Counting Crows' poetic, introspective singer/songwriter Adam Durtiz has a whole new slew of girls to sing about in the band's new album "Hard Candy."
The album, produced by Steve Lillywhite of Dave Matthews Band fame and Ethan John, offers more pop, melody-driven tunes than the Crows' usual poignant mood pieces fans may be used to, especially on the first half of the album. Songs such as the already popular "American Girls" and "If I Could Give All My Love" may stay with you, but they seem to lack Duritz's usual heartfelt passion.
Which is exactly why I like the second half better. It is more familiar. Beautiful songs like "Carriage," "Black and Blue" and "Holiday in Spain" seem like piano-driven windows into Duritz's secrets, memories and desires.
Stuck in the middle of the album is "Goodnight L.A.," a beautifully rendered piece both musically and lyrically. "Butterfly in Reverse" almost sounds as though it should be sung in a 1960s Broadway show. It, like a few other songs on the album, has a sound that is too studio, too produced for the Counting Crows sound.
But this album, like every other Crows album, grows on you. Once it does, it is easy to appreciate the new musical and lyrical complexities the evolving group has to offer.
