New Counting Crows - "Come Around"
Counting Crows are getting close to their first release since '02's abysmal Hard Candy, and the first track to circulate raises an interesting question: If you title a new tune like a mashup of two of your past smashes, will you then net a smash-in-the-making single? Unfortunately not, friends. You can tell "Come Around" from, say, "Round Here" or "Hangin' Around" because the intro rips off "Maggie May." Why post it? 'Cause we really liked August And Everything After and Recovering The Satellites -- and maybe you did too and wanna hear how the mighty have fallen.
Remember when Adam Duritz dated two Friends? The '90s were fun! OJ Simpson! CD-ROMs! Wheeee! When you finish the nostalgia trip, have a listen at I Am Fuel, You Are Friends. Not surprisingly, the song is totally forgettable, but Recommended If You're This Guy:
Saturday Nights, Sunday Mornings is out 11/6.
Posted at 5:02 PM
Tags: Counting Crows
I hate Counting Crows for effectively destroying a wonderful Joni Mitchell song then, through some interstellar harmonic convergence of "people with bad taste having jobs where they get to choose songs that get added to Muzak", managed to get that version playing everywhere.
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not sure how "come around" is the combination of "hangin' around" and "round here".... but uh.. the song isn't bad.
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Being an August and Everything After/Recovering the Satellites fan (and I like This Desert Life, too, actually) was a thankless task to begin with, since the hatred for "Mr. Jones" was so virulent right off the bat. The shittiest thing about Counting Crows becoming crappy (instead of just being perceived as such by people who never listened to the albums) over the past decade or so is that it's now even harder to mount a defense for those first few releases.
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'Cause they all have "round" in the title... uh, forget it.
I do like Recovering The Satellites, but Duritz makes it hard to respect them. Though he was great as Gutter in PCU.
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"Hard Candy" is very underrated.
"American Girls" is a terrible single, really, but the songs "Hard Candy," "Miami," "Carriage," and "Holiday In Spain" are as good as anything else they've done, for real.
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Man, you're going to post that tattoo guy picture every chance you get, aren't you?
I'm not exactly complaining....
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I actually just "recovered" the first two albums through a CD trading site. "August and Everything After" is surprisingly inconsistent when you come back to it ("Perfect Blue Buildings"? "Sullivan Street"? Christ, "Ghost Train"!), but "Recovering the Satellites" is still bloody terrific.
I haven't heard the new song, but I pretty much gave up on them somewhere between the Joni Mitchell cover and the Coke commercial where they were identified as "countingcrows"
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Steve, I'll give you Ghost Train, but in my opinion Perfect Blue Buildings and especially Sullivan Street are great tracks.
I like This Desert Life, but sort of pretend like anything after that album doesn't really exist. Which makes it really hard to enjoy Shrek 2 with my little niece.
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I love Counting Crows and think all their albums are great. While "American Girls" was not a standout track, like the poster said above, songs like "Holiday in Spain," "Goodnight LA," "Up All Night" and "Hard Candy" are all wonderful songs.
Also, if there was a list of "Perfect" albums, you could make an argument that August and Everything After should be in considered on that list. From start to finish it's one beautiful, cohesive journey that withstands the test of time more than the vast majority of albums released during that time.
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In hindsight, I'll give "Perfect Blue Buildings" a thumbs up, but "Sullivan Street" isn't going to cut it. "Round Here" ranks as one of the best first band introductions (first verse from debut album) of the rock era, but "August and Everything After" is not a perfect album.
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I agree that Hard Candy gets a rough time, it's not a great album, but it's very listenable (didn't Ryan Adams write one of the songs? Butterfly in Reverse?).
As for Come Around, I don't think it's bad at all!
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i'm a fan, and i'm fully aware how unhip they've become. 'recovering the satellites' is pretty terrific, and probably one of my favourite records of all time. i'd rank it up there with 'the bends' in terms of band achievement. the lyrics get a bit redundant at times, but the instrumentation and musicianship is unreal. the production is great too - it's a fantastic headphones record.
i think 'hard candy' does get a bit of an unfair rap. every album, duritz has tried to emulate a particular musical era/genre. 'hard candy' for better or for worse is his kick at the can of bacharach-esque era pop. there are some mis-steps, but overall it's a pretty solid record. the problem might have been that his voice isn't suited to that kind of delicate instrumentation.
to each their own. they've certainly made their fair share of bad songs. but, i put them in the category of pearl jam, crowded house, etc.: bands that are much better than the cynical public realizes, particularly since they haven't bothered to listen to their catalogue.
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and yes, ryan adams did co-write (and sing harmony i think) on 'butterfly in reverse'.
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maybe ryan adms was returning the favor for adam duritz's work on "answering bell"? not sure of the timelines there. i admit, i liked the CC's in college, dug "einstein on the beach" but churning out singles like "accidentally in love" is nearly unforgivable.
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i think i listened to _august and everything after_ every night, on repeat, when i was 13. it was great, in a depressing sorta way. lol. not really interested in them at all now.
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When Counting Crows first released "Big Yellow Taxi", it was a hidden track on the album, and Vanessa Carlton was not on it. It is amazing how much worse, and how much more annoying the song became when they added her "ooh la la's" on it.
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its been a long december guys
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Oops. I was responding to Steve. I am in fact not Steve.
I know you gave me PBB, but I still think Sullivan Street kicks ass.
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quite proud to have never like this band for one second. dear god what an awful voice that clown has. who told him to try to sound like van morrison? ugh, shudders, what bland, completely uninteresting music, matched in sheer tedious-ness only by the way overly wordy without managing to say anything interesting lyrics. can't bands like this just disappear politely?
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i heard the hold steady on the radio yesterday and thought it was a new counting crows song.
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oh my god, you fiend! How could you?! The Hold Steady...Counting Crows...Craig Finn...Adam Duritz. I used to love the Crows but they certainly learned how to suck very quickly. Maybe it was the Ryan Adams connection that ruined it. But how in the hell could you confuse the mighty Hold Steady for the whiny pop of Counting Crows. Craig Finn is going to come round to your house and kick you.
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In 6 years you'll be apologizing for your love of the Hold Steady...Get a grip and recognize that for the fickle what is good today is old news tomorrow. Why post if we can't flame someone? Doesn't this get old?
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They had been in a rut ill give you that. However I saw them Live 8/14 at Ripken Stadium and They were awesome. The energy level was amazing and all the new songs sound very good. It seems they once again love playing music together and it was a sight to see.
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adam duritz should be a spokesperson for Hostess Snack Cakes.
i miss young & cute adam duritz.
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clare, he's lost 50 pounds over the past few months
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In my opinion, which may mean nothing to you, the Counting Crows are one of the greatest bands around now. I just saw them live a week ago - incredible - adam duritz is a poet on stage. I've been listening to them since I was about 7, when august and everything after came out, so maybe there's some nostalgia there for me, but in terms of the quality of the music, they're as poetical as Wilco(my favorite band). I think people that might visit this website ignore them because of their success. August and Everything After and Recovering the Sattelites are some of the best records made during that time on any scene. This desert life is a personal favorite of mine and a great album. Hard Candy has some good songs and some bad songs, but i've heard 5 of their new songs and im pretty optimistic. Anyways pull your head out of your ass stereogum. Don't I have to say that on the internet?
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So has MTV created a atmosphere where looks or how a musician acts overshadows the music? There are 6 other guys in that band and there are many bands that put their roots or music they grew up on into their own. It sounds a little like the intro to Maggie May, but how many songs sound like Maggie May before Rod Stewart wrote his? I think you should appreciate a good song when it comes around, whether they are big or small. The lyrics have to be about their lead singer moving from LA to NYC and how so many still go to LA for a one in a million chance at stardom. But what do I know, I like bands for the music and not their looks or how they act.
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i think most people don't understand them. of course if you judge them by tracks like "Big Yellow Taxi", which was crap, then you will inevitable perceive the band as crap. Although considered a pop band, Counting Crows is known and loved for the tracks that don't get released. Plus they're live show is absolutely one of the best, out of any band, that i've seen. They will probably end up as one of the last great rock and roll bands out there. I never understood why people dish on a band they don't like, for untasteful reasons that basically add up to the fact that a band that's been around for 15 years has changed. if they actually sucked, that would be something different. let's just all agree that Nickelback can burn in hell....
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Why bother even making a comment if all you can do is gripe and moan about how you dislike the counting crows. big deal! dont listen to them.
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Counting Crows are not a "Singles" band like Goo Dolls or Maroon 5. They are an album band. In my opinion, if you can hear everything a band has to offer in one 3-minute track, then the band must not be very interesting. Counting Crows have never been that kind of band. In my experience, the people who hate Counting Crows most are the people who haven't really heard them. Yeah Adam Duritz's voice doesn't appeal to everyone, but you can't argue with the musicianship of the band as a whole. These are professionals who know how to play and who know how to play together. If you ever see them live, you will understand why the fans are so loyal. How many bands today can play harmonica, accordion, mandolin, and piano in one song, and then switch over to a screeching electric guitar anthem for the very next track? Counting Crows, to their detriment, defies the cookie cutter, mass produced, singles-oriented music scene. When they do get sucked into that (Accidentally In Love for example) it's a complete disaster.
And yes, Ryan Adams helped to write Butterfly in Reverse which is probably the most terrible song Counting Crows has ever put on an album. Hard Candy was not their best album, but the second half of it is still excellent.
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