The Counting Crows have been in hiding. The band has tantalized fans with songs like "Accidentally In Love" and greatest hits collections like "Films About Ghosts" (which is in my own personal collection and has been heavily worn down). They haven't released a studio album of new material in six years and have been hiding on the road slowly fine-tuning a collection of songs that was worth studio time. After countless days of touring, they finally released "Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings" with blended sounds and mixed results.

It's an interesting idea that the album is actually two distinct sounds on one CD, and it's definitely a departure for the band. The "Saturday Nights" half has loud, raucous songs with distorted guitars and screaming vocals, while the softer "Sunday Mornings" returns to their more traditional roots of soft rock with melodious tracks and meaningful lyrics. Now one thing that the Counting Crows are known for is that they're just absolutely easy to listen to. Honestly, any time is a good time for their music - from doing homework to spending quality time with a sweet heart. However, this newest effort (and I hate to say this) just isn't good. Like I said before, it's an interesting idea to have such a juxtaposed album but the execution was sloppy and honestly the new songs are not the best of the Counting Crows. Especially the "Saturday Nights" side, most of them had my friends covering their ears. Now that's not to say that there's nothing good here. You should definitely download "Hanging Tree" and "When I Dream of Michelangelo."

As a big Counting Crows fan, I was disappointed with the album. My recommendation is to download the individual tracks on iTunes, Ruckus or whatever you may happen to use. Sadly, the Counting Crows' newest effort just gives me a case of the Mondays.