America is a nation that has a lot to answer for these past few years. It has brought untold horrors onto the world in the form of Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Ashanti, Britney Spears et al. But there some in America who do not pretend to be skateboarding teenagers in shorts who hate their parents, there are actually some damn good musicians in America, intent on delivering music to the masses. So behold ‘Hard Candy’ in all it’s glory, because Counting Crows are here to save your stereo.

Anybody expecting a spurt of techno mixed with hip-hop will be sorely disappointed with this album. It differs little from their three previous offerings expect for one very important aspect…quality. Mr. Adam Duritz and friends have been around the block a few times by now. We’ve had to wait three years each time for their albums to appear, but that is due to extensive touring and studio practice that demands the sort of polish you see on Fabian Barthez’s head. Not only that, but Duritz’s songwriting has even improved.

CC’s first two records we’re very personal, their third ‘This Desert Life’ suffered from being somewhat too commercial and a lot less personal. Hard Candy comes back with personal lyrics and a less overtly commercial sound. Obviously, they still sound a lot like The Band and they were their rootsy American erm roots with pride. But why shouldn’t they? It’s not as if they are using Fred Durst as a cultural reference.

The Album:
1. HARD CANDY (4:22)
This is probably the strongest opening track that CC have released on their four albums. Not as soft as ‘Round Here’ or ‘Catapult’ and not as throw-away as ‘Hangingaround’. This track is much more direct, pushed on by the tight drum and bass that underlies it. The piano, as it often does in this album, adds a summer evening feel. The harmonies in the chorus are something to behold, making CC sound even more like The Band than normal.

2. AMERICAN GIRLS (4:34)
American Girls is the most overtly commercial track on the album, very radio-friendly (for America, I doubt it’s been ignored here). I’m not sure who the girl is adding the harmonies here, but it is reminiscent of those used to so good effect on their debut album ‘August & Everything After’. The lyrics are often funny and Duritz has an excellent turn of phrase like ‘American girls all feathers and cream / Coming to bed so edible’. It ends with the refrain ‘You made me cry’.

3. GOOD TIME (4:24)
Good Time is certainly made by its deep bassline, subtly added, but always prominent and the Hammond organ coming out the left speaker. The guitars wah-wah to add to the sparse sound. I could pick out each instrument in this song so easily, it is wonderfully polished without wiping away its depth in sound and meaning. This is clearly the sound of a band who have been playing together long enough to know intuitively what to play and when. This track may sound like Duritz laid low, but it is an album highlight.

4. IF I COULD GIVE ALL MY LOVE (3:52)
After the ironically titled ‘Good Time’, we do get a good-time song. IICGAML is the sort of song that you stick on a compilation CD for summer driving in the car. Radio-friendly to the point of lust, this track will surely be ignored by UK radio anyway, but hopefully Irish radio will have sense if it gets what it should get, i.e. a single release.

5. GOODNIGHT L.A. (4:17)
“I’ve been up for 38 hours / And it don’t look like sleep’s coming soon” are words that sum up a mellow lethargic song, seemingly about insomnia. But there is more to this song than ideas of sleep, the chorus is simply beautiful as Duritz sings ‘What brings me down is love / ‘Cause I can never get enough / Never get enough of love”. Lyrics like this are exactly what made This Desert Life such an empty record, devoid of the depth. Unlike Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo, Duritz has back-tracked to the persona lyrics that were the hallmark of CC’s first two records. This is classic Counting Crows.

6. BUTTERFLY IN REVERSE (2:48)
Butterfly… it must be noted, does sound quite similar to ‘Another Horsedreamers’ Blues’, from the album ‘Recovering The Satellites’, but if anything, this track is better due to the string arrangement that makes it an altogether more upbeat affair. But it is also a pure summer evening song, so suited to that time of day that it’s as if nature bore the song herself. Another highlight, short and sweet.

7. MIAMI (5:01)
‘Miami’ is the sort of track that takes a while to appreciate, but becomes even better after repeated listens as you notice all the nuances, such as the guitar feedback and the string arrangement “She can pull the sunlight through me / Oh, into Miami” sounds as poetic as it is beautifully sung. The finale too the song, not only has more gorgeous harmonies and a superb string arrangement, but a fantastic vocal performance from Duritz.

8. NEW FRONTIER (3:51)
Every album has a weakest link and to my mind ‘New Frontier’ takes that accolade here. It’s not a bad track by any means, probably better than 99% of the songs that reach the singles each year. But musically it lacks creativity, it like reheated 80’s CC rather than the fresh music we’ve been served up before on the album. Notably, Duritz sings about “Aluminium” rather than the American “Aluminum”.

9. CARRIAGE (4:04)
One interesting pattern on this album is the forgoing of the usual album pattern of fast song-fast song-slow song, beloved for so long. Instead we are offered an upbeat song directly followed by something mellower and more thoughtful. Carriage is therefore a mellow offering with a wonderfully jazzy trumpet solo, something CC have never really used before. Kudos too for possibly the first ever use of the word ‘congealing’ in a pop record, although if anyone wants to correct me on that, don’t be afraid to post it!

10. BLACK AND BLUE (3:53)
This track breaks the fast/slow cycle, but it doesn’t really matter when a song is as gorgeous as this. It seems to merge the best bits of ‘Sullivan Street’ and ‘A Long December’ (probably CC’s two finest songs) into one. The harmonies add untold warmth to Duritz’s one voice. But it is in the subtle beauty that we must admire this, the sweetest song on this record and possibly the finest song the band have ever recorded. “Fall asleep next to me” sums it up.

11. WHY SHOULD YOU COME WHEN I CALL (4:38)
This one is a much-needed upbeat offering. The strings and electric piano open it, but the drums, guitars and Hammond soon kick in to good effect. “I’m not proud to need a hand”, admits Duritz, possibly alluding to a sense that he has too much pride, as does the title itself. This song is perfectly placed on the album, not quite an opener, not quite a closer, but placed close to the end. About two minutes in, we even get a Beatles-esque harmony section.

12. UP ALL NIGHT (5:07)
The piano that opens this song, accompanying Duritz’s voice seem to suggest a perfect closer. “We could drive out to the duns tonight / ‘Cause summer’s almost here” offers a wonderful image. This is a classic summer track, especially when the band emerges after the first chorus. Once the song becomes more upbeat, it is clear that this song is placed perfectly as the penultimate track on the album. The slide guitar solo is always a welcome addition on an album and this one is fantastic.

13. HOLIDAY IN SPAIN (3:48)
Every great album needs a strong closing track and ‘Holiday In Spain’ is exactly that. It beats all three previous Counting Crows album closers with a big stick and two of those song were very strong tracks in the first place. The piano opens it again and it sounds so organic and so beautiful. The words are again funny, but poignant at the same time when he sings “She used to scream at me / It’s a miracle that she’s not living up in a tree”. A superb closer.

Hard Candy reconciles the more light-hearted sound of 1999’s ‘This Desert Life’ with the more personal lyrics of the first two Counting Crows albums and reconciles them well. This is possibly the band’s finest record to date, both lyrically and musically and is simply a must for fans. But in the current musical climate it is hard to see where the band will win new followers, which is a terrible shame really.