Counting Crows - Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings
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Free Music Notes for Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings
Free Music Review: Amazon Pre order
Hit: 5 Stars
What I find absolutely amazing is that I pre -ordered this item on 2/17/08 and have not received it as of 2/28/08. Pre-order from Amazon again???? NO WAY!!!!Free Music Review: Counting Crows have really "Come Around"
Hit: 4 Stars
This latest outing by Adam Duritz and company has got to one of the best in a quite a while. All the tracks pretty much contain the Counting Crows we really enjoyed during early to mid-90's. Despite how good this latest effort is, however, I am in agreement with a number of reviewers here that it still is not as monumental as "August and Everything After".
In fact, I don't know if they will ever be able create another album as good as that one, but "Saturday Nights" comes pretty doggone close and it is definitely worth a listen.
Stand out track for me is "Come Around", which ranks right up there with the awesome tunes we all fell in love with from "August" and "Satellites".
At any rate, "Saturday Nights" still proves that the Crows still have the ability to fly high.
4.5 stars
Free Music Review: Counting Crows are back
Hit: 4 Stars
"Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings" comes just as its title advertises -- a rockus Saturday night followed by easy like Sunday morning. It's almost like two albums. It opens with guitars unleashed. Four of the first six songs are rockers echoing "Recovering the Satellites." Mixed in there is "Los Angeles," which was co-written by Ryan Adams. "Cowboys" is probably the biggest stand out for me. This one really sounds like it could have been on "Satellites," a la "Children in Bloom."
After "Cowboys" the disk takes a hard left turn into mellow folk for a lot of the rest of it. We're talking unplugged stuff for a number of these tunes. And they're not bad at all at first listen. There's no "Shrek" moments. They're just quite the contrast to the guitars blazing through the first 6 tunes, songs that you groove on right away (which I will really want to see live).
The second half of the album may take a while to set in. Six of the last eight songs at least are pretty mellow. They're more like "Speedway" than "Chelsea," but not monotonous (except for "On a Tuesday in Amsterdam Long Ago"), with some decent melodies. "Le Ballet D'or" is an inferior "Mercury" (but "Mercury" is a great tune). It picks up on "You Can't Count on Me," which is getting radio play (I thought it was a lousy song when I first heard it, but was probably being overly harsh now that I've heard it again). The disc ends with another upbeat groove called "Come Around," which is not like "Hangin' Around" or "Round Here," but is a fitting coda for this mix of rock and folk.
I haven't listened to the disc enough yet, but if the mellow portions of it don't fall on their face with further listening, I think this album has a chance to land squarely in the middle of the Counting Crows catalog: August/Satellites (pick 'em, both great), Saturday Nights, Desert Life/Hard Candy (I like both of these and continually flip-flop over which one I think is better, but they don't measure up to August and Satellites). We'll see. For those yearning for Counting Crows to recapture the greatness of those first two albums, Saturday Nights is a step in the right direction. It's highs are definitely higher than any songs off the last two albums.
SIX YEARS in the making, could they have done better? Yeah, but you won't be too disappointed. Duritz is going in the right direction, and after reading a recent Rolling Stone article it sounds like he's pulled himself together. Hopefully there be a lot more to come.
Free Music Review: Counting Crows Are Back, and What a Return!
Hit: 4 Stars
Counting Crows were somewhat written off after 2002's Hard Candy. Adam Duritz and the rest of the band, in that CD, put out a self-consciously pop CD, without a lot of meat on it. Then you had the infamous Coke commercial, and Shrek 2, which earned them an Oscar nomination but no accolades for credibility.
Well, on Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings, Counting Crows proves that they're not out of ideas, and haven't lost their drive. This is a fantastic CD that basically melds the folk sounds of August and Everything After with the harder edge and pathos of Recovering the Satellites.
If you're reading this review, you probably know by now the basic concept of the album: It's divided into a Saturday Nights portion and a Sunday Mornings portion. Saturday nights is when you sin, loudly and angrily. This "side" contains mostly electric guitar anger and bitterness, as the protagonist (i.e., Adam Duritz) slides deeper and deeper into depression and loss of self. The Sunday Mornings "side" contains songs of recovery, of trying to put your life back together. (The emphasis is on *trying*. Only in the final song, "Come Around", is there any kind of faint glimmer of hope on this CD.)
Here's how the songs pan out:
Saturday Nights:
1) 1492 -- This is a song about losing yourself in the party scene. It's about the meaninglessness of casual (if not anonymous) sex with Italian models and careening through the underbelly of night life like a drunken Arthur Rimbaud. And it's about all the "people who impersonate our friends" you meet along the way. You can download this as part of a "digital 45" from their site, so I won't bother describing it for you. 7/10.
2) Hanging Tree -- This is one of the best songs on the CD. It's basically about not being able to connect with anyone: "You open windows, and you wait for someone warm to come inside, and then you freeze to death alone." This is really a guitar-driven tour de force. 9/10
3) Los Angeles -- On this one, Counting Crows basically channel the Rolling Stones. Here, Adam gets a little self-indulgent, with lyrics like,
If you see that movie star and me
If you should see my picture in a magazine
Or if you fall asleep while you're watching TV
Well, honey, I'm just trying to make some sense
Out of me.
It sounds like a song designed to say, "Hey, I'm just trying to enjoy myself here. Cut me some slack." Like I said, a little self indulgent. 6/10
4) Sundays -- This one was a surprise. After 3 hard-driving songs, this one is more laid back. It's got nice music, but I don't really understand it, other than he's expressing a lack of faith. 6/10
5) Insignificant -- Here, it's all about a search for meaning. The protagonist (this time not explicitly Adam) stands on the ledge of a building, looking out over the crowd, believing he can fly -- *needing* to believe he can fly, to find some significance in his life. It's really a different way of expressing "Mr. Jones": He wants to be seen, to be noticed, and to mean something in the world. He also wants to be special, without feeling "different" because he's in some celebrity bubble. Great music, decent concept. 8/10
6) Cowboys -- Here, the protagonist is so desperate to be feel something, to mean something in the world, that he becomes a serial killer. The climax of the song is, "Oh, I will MAKE you look at me!". If it wasn't over 5 minutes long, this would be the perfect single. It's hard driving, wonderful, twisted lyrics (the protagonist is a paranoid schizophrenic), and every part of the music builds to the devastating, crumbling climax. 9/10
Sunday Mornings
7) Washington Square -- This is a song about picking yourself up and getting yourself together to go out and live your life again. Quiet, introspective music, and Adam is at his pensive best here. 9/10.
8) On Almost Any Sunday Morning -- Here, the protagonist has taken the wrong woman home, just because he doesn't want to be alone. But he wakes up, and he's alone anyway. He also talks about taking lithium here (to control his depression, apparently). By the end of the song, he vows to find someone real to be with, and not to settle for the one-night stands:
"You dig yourself a dream
That we won't be coming home alone
Not this time..."
This is really a brilliant song. It's the one that reminds me most of the sound of August and Everything After (and even more specifically "Round Here"). 10/10
9) When I Dream of Michaelangelo -- If you've ever wondered what the line "I dream of Michaelangelo when I'm lying in my bed", from "Angels of the Silences" means, this is the song for you. This song has been puttering around in Adam Duritz's head since at least Recovering the Satellites. It's a beautiful ballad about being so close to someone, yet never being able to touch who they really are. "Well I know, she is not my friend, 'cause there she goes, walking on my skin again and again". 8/10
10) Anyone But You -- The best way to describe this song is, the protagonist is in a relationship, and he can't handle it. His eye is on the door. He's not together enough for a relationship.
"I'm almost ready.
Yeah, it's almost true.
For almost anyone but you."
It's got a real 70's feel to it. Not my favorite song, but not unpleasant. 6/10.
11) You Can't Count On Me -- Adam has said he's got 4 albums describing why women should stay as far away from him as possible. This song basically sums it up. He's not Mr. Reliable. Again, not my favorite, but serviceable. 7/10
12) Le Ballet D'Or -- Think of this one as philosophically akin to Eagles' "Wasted Time". The protagonist is tired of being mired in self-loathing and self-pity, and wants to get out and live: "So come on now, let's go dance to the siren's song...". It marks a turning point in the CD, because it's the point where the protagonist realizes, finally, that although he's screwed up his life with the wrong turns he took, that he still has a life to live. A very beautiful, lilting song. 9/10.
13) On A Tuesday In Amsterdam Long Ago -- The protagonist remembers an old love, and laments her. It's the closest they've come to "Raining in Baltimore" for quite some time. I'm not a fan of "Raining in Baltimore", though. The song is too long and repetitious. (For fun, count how many times he says, "Come back to me..."). 2/10
14) Come Around -- This is, by far, the most hopeful song on the CD, and my favorite. By this time, the protagonist's fog has cleared. Things aren't great, but he sees the hope in life. His girlfriend just dumped him, but that's okay. The song ends:
"And one of the million lies she said
Is 'All of the things you loved are dead.',
But I've seen what she thinks is love
And it leaves me laughing
So we'll (meaning the band, I guess) still come around."
Overall, this is their best work since Recovering the Satellites, by a wide margin. If you lost faith after Hard Candy, give this a try. it won't disappoint you!
Free Music Review: Wonderfully Complete Album
Hit: 5 Stars
The music industry has really fallen apart. It's rare that an artist or a band comes out with complete albums, meant to be listened to as a whole. But, that's exactly what you get with "Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings". Since radio stations no longer play bands like Counting Crows, I just discovered its existance this morning when the band was playing live on The Howard Stern Show. They played "Washington Square" and I was immediately drawn to take a listen. The first half of the album represents Saturday nights. It's hard and edgy, but in a Counting Crows style. It isn't harsh listening. The second half of the album is much more subdued. It represents Sunday mornings and is relaxing. The band is as good as ever here and the music doesn't feel overly produced for radio. It's loaded with ambient sounds of acoustic guitars, piano, stand-up bass, harmonica, and even a banjo. The music frames the songs beautifully. There is just enough of it there to add to the song without taking away from Adam's strong as ever voice. If you are a Counting Crows fan, you can rest easy that you'll be getting a great album. They released a digital 45 of the songs "1492" and "When I Dream of Michelangelo" to download for free from their website. They are a good representation of the songs you'll hear on the album. If you like either song, you shouldn't be afraid to buy the whole album.