I declared Counting Crows' Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings the Best Album of 2008 and I took some shit for it. I skimmed the rest of my list and I stand by it. I'd move Coldplay's Viva up a few slots from where it is, but I'm pretty happy with the 10 albums I chose and I know why I chose SN&SM as my #1 and I still feel that way. So why haven't I listened to it more this year?
It's not uncommon for me to OD on a record, declare it a year's best, and then need some time away from it. Sometimes absence makes the heart grow founder and in some instances it's goodbye and good riddance. Flipping the channels the other night, I saw Counting Crows performing on Soundstage. Two things jumped out at me: one, these guys can really play live and two, Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings is a fabulous record.
I've been accused of being a "lyrics" guy by some of my music-obsessed brethren and I do pay attention to them, but it's shocking the number of songs I love whose lyrics I couldn't recite at gun point. When SN&SM came out, I listened to it religiously but didn't dig deep into what Adam Duritz was really saying. It wasn't until I had the privilege to talk to him and got a detailed listeners' guide to the record that I came close to getting where he was coming from. That was great for me, but I now realize it was all there to begin with if I'd concentrated. I might not have gotten all the subtleties of it, but it was clear what he was doing if you were paying attention.
John Lennon wrote "living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see." It's amazing how easy it is to see something once someone opens your eyes and opens you to it. Duritz did that for me in the interview. I went back and listened and listened some more and I felt like I was picking up more and more of the power of the ideas in the music. Then I started watching the Soundstage performance and while introducing the songs, Duritz again lifts the curtain and I can't believe how stupid I feel to have missed obvious signs... again.
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Article comments
1 - andrew
it was the best album of 2008.
good choice!
2 - lu
Your review was accurate in so many ways. Music is more than just melodies, it should be felt by your soul. Which is exactly what Adam Duritz and the Counting Crows consistently do. They are my very favorite band.
3 - W Quinn
I agree: SN&SM is tops! The terror that comes upon me between CC albums is awful, dreadful......the idea that Adam may be forever silent, the prospect of disappointment in new music (as we've been taught to expect by nearly every other band over the years)......I placate myself with ODing on live CC albums. It's a place I like to be.
4 - Diego
Great article Josh!
Adam realy has the skills to make the melody and the lyrics fit with the feeling of the song.
I was also realy happy to see that they could make another great album (like all other four) and yet so different from them.
Also, I'd like to ask you Josh, would you have any clue on where they'll be performing on january 2010?