Finally a new album, five years after the great "Hard Candy" for Counting Crows, live band par excellence. 14 original titles declined in the (admittedly trite) "rock / ballad" (saturday nights / sunday mornings) as for the 2 sides of a vinyl, each part having its distinct besides producer. Without reaching the level of the previous, this album has at least 11 pieces worthy of the best group of successes; the other, far from being poor, including the single "you can not count on me", do not emit the same raw emotion, the same evidence that melodic songs like "1492" or "Washington Square". Again, efficiency and the subtlety of the game of the group are at the rendezvous, and the intensity of vocals of Adam Duritz (author of all texts) is intact. Note the participation of Ryan Adams and Dave Gibbs (Low Stars) on the excellent "Los Angeles". In short, this fifth studio album (in 15 years) is another major achievement of Counting Crows, group too little seen and heard in France, the quality continues discography is really impressive.
