 years...surely they could have churned out a couple more songs per side just to give each concept more "meat". What happened to "Suffocate", a fantastic song left over from Recovering that was supposed to be on "Saturday nights" (according to wikipedia)? They've got a lot more "old" songs they could have added if they didn't feel like writing more....."Here comes that feeling Again", "Hazy", "Good Luck"...hell, "August & Everything After"! these songs need to be released someday. Instead we get a song like "On Almost Any Sunday Morning" which to me comes off uninspired, lazy and most importantly unfinished.
Anyway, that's my only problem. What we have with "Saturday NIghts & Sunday Mornings" are fantastic songs. There is just too little of both sides. Should've been a double album, or they could have released them separately like what Juliana Hatfield did a few years back with her albums "Beautiful Creature" & "Total System Failure". That would've given them 2 sets of 5 stars from me.
but when all is said and done, I still LOVE the CROWS! Go get this album and all their others! Support GREAT music :)
Free Music Review: Much Better Than I Expected - 5 Stars!
Hit: 5 Stars
The Crows are going through a lot of changes. Some of their original members have been replaced, but Adam, Dan, David, and Charlie are still around and each one of them sounds really good with the blend of the new members. Another couple of things that concerned me is that there is no true hit single on this album. Which was shown when they played "You can't count on me" on Letterman when many were expecting "1492". Adam has also finally changed his philosophy with old material on new albums. Usually old material gets scratched but 1492, When I Dream Of Michelangelo, and On A Tuesday In Amsterdam Long Ago made the cut even though they were written many years ago.
Yes this album is obviously not August & Everything After, but everyone knew that even before listening to the first track. BTW any future albums will not be as good as August either.
Tracks that really shine:
1492
Hanging Tree
Insignificant
Cowboys
Washington Square
When I Dream Of Michelangelo
Le Ballet d'Or - (This is a true hidden gem!)
Come Around
I seriously love Hanging Tree, Insignificant and Le Ballet d'Or the most. The only track that I keep skipping over is Los Angeles, maybe it will grow on me later.
Finally for those that say the Crows keep getting worse, I disagree. This album IMO is much better than "This Desert Life". Counting Crows CDs don't grab you right away (at least post August) they need to grow on you. If you are on the fence, give this album a few more listenings (It hasn't even been out for a week yet) and I'm sure this will grow on you as well. :)
Free Music Review: It's either the end or a new beginning
Hit: 4 Stars
After The Replacements disbanded in 1991, frontman and over-glorified songwriter Paul Westerberg said in an interview that he knew the band was nearing its final days for the previous four years. About that time, he said (1987) the band had begun to rehash old themes and was basically running out of new ground to cover.
That said, Crows fans (myself included) might want to take every opportunity to enjoy this one. It certainly gives us reason to as far as its quality, but also because it, too revisits PLENTY of earlier material by the band.
The first customer review on this page points out very accurately that the sound of this record kind of melds those of the band's first two records, "August and Everything After" and "Recovering The Satellites". Looking back at those with the whole 'concept' spin of the new release, "August" was the Sundays record and "Recovering" largely the Saturdays.
Of course I'm talking in generalities there. "Satellites" had a good bit of both elements to it, but this record is definitely the band's best since that album's release in 1996.
After a few repeated listens that quickly sunk in ... this is potentially a monumental record, though I don't expect it to give them the success they enjoyed from 1994-1997. "Cowboys" is a classic Crows song, as are "Washington Square", "On Almost Any Sunday Morning" and "When I Dream of Michelangelo".
There are a few missteps. "1492" hasn't registered with me yet and I don't know that it will. It's just too disjointed and noisy and maybe that's the point. Therefore I naturally think it's a bad way to start off the record, but as I recall I didn't originally like "Catapult" either off "Recovering the Satellites".
After six years without releasing an album's worth of new material this could very well be the Crows last grope. The repetitive themes, some of which are wrapped up from older songs and some are just revisited, tend to give this album a "This is the answer to the riddle" feel.
On the other hand, taken for what it is, maybe this is what they've been trying to 'say' for 10 years and haven't had the ability. It's got the potential to usher in a new phase in the band's career that hopefully will produce more of their great music on a more regular basis.
Free Music Review: A little late and tired
Hit: 2 Stars
As a huge fan of the band, I've been disappointed by their last two efforts. This latest cd sound tired and used. Possibly, if it was released as a follow up to Satelites...then maybe, it would sound good. But some 10 years later, it sounds, well tired and used. We've heard this all before from the CC's nothings new on this cd. Too bad really. Free Music Review: Their 5th best out of 5
Hit: 3 Stars
I've had a copy of 1492, the lead song on this album, since it first fell off the stock shelf and onto the internet over 10 years ago - since the beginning. I've been a collector. And it is sad for me to say the albums have consitantly gone down in quality.
Hard Candy had more originality and likeablility than this album. It wasn't as raw, but the song writing was a higher caliber. This is Adam Duritz most ego-centric album, beating out Recovering the Satellites and August. Those albums were great for that same reasons, but you can't get involved in the situations he's sharing now. There's no waiting in an Airport watching your girlfriends plane come down, or writing a lullabye to your x-girlfriend Elizabeth. Too many generalizations. The songs lack the strong highs, lows, and builds most Counting Crows fans have come to love. I think many people are suckered by how raw this album is. I say to them, pay attention to song writing, not style. I've always loved Counting Crows style, especially their first 2 albums, but what made them special was the song writing. I don't see great song writing on this album.
Every album before has grown on me to a degree. However, even if it is superior to Hard Candy, this ablum is not as good as Desert Life, and falls far below their first two. Counting Crows lost their togetherness. There's too much Adam and not enough band involvement, which comes through clear after the first few songs of this album. Counting Crows are at their best with their unbelievable orchestration of simple sounds and chords pulling together wandering lyrics that can exhaust their fans emotions.
The first 3 songs start out very strong. 1492 is a good song. I don't know why people don't get it. Its a classic Adam Duritz profession. ("I'm a russian-jew, impersonating african jamaican.")
Los Angeles, the 3rd song, will have you feeling as if Counting Crows might step to a new plateau... until the Chorus. It kills itself with the chorus (If you see that movie star and me, if you see my picture in a magazine...) that will have even the most die hard fans feeling sick to their stomach and reaching for the 'next' button. From there, the album begins to fizzle, but shows promise with Cowboys, Washington Square, and Le Ballet D'or.
Sunday Mornings is the real dissapointment. Its the half of the Album where I quickly realized Adam Duritz needed some more help and input from his band, but didn't search for it. It has a "VH1 Storytellers" style. The Only problem is, Story Tellers contained better songs that were performed with a lot more thought.