I thought it was about time I graced you with another of my album reviews. Why this one, well basically this album is a hidden gem that has been underexposed so I will do my bit to help expose it a bit more. ~ Who? ~ The Counting Crows are a rock band made up of seven members (count them seven). They shot to fame in 1993 with there debut album 'August and Everything After', two further releases have graced the scenes since and a live album has been thrown into that mix for variety. ~ Hard as nails, hardly ~ So what is so great that I have shout out about this album then. Well away from this being in the rock genre this album is ...  Read the complete review

I bought this album recently off Amazon for £3.98 a few weeks ago and it's still priced at £3.98 now which I think is an extremely good price for a full length album. I'm quite a fan of country and rock music and this album is a blend of both which is why it appealed to me. Initially I bought this album because I really like their cover version of Big Yellow Taxi and I've had it on in the car quite a few times since buying this album! For those who don't know, Big Yellow Taxi is an old country song that the Counting Crows have rocked up a little bit to make it funky and good to tap along to while still having a traditional American country music feel ...  Read the complete review

Disturbingly, this is ten years old now - how time flies and the like. The fourth studio album from one of my favourite bands, this is a slightly patchy affair, but the stand-out tracks are of such a quality that it's hard not to love Hard Candy. At its worst, it's catchy, well put-together background music, while the best of the songs here are quite exceptional - from the suitably sweet and summery American Girls that opens the album to a top-notch cover of Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi that compares pretty favourably to the original. The vocals of lead singer Adam Duritz sit perfectly with the track. I know Counting Crows can be a bit safe and unremarkable ...  Read the complete review

I once dismissed the Counting Crows as "seasonal Americana," pleasant-but-inconsequential rock that I'd have great fun listening to on a long drive to the beach with the windows down during a given summer, but would shelve once the leaves started to brown and allow to collect dust until the moon completed another rotation, and I could screech "Mr. Jones" along with four equally carefree friends on a spur-of-the-moment road trip. But that's when "Mr. Jones" essentially was the Counting Crows for me, and when its parent album, 1993's August and Everything After, was the source of any extra "Mr. Jones" Counting Crows ...  Read the complete review