Amazon.com: Hard Candy is, most certainly, just another Counting Crows album. But it's difficult to imagine that there's ever going to be too many. For a band that formed during the grunge-dominated early 1990s, Counting Crows did something remarkably brave--though they helped themselves to the same legacy of 1970s and '80s FM radio rock as the Seattle groups, they chose not to subvert it with any punk influences. Counting Crows were determined to play Steve Miller and Tom Petty and Bruce Hornsby at their own game, and Hard Candy is the fourth astonishing album that has resulted. Counting Crows have now settled into a template with which they clearly feel comfortable--simple but elaborately orchestrated songs, buffed and polished to a high sheen, which serve as a glittering backdrop to Adam Duritz's lyrics. These, now as ever, are chiefly concerned with excitingly unattainable women and the roads he travels to get to or away from them. He tantalizes, as he often does, with specific names and places, but is never so solipsistic that the songs are robbed of a universal appeal. --Andrew Mueller
Disc 1:
Hard Candy
American Girls
Good Time
If I Could Give All My Love (Richard Manuel Is Dead)
Extremely Average Counting Crows Release This CD is pretty difficult for me to review. I have a kinda love/hate relationship with this CD. At times it seems almost great to me and at other times below average. This is definitely one of those CDs where my mood and state of mind at the time of listening has everything to do with how I feel about it. Therefore I guess 3 stars is the fairest way for me to review it. I really like the first three tunes (yes even American Girls, which most on here don't like) and "Good Time would have sounded right at home on "August..."). I even like "Richard Manuel" except something about the arrangement during the chorus bothers me. "Why Should You Come..." suffers from an even worse arrangement along with being a very subpar song. This song really grates me. "Butterfly In Reverse" sounds too much like a showtune. This grates me as well. On the other hand, the first 3 tunes along with the excellent "Miami" and the superb "Holiday In Spain" which rank among some of the best songs in the Crows catalogs help to redeem the CD. Even though this is my least favorite Counting Crows CD it still has it's flashes of greatness.
What do you do with hard candy? Suck it! That's the sentiment I gathered from the band after listening to this album. The music is mediocre, polished with just one or two fairly bright spots. I was drawn to this album upon seeing names like Ethan Johns, Ryan Adams and Leona Naess listed in the credits. I was hoping they could save the Crows from churning out another soulless record, but I was let down. This one is going up for resale.
Why the bad reviews - This is GREAT! I can't understand why everyone doesn't like this album. I think Hard Candy is the best Crows work since August. I absolutely LOVE this. I - saddly - find myself hoping Adam stays sad because he is the true definition of a tortured artist. It's so obvious that he was completely heartbroken when writing these songs. I'm a fan for life. If you have any doubts, listen to the songs while reading the liner notes. It's amazing!
Love it I don't know how I hadn't bought this CD earlier. I can't stop listening to it!
Candy Indeed Some reviewers of "Hard Candy" have decried an apparent stylistic shift towards pop music in comparing it to previous Counting Crows' releases. Having listened to Counting Crows' earlier efforts, I think these reviewers have missed the point. Counting Crows make pop music and always have. They have tended to make good pop music, and "Hard Candy" is no different. And there should be no shame in making, or in enjoying, good pop music.
These songs are well written, with interesting, if not always profound, lyrics and nicely crafted melodies. "Good Time", "If I Could Give All My Love (Richard Manuel Is Dead)" and "Holiday In Spain" stand out as the best among equals here. As is typical of the band, the lush instrumentation and arrangement are also spot-on. The unexpected banjo on "Good Time", slide guitar and mandolin on "Holiday In Spain", retro-style synthesizer on "New Frontier" and background vocal harmonies on "American Girls" are prime examples of how to infuse a song with added power through arrangement. "Hard Candy" is candy, indeed, and sometimes candy is just what one needs.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
