I have to say I'm a little puzzled by Counting Crows' new album, Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings, out today on Geffen Records.The concept itself is simple enough. Half the album is electric (Saturday Nights) and half acoustic (Sunday Mornings). But it's in the execution where things get a little bumbled.
The album opens with the heart-pumping "1492." The tempo keeps up through the next five tracks, ending with "Cowboys" and its brain-splitting chorus before mellowing out with "Washington Square."
In interviews, Adam Duritz talks about the two halves as if they are two separate albums entirely. And maybe it would have been better off that way. While I appreciate the concept, as a listener I feel it's better to have a little ebb and flow with the pacing of songs versus two chunks of one or the other.
Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings has plenty of songs that I enjoy. "Hanging Tree," "Los Angeles" and "Insignificant" off the "Saturday Nights" half of the album are all well-written pop songs that could easily stand alone, as well as "Washington Square" and "Anyone But You" off "Sunday Mornings." But the album hits a wall near the album's end with "Le Ballet d'Or" and "On a Tuesday in Amsterdam Long Ago" which, frankly, bored me.
Of the album and its concept, Duritz said, “We make good albums. I don’t know that we’re a great 'singles' band. Now with the whole world going byte-sized, we felt, and still feel, like it’s more important than ever NOT to cooperate with all of that.”
Maybe they need a second take on this one.
Counting Crows will be at Walnut Creek with Maroon 5 and Sara Bareilles on July 29. Tickets go on sale April 4.
1 comment:
It is important to note that Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings were convieved as seperate albums. Duritz wanted to make the Saturday Night album about the disinigration evident in that half and call it Saturday Nights. The idea for a companion piece, Sunday Mornings, was realized durning the production of Saturday Nights and was produced seperatly with a different producer. Sunday Mornings is about waking up from that Saturday Night and trying to figure out how to fix his life. It is not redemption though, but the desire for it. With that understood the album simply could not have been mixed back and forth between the sides. The album rides on a concept unlike most albums in stores these days. So far with the album I like both to follow the chronological approach designed by the band as well as to shuffle through it. From start to finish is a journey but somtimes you just want a collage rather than a full out mural. My suggestion to people is to listen to the album however you most enjoy it. There is great music there whether you want to follow Duritz through Saturday Night and into Sunday Morning or not. Either way, this album is a Counting Crows masterpiece and I higjly recommend it to anyone.
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