The more I listen to it, the more I like it. Really really great.

This is the best Album they've done I think. I always thought they could never improve on the first record but this does. What a great album - buy it!

I have been a follower of the Counting Crows for quite a few years now and this album has not let me down. At first I wasn't sure about the format that they have used but the concept of full on Crows followed by the laid back approach (that I personally prefer) works really well...eventually.
My advice if you're still on the fence is to find a quiet room put on some decent headphones and let the songs wash over you....great! (alternatively play it in the car and crank up the volume)
4 stars may seem harsh to some fans and I am sure give it a couple of weeks and this album will be outspinning Films about Ghosts on the car CD player and I'll amend my rating to 5.

After a slow start, it just gets better and better and better. Another fantastic album from one of the best bands on the planet.

there back,
yes some songs sound samilar, but hey do you you want them to sound like coldplay ?
just think of it of an extention of the last albums and you'll be ok
i love these guys
the first listen won't cut , like all of the crows albums they'll grow all over you

Ok, whats all this poor reviewing of this Album? it seems some just don't get the concept of it, here's a clue- it's in the title!!! loud first half, laid back second half. It really makes me want to hark back to the good old days of an A and B side to records. First song great, tracks 2 to 14 great, last track..................great. Hope that clears it up for everyone? Oh and the comment on the packaging, are you having a laugh? it's fantastic!!! you obviously were born after the age of L.P's ;-) Just buy my friends, just buy it.

Album came this morning which is a good thing, but i would of thought that it would of came in a plastic case, presentation of the new album wasnt the best in all fairness, you pay good money for good packaging aswell as the quality of the music. that aside, its a great album however compared to some of the earlier counting crows albums it doesn't have the same greatness, this maybe due to the dynamic genre changing to keep up with times but on the other albums i loved the songs with this album i like a lot of the songs on here too but some of them i could learn to love... great band great music just doesn't pack the greatness as the other albums, but saying that all in all its a High Standard to try beat, but as someone else as mentioned well better than some of the trash on the radio at the moment. a must buy in my opinion...

Its nice that the boys have gone back to their original roots. This CD is deffinately split into 2 - the first 6 are deffinately the sounds of Saturday nights, more reminisent of the Hard Candy album, whereas the rest of the songs reinforce the reason I love the crows so much and echo the quality and acoustic brilliance of Duritzs unmistakeable voice and linguistic depth more evident in the first, and still say best, August and Everything After. Well worth it for "Washington Square" and "When I dream of Michelangelo" if nothing else!

Don't listen to the hype. For such a great band expectations are very high but regrettably this album is at best mediocre. I'm sad to say it but this is one of their least accomplished albums- where are the hooks and gemlike songcraft of yesteryear?

A superb album with some great songs such as 1492, Hanging Tree, You can't count on me and Come around amongst others. A definite purchase for quality music in a day where the charts is trash