Counting Crows is hardly a band that needs much if any introduction. After putting out so many records the band has the liberty to stretch their creative boundary and this album is an attempt at just that. In many ways this is the best record that the band has released and one that should bring even more fans into the Counting Crows loop.
Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings is, underneath everything, a concept album. The record was originally going to be a double disc with one being darker, more rock focused and one being softer with a theme of redemption. Even though what actually hit retail stores is not a double disc, the concept of light and dark is still intact and even present in the way the track listing is written.
“1492″ is a hard rock song, comparatively speaking for the band, and opens the album with a bang. Oddly enough if you were wondering about the songs title it does in fact come from “…sailed the ocean blue”. “Hanging Tree” is full of melodic hooks both in the plucking piano and the short repetitive lyrical chorus. The song revolves around the crazy life that goes with the touring musicians. Musically the verses are rough and a bit disorganized but they work to convey the “crazy life” feeling.
“Los Angles” is a groove rock song in every sense. The swaying music instantly transports you into the southern California town at dust. Through out the song Adam Duritz is making heads and tails out of moving to LA and the downfalls of other places he’s lived.”Cowboys” is another high energy, full ahead rock anthem with classic Counting Crows style attached. The song should be a fan favorite and was one of the first to catch my attention with is extremely catching build up to a just as catchy chorus. On the “Sunday morning” side of things the tempo is slowed and the softer side that the band has always excel in makes its appearance. There are so many hits and gems on the second half, it’s hard to pick one or two that stand out. “Le Ballet Dor” caught me off gaurd as I almost wrote it off the first time I heard it. The song, in right light though, comes to life with a vibrant realism becoming infectious.
Overall the underlying light and dark angle that the album has is not obvious and does not necessarily add anything extra, but also doesn’t take away anything. ‘Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings’ is a great album and one which the band has put all the best stuff from previous works together in a way that is new and refreshing.
Track Listing
Saturday Nights
1. “1492″
2. “Hanging Tree”
3. “Los Angeles”
4. “Sundays”
5. “Insignificant”
6. “Cowboys”
Sunday Mornings
7. “Washington Square”
8. “On Almost Any Sunday Morning”
9. “When I Dream of Michelangelo”
10. “Anyone But You”
11. “You Can’t Count on Me”
12. “Le Ballet d’Or”
13. “On a Tuesday in Amsterdam Long Ago”
14. “Come Around”
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Buy ‘Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings’ for $8.99 from Amazon.com
