''Hard Candy'' is the fourth studio album by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Counting Crows Counting Crows is an American rock band from the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of rhythm guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immergl� ...

, released in the United Kingdom on July 7, 2002, and the following day in the United States. The album features the

hidden track In the field of recorded music, a hidden track (sometimes called a ghost track, secret track or unlisted track) is a song or a piece of audio that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, LP record, or other recorded medium, in such a way as t ...

Big Yellow Taxi "Big Yellow Taxi" is a song written, composed, and originally recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell in 1970, and originally released on her third album, '' Ladies of the Canyon'' (1970). Released in April 1970 by Reprise Records, t ...

", a

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

cover. This was one of their biggest radio hits from the album; re-releases were revised to mention the song. Originally the song did not include

Vanessa Carlton Vanessa Lee Carlton (born August 16, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Her debut album, '' Be Not Nobody'' (2002), was released by A&M Records and peaked at number five on the ''Billboard'' 200. It spawned the hit song " A Tho ...

and the standard version caught the ear of a producer who added it to the movie ''

Two Weeks Notice ''Two Weeks Notice'' is a 2002 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Marc Lawrence and starring Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant, with Alicia Witt, Dana Ivey, Robert Klein, and Heather Burns. In the film, an idealistic, liberal ...

'' adding Carlton's voice to the track. This version topped the

VH-1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Yor ...

charts and ''

American Top 40 ''American Top 40'' (abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally radio syndication, syndicated, independent song countdown radio programming, radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs (broadcaster), Ron Jaco ...

f''or a while. A new version of the song " Holiday in Spain", recorded as a

duet A duet (italian language, Italian: ''duo'') is a musical composition for two Performing arts, performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a har ...

in English and

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

with Dutch band

BLØF BLØF is a Dutch rock band founded in Vlissingen, Zeeland, by bassist Peter Slager. It currently consists of Slager, Paskal Jakobsen (lead vocals and guitar), Bas Kennis (keyboards), and Norman Bonink (drums). Former members are drummers Henk ...

, became a number-one hit in the Netherlands.

Reception

Reviews hailed the album as the best release from Counting Crows since their debut album ''

August and Everything After ''August and Everything After'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Counting Crows, released September 14, 1993, on DGC Records. The album was produced by T Bone Burnett and featured the founding members of the band: Steve Bowman (dr ...

'' (1993), with the albums of the mid-1990s being "long, and drawn out", likely due to lead singer

Adam Duritz Adam Fredric Duritz (born August 1, 1964) is an American singer, best known as the frontman for the rock band Counting Crows, for which he serves as a founding member and principal composer. Since its founding in 1991, Counting Crows has sold ov ...

's state of mind at that time, one reviewer happily announced that, "''Hard Candy'' is crisp and tight, packed with three- and four-minute shots of radio friendly fare", and that during a time when hard rock is the standard, the band are not afraid of a sound that is in the title track, compared to the

Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) being the sole consisten ...

, and with its " Allman-esque" twin guitars, echoes

The Band The Band was a Canadian-American rock music, rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, vocals, fiddle), Garth Hudson (organ, keyboards, accordion, saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano, d ...

in " If I Could Give All My Love (Richard Manuel Is Dead)". The album has received a score of 69 out of 100 based on "generally favorable reviews" from

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. However, the cover of

's "

" was met with searing criticism, with ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'' naming it the worst song of the 2000s: Additionally, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' also included this cover on its list of the worst songs of the 2000s, and ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' highlighted this song in its ''Terrible Classic Rock Covers'' series.

Track listing

All tracks written by Adam F. Duritz unless otherwise indicated. The song "Big Yellow Taxi" was written by Joni Mitchell, who is credited in the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

with the passage "May contain trace amounts of Joni Mitchell" #"Hard Candy" (Duritz, Daniel J. Vickrey, Charles Gillingham) – 4:20 #" American Girls" – 4:32 #"Good Time" – 4:24 #" If I Could Give All My Love (Richard Manuel Is Dead)" (Duritz, Vickrey,

David Immerglück David A. Immerglück (born May 3, 1961)''U.S. Public Records Index'' Vol 1 & 2 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010. is an American multi-instrumentalist who is best known as a guitarist in the alternative rock bands Counting Crows, ...

, Gillingham,

Matt Malley Counting Crows is an American rock band from the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of rhythm guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immerglü ...

) – 3:52 #"Goodnight L.A." – 4:17 #"Butterfly in Reverse" (Duritz,

Ryan Adams David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American Rock music, rock and Country music, country singer-songwriter. He has released 30 studio albums and three as a former member of Whiskeytown. In 2000, Adams left Whiskeytown and released ...

, Gillingham) – 2:48 #"

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

" (Duritz, Gillingham, Immerglück) – 5:01 #"New Frontier" – 3:51 #"Carriage" – 4:04 #"Black and Blue" – 3:53 #"Why Should You Come When I Call?" (Duritz, Gillingham) – 4:38 #"Up All Night (Frankie Miller Goes to Hollywood)" – 5:07 #" Holiday in Spain" – 3:50 #"

" (

) – 3:57 riginal issue hidden track ;2006 revised edition #

"4 White Stallions" (Jeff Trott, Vickrey, Patrick Winningham) – 4:21 #"Big Yellow Taxi" (Single Version, featuring

) (Mitchell) – 3:47 ;United Kingdom release #

"4 White Stallions" (Trott, Vickery, Winningham) – 4:21 #" You Ain't Going Nowhere" (

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

) – 8:43 #"Big Yellow Taxi" (Mitchell) – 3:57 riginal issue hidden track ;United Kingdom 2003 re-release #

"4 White Stallions" (Trott, Vickery, Winningham) – 4:21 #"You Ain't Going Nowhere" (Dylan) – 3:44 #"Big Yellow Taxi" (Single Version, featuring Vanessa Carlton) (Mitchell) – 3:47 ;Japanese release #

"4 White Stallions" (Trott, Vickrey, Winningham) – 4:21 #"You Ain't Going Nowhere" (Bob Dylan) – 3:44 #"Start Again" ( Norman Blake) – 3:34 #"Big Yellow Taxi" (Mitchell) – 3:57 riginal issue hidden track ;Japanese 2003 re-release #

"4 White Stallions" (Trott, Vickrey, Winningham) – 4:21 #"You Ain't Going Nowhere" (Dylan) – 3:44 #"Start Again" (Blake) – 3:34 #"Big Yellow Taxi" (Single Version, featuring Vanessa Carlton) (Mitchell) – 3:47

Personnel

;Counting Crows *Dave Bryson –

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

–

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

horn Horn may refer to: Common uses * Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide ** Horn antenna ** Horn loudspeaker ** Vehicle horn ** Train horn *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals * Horn (instrument), a family ...

arrangements In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing Composition (music), composition. Differences from the original composition may include Harmony (music), reharmonization, Musical phrasing, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or M ...

string String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

arrangements, string samples * Charlie Gillingham –

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

, piano,

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

Omnichord The Omnichord is an electronic musical instrument introduced in 1981 by the Suzuki Musical Instrument Corporation. It allows users to play distinctive harp-like arpeggios produced through an electronic strum plate, simulating the experience of ...

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

, horn arrangements, string arrangements,

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

tack piano A tack piano (also known as a harpsipiano, jangle piano, and junk piano) is an altered version of an ordinary piano, in which objects such as thumbtacks or nails are placed on the felt-padded hammers of the instrument at the point where the ha ...

, vocals *

– acoustic guitar,

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

, electric guitar, vocals,

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

electric sitar An electric sitar is a type of electric string instrument designed to mimic the sound of the sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instru ...

– bass, vocals,

upright bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

* Ben Mize –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, vocals, drum loops * Dan Vickrey – acoustic guitar,

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

, electric guitar, vocals ;Additional musicians *

–

backing vocalist A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

on "Butterfly In Reverse" *

– backing vocalist on "Big Yellow Taxi" *

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is noted for her Optimism, optimistic and Idealism, idealistic subject matter, and incorporation of genres including Rock music, rock, Po ...

– backing vocalist on "American Girls" * Dave Gibbs – backing vocalist on "Hard Candy" *

Leona Naess Leona Kristina Naess (also spelt Næss) (born 31 July 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. She released her debut album, '' Comatised'', in March 2000, which produced the single "Charm Attack" (Adult Top 40 #29). Naess was raised in Lond ...

– backing vocalist on "Black and Blue" *

Matthew Sweet Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 1990 ...

– backing vocalist on "Hard Candy" *Carole Castillo –

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

*Jacqueline Brand –

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

*Mario deLeon – violin *Brian Dembow – viola *Stephen Erdody –

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

Ron Fair Ronald Fair is an American record producer, record executive, musical arranger, recording engineer and conductor. A traditional record producer since 1970, Fair has been credited with orchestral production work on several commercially success ...

– string arrangements *Richard Feves – bass *Alan Grunfeld – violin *

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's '' Thriller'', '' Rock with Y ...

–

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

, horn arrangements, string arrangements *Paula Hochhalter – cello *

Ethan Johns Ethan Thomas Robert Johns (born 1969 in Merton, London) is an English record producer, engineer, mixer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Johns has worked with artists including Robert Vincent, Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon, Paul McCartney, ...

–

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest ...

*Karen Jones – violin *Natalie Leggett – violin *Alan Mautner – violin *Ed Meares – bass *Ralph Morrison – violin *Robin Olson – violin *Sara Parkins – violin * Katia Popov – violin *John Scanlon – viola *Tina Soule – cello *Cecilia Tsan – cello *Josephina Vergara – violin

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2002 albums Albums produced by Steve Lillywhite Counting Crows albums Geffen Records albums Interscope Records albums Universal Records albums