Hard Candy (Counting Crows album)

Hard Candy is the fourth studio album by American rock band Counting Crows, released in the United Kingdom on July 7, 2002, and the following day in the United States.

Hard Candy
Studio album by
Counting Crows
ReleasedJuly 7, 2002 (2002-07-07)
GenreAlternative rock, jangle pop
Length59:30
LabelGeffen
ProducerSteve Lillywhite
Counting Crows chronology
This Desert Life
(1999)		 Hard Candy
(2002)		 Films About Ghosts (The Best Of...)
(2003)
Singles from Hard Candy
  1. "American Girls"
    Released: June 18, 2002
  2. "Miami"
    Released: July 9, 2002
  3. "Big Yellow Taxi"
    Released: November 11, 2002
  4. "If I Could Give All My Love (Richard Manuel Is Dead)"
    Released: June 16, 2003

The album features the hidden track "Big Yellow Taxi", a Joni Mitchell 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 and the standard version caught the ear of a producer who added it to the movie Two Weeks Notice adding Carlton's voice to the track. This version topped the VH-1 charts and American Top 40 for a while. A new version of the song "Holiday in Spain", recorded as a duet in English and Dutch with Dutch band BLØF, became a number-one hit in the Netherlands.

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic69/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Blender[1]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[3]
PopMatters[1][4]
Q[1]
Rolling Stone[5]
Spin6/10[1]
Stylus MagazineD+[6]
Uncut[1]
USA Today[7]

Reviews hailed the album as the best release since their debut, with the albums of the mid-1990s being "long, and drawn out", likely due to Duritz'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, and with its "Allman-esque" twin guitars, echoes The Band in "If I Could Give All My Love (Richard Manuel Is Dead)".[8] The album has received a score of 69 out of 100 based on "generally favorable reviews" from Metacritic.[1]

However, the cover of "Big Yellow Taxi" was met with searing criticism, with The Village Voice naming it the worst song of the 2000s[9]:

Adam, we don't know if you misunderstood the song's anti-globalization, anti-industrialization, anti-corporation message, or just chose to ignore it so you could get free Frappucinos for life. But we're gonna hip you to a harsh reality. Seriously, you know the line about how they "paved paradise and put up a parking lot?" Like how they replaced something beautiful with something cold and heartless and commercial? That's you. You're the parking lot, motherfucker. You drove your shitty steamroller over something everyone loved so you could pander your sensitive pussyhound whine to people waiting in line at the Carl's Jr. They paved Nirvana and put up a Counting Crow. Argh!

Additionally, NME also included this cover on its list of the worst songs of the 2000s,[10] and Ultimate Classic Rock highlighted this song in its Terrible Classic Rock Covers series.[11]

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 with the passage "May contain trace amounts of Joni Mitchell"

  1. "Hard Candy" (Duritz, Daniel J. Vickrey, Charles Gillingham) – 4:20
  2. "American Girls" – 4:32
  3. "Good Time" – 4:24
  4. "If I Could Give All My Love (Richard Manuel Is Dead)" (Duritz, Vickrey, David Immerglück, Gillingham, Matt Malley) – 3:52
  5. "Goodnight L.A." – 4:17
  6. "Butterfly in Reverse" (Duritz, Ryan Adams, Gillingham) – 2:48
  7. "Miami" (Duritz, Gillingham, Immerglück) – 5:01
  8. "New Frontier" – 3:51
  9. "Carriage" – 4:04
  10. "Black and Blue" – 3:53
  11. "Why Should You Come When I Call?" (Duritz, Gillingham) – 4:38
  12. "Up All Night (Frankie Miller Goes to Hollywood)" – 5:07
  13. "Holiday in Spain" – 3:50
  14. "Big Yellow Taxi" (Joni Mitchell) – 3:47 [Original issue hidden track]
2006 revised edition
  1. "4 White Stallions" (Jeff Trott, Vickrey, Patrick Winningham) – 4:21
  2. "Big Yellow Taxi" (Single Version, featuring Vanessa Carlton) (Mitchell) – 3:47
United Kingdom release
  1. "4 White Stallions" (Jeff Trott, Vickery, Patrick Winningham) – 4:21
  2. "You Ain't Going Nowhere" (Bob Dylan) – 8:43
  3. "Big Yellow Taxi" (Joni Mitchell) – 3:47 [Original issue hidden track]
United Kingdom 2003 re-release
  1. "4 White Stallions" (Jeff Trott, Vickery, Patrick Winningham) – 4:21
  2. "You Ain't Going Nowhere" (Bob Dylan) – 3:44
  3. "Big Yellow Taxi" (Single Version, featuring Vanessa Carlton) (Mitchell) – 3:47
Japanese release
  1. "4 White Stallions" (Jeff Trott, Vickrey, Patrick Winningham) – 4:21
  2. "You Ain't Going Nowhere" (Bob Dylan) – 3:44
  3. "Start Again" (Norman Blake)  – 3:34
  4. "Big Yellow Taxi" (Mitchell) – 3:47 [Original issue hidden track]
Japanese 2003 re-release
  1. "4 White Stallions" (Jeff Trott, Vickrey, Patrick Winningham) – 4:21
  2. "You Ain't Going Nowhere" (Bob Dylan) – 3:44
  3. "Start Again" (Norman Blake)  – 3:34
  4. "Big Yellow Taxi" (Single Version, featuring Vanessa Carlton) (Mitchell) – 3:47

Personnel
Counting Crows
Additional musicians
  • Ryan Adams – backing vocalist on "Butterfly In Reverse"
  • Vanessa Carlton - backing vocalist on "Big Yellow Taxi"
  • Sheryl Crow – backing vocalist on "American Girls"
  • Dave Gibbs – backing vocalist on "Hard Candy"
  • Leona Naess – backing vocalist on "Black and Blue"
  • Matthew Sweet – backing vocalist on "Hard Candy"
  • Carole Castillo – viola
  • Jacqueline Brand – violin
  • Mario deLeon – violin
  • Brian Dembow – viola
  • Stephen Erdody – cello
  • Ron Fair – string arrangements
  • Richard Feves – bass
  • Alan Grunfeld – violin
  • Jerry Hey – flugelhorn, horn arrangements, string arrangements
  • Paula Hochhalter – cello
  • Ethan Johns – conga
  • 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

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[32] Gold 35,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[33] Gold 7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI)[34] Gold 152,990[35]
United States (RIAA)[36] Gold 711,000[37]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. "Critic Reviews for Hard Candy". Metacritic. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
  2. Allmusic review
  3. Entertainment Weekly review
  4. PopMatters review
  5. "Rolling Stone review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 24, 2007. Retrieved October 20, 2012.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. Stylus Magazine review Archived May 10, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  7. USA Today review
  8. O'Hare, Kevin (2007). "Counting Crows Hard Candy". Pearson Education. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
  9. "The 50 Worst Songs of the '00s, F2K No. 1: Counting Crows ft. Vanessa Carlton, "Big Yellow Taxi"". villagevoice.com. December 22, 2009. Archived from the original on March 17, 2010. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  10. Milton, Jamie (October 17, 2017). "The 20 worst songs of the '00s". nme.com. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  11. "Counting Crows, "Big Yellow Taxi" – Terrible Classic Rock Covers". ultimateclassicrock.com. September 25, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  12. "Australiancharts.com – Counting Crows – Hard Candy". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  13. "Austriancharts.at – Counting Crows – Hard Candy" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  14. "Ultratop.be – Counting Crows – Hard Candy" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  15. "Danishcharts.dk – Counting Crows – Hard Candy". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  16. "Dutchcharts.nl – Counting Crows – Hard Candy" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  17. "Lescharts.com – Counting Crows – Hard Candy". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  18. "Offiziellecharts.de – Counting Crows – Hard Candy" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  19. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Counting Crows". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  20. "Italiancharts.com – Counting Crows – Hard Candy". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  21. "Charts.nz – Counting Crows – Hard Candy". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  22. "Norwegiancharts.com – Counting Crows – Hard Candy". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  23. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  24. "Swedishcharts.com – Counting Crows – Hard Candy". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  25. "Swisscharts.com – Counting Crows – Hard Candy". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  26. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  27. "Counting Crows Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  28. "Canada's Top 200 Alternative albums of 2002". Jam!. Archived from the original on December 4, 2003. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  29. "Jaaroverzichten – Album 2002". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  30. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2002". Billboard. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  31. "Jaaroverzichten – Album 2003". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  32. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2003 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
  33. "New Zealand album certifications – Counting Crows – Hard Candy". Recorded Music NZ.
  34. "British album certifications – Counting Crows – Hard Candy". British Phonographic Industry.
  35. "Key Releases: 29.03.08". Music Week. HighBeam Research. March 29, 2008. Archived from the original on April 7, 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  36. "American album certifications – Counting Crows – Hard Candy". Recording Industry Association of America.
  37. "Counting Crows Rouse Old 'Ghosts'". Billboard. October 30, 2003. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
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