Counting Crows - Hard Candy Review
Posted by Tom Cocozza on 08.27.2002
If you are a fan, even mildly, of the Counting Crows, get the album. If you don’t like any of there previous work, but like early Springsteen, I also recommend it. Otherwise, there’s nothing really here that’s going to change your mind.
This is the fourth studio album from the band, still best known for their debut, August and Everything After, featuring the hits “Mr. Jones” and “Round Here”. This release has a little different twist to it then their previous albums, not so much a departure of sound, but of mood. If finally seems like Adam Duritz, the band’s lead singer and lyricist, might have been in a good mood when he was writing some of the songs. ( I challenge anyone to listen to “August…” and not wonder about Duritz’s emotional well-being.)
Now, this is a wrestling website, and because I thought it might be an interesting way to review an album, I’m going to write this as if the album was a wrestling PPV. I’ll give reviews and times for each of the “matches”, or tracks, and then an overview for the entire “show.” You all with me? Good. Here we go.
The ‘set’ is nice, includes the lyrics to all the songs, as well as photos of the band. Man, doe Adam Duritz have funky hair. And the rest of the band is startlingly non-descript. The show opens with no flashy pyrotechnics, just a good opening track to get the crowd going. A little faster than some of the tracks, and a little more flashy.
Match 1: “Hard Candy”. It’s flashy, it’s catchy, and it’s the title track. I’m always a proponent of making the title track, if there is one, the first song. Or the last song. Makes it mean something extra. The song is about women in your past, and how your memory sometimes tricks you into thinking they’re better than they were. It shifts near the end to talk about the current girl in your life, and how you shouldn’t ignore her for your memories. Nice message, catchy hook. Probable single.
Winner: Adam Duritz in 4:20.
Match 2: “American Girls”. Ah, the big advance single. If you know the band, or listen to the local ‘today’s hits’ station, you’ve already heard this one, which I have to admit sounds much better in the context of the album. And I like it on the radio. It gets funky, it gets pop-y. And it has America in the title, which guarantees thirty-five percent of the public will blindly support it. Plus, Sheryl Crow sings backing vocals, and she can do no wrong in my eyes, frankly.
Winner: The listening public in 4:32.
Match 3: “Good Time”. We slow it down with this track, which shows the blues influence on Counting Crows. This is reminiscent of the late sixties-early seventies blues/funk/rock mixes that supergroups from Zeppelin to Jethro Tull were doing. It, like many bluesy songs is about how the woman is doing me wrong, but I love her anyway. But the last verse has a great opening line. Definitely the best I’ve heard in a while.
Winner: Duritz (in a close contest) in 4:24.
Match 4: “If I Could Give All My Love - or – Richard Manuel Is Dead”. Already wins the award for longest intro to a match for the night. We pick it up a little for this song, with a nice hook and a sympathetic point of view. The only bad thing is you get the idea that Adam Duritz is having many new ideas. I mean he uses this theme in his songs about as often as a Superkick is used as a finisher. But this has some really good guitar work, courtesy of David Immergluck.
Winner: Immergluck in 3:52.
Match 5: “Goodnight L.A”. I like this song. But it really is a cross between “Omaha”, from “August…” and “A Long December” from Recovering The Satellites. That gives it negative points in my book, although the song is good enough.
Winner: “Omaha” in 4:17.
Match 6: “Butterfly In Reverse”. Here’s a refreshing change. A song about how good a girl is. It’s almost a ballad in the old style. Not that it sounds like it, but the same feel as the song as “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head”. The music is what sells this song, being that Adam Duritz is incapable of sounding like anything but Adam Duritz.
Winners: Duritz, Charles Gillingham, and Ryan Adams (the music writers) in 2:48.
Match 7: “Miami”. Here’s a solid mid-card song. Nothing flashy, just good solid work. It’s kind of like a William Regal match. It has interesting percussion work, and poetic lyrics. A single contender? Possibly. Any song that uses castanets is good enough in my book.
Winners: Audience who needs more Latin-influenced slow songs by whiny New Yorkers in 5:01.
Match 8: “New Frontier”. Here is when something occurs to me. All the lyrical moves that being done on this album remind of something. Halfway through listening this song it hits me. Early Bruce Springsteen, I mean pre-“Born To Run” Bruce has the same kind of poetic word association atypical rhyme scheme. Hey, if you got to be derivative, better Bruce Springsteen that Gary Newman or Flock of Seagulls. Actually, this song kind of has a heavy synthesizer sound; maybe Gary Newman (Cars) did get his hands on it.
Winner: The 80’s in 3:51.
Match 9: “Carriage”. The first song on the album I actually am not a fan of. Almost every album has a song you skip over. Think of this as a Big Show match. It’s slow, not exciting, predictable, and far too long.
Winner: Those who like time filler in 4:04.
Match 10: “Black and Blue”. You see, Mr. Duritz, I think I got it. Songs where someone else helps write the music to your lyrics are a little better than the dirges you write by yourself. Now, let us hold no illusions. I am in awe of his ability, I have tried to write numerous songs, and have decided that I’m better off listening to music. But, damn, is this man depressed! At least this song is evocative of a mood and feeling, and not just killing time like the last song.
Winner: The Audience who likes their music deep and depressing in 3:53.
Match 11: “Why Should You Come When I Call?” I like this song a lot. It’s just a nice song, well constructed and presented. It is, like every song on this album so far, about a girl. I think something that is bothering me about this album is that it seems none of the songs are about the same girl. It makes me doubt the validity of Mr. Duritz’s words. Ah well, I’ll just listen to this song again and forget it. It actually has backing singers singing “Ba da da, la la la” I love when the old stuff still works.
Winner: Me in 4:38.
Match 12: “Up All Night (Frankie Miller Goes To Hollywood)”. This song is so evocative of early Springsteen to me that I can’t help but love it (I being a huge Springsteen mark). It’s also got the first good guitar part since the fourth match. And it has conga drums. Anyone who has a problem with conga drums, take it up with Brendan Johnston, who is 6’4” 260 lbs. He will take care of it.
Winner: Those who like beach songs in 5:07.
Match 13: “Holiday In Spain”. This is a song that starts with girls and booze. This song already wins. It just so happens that the rest of the song turns out to live up to the opening. An excellent closer to the album, invoking numerous feelings of the album, and leaves a hope of better things around the corner.
Winner: Everybody! In 3:45.
A great show, with only a few bad matches and…wait a second. There’s some more guys coming out…
Surprise 14: “Big Yellow Taxi”. A secret track? I’m in heaven. These things are almost always cool, and Counting Crows covering the Joni Mitchell classic lives up to the pressure. A good version, and good vocals from Mr. Duritz.
Winner: Counting Crows fans in 3:58.
The overall show was fairly good, although not spectacular. The album drags three-fifths of the way through, but picks up at the end. A couple of rather good songs, especially the single (“American Girls”), “Hard Candy”, and “Holiday in Spain”.
The 411: If you are a fan, even mildly, of the Counting Crows, get the album. If you don’t like any of there previous work, but like early Springsteen, I also recommend it. Otherwise, there’s nothing really here that’s going to change your mind.
