Weak on concept, but who cares -- the songs are strong
So the concept supposedly was the raucous behavior of the Saturday night (the night before) and then the melancholy Sunday morning after. It has a bit of a feel to that, but it turned out to not just be half up-tempo songs and half down-tempo. Instead, the Crows keep things moving along on this album. Even though I've read a good number of mediocre reviews, I decided to give this one a chance. I thought this might be the first Crows album I didn't buy.

After giving it a chance, I really came to appreciate what it was about. There is actually a small amount of filler on here and while there's no true "classic" song on here that jumps out, there's a nice consistency across all the songs that makes the album worthwhile. The first two songs are the most driving in terms of tempo. Both have a fervor that reminds me of some of the more passionate stuff from Recovering the Satellites, especially Angels of the Silences off of that album.

Hanging Tree is the second song on this album and possibly the best up-tempo song. It's one of the better Crows songs ever and the lyrics are really good. Insignificant is a really get-up-and-go song, although I must say that they copped a bit from Have You Seen Me Lately, also off of Recovering the Satellites. Cowboys was the only dud from the first half of the album, perhaps just a little too long for my taste.

The ballads such as Washington Square and On Almost Any Sunday Morning are top-notch, with the latter the best song on the album. It's actually a bit of a rare structure for a band like Counting Crows as is doesn't really have an identifiable chorus. Later on, Le Ballet D'Or was one I had seen singled out as a low point on the album yet I found it kind of catchy and not deserving of the poor reviews I have read of it. On a Tuesday in Amsterdam Long Ago is just dreary, however, and is the low point of the "Sunday" songs but redemption is around the corner with the final song, Come Around, an upbeat way to end the album.

Poor Job Mixing Music with Vocals...
As a record store owner for over twenty years and being a fan of the group, owning their first three studio lps on vinyl records, I have to say that Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings is a very disappointing piece of work.

The music does not mix well with the vocals. I also picked up on some lines of lyrics that I have heard in some of their other songs from other albums, not saying that's a bad thing, but one would expect some parallel relationship if one chose to do that.

... also, I saw them live in Washington State with the Goo Goo Dolls and all Adam could do was preach to the crowd about how bad the current administration is and the need for everyone in the crowd to go register so they could vote for the democrat party! Adam talked every song instead of singing them...
It was a poor concert.

I hope one day they get hungry again and meet or go beyond that first album of August and Everything After, which in my opinion should have won a Grammy.

Still a fan, just somewhat disappointed!

Good, but...
Good enough, but nothing special...I was hoping for more "feeling" in the tracks. Still, all in all, not a bad listen.

multi-faceted
a vibrant sonic wonderland that features strong songwriting and powerful energy from a band that has taken years to develop their magical formula on the stage. This one evokes vivid images of the multiple lives of Adam, and gang, while we as listeners are able to correlate the songs to our own lives. The music proves stimulating, motivating and ultimately cathartic in the sinuous creative struggle that this fantastic band has nearly perfected.

This work is substantial and fulfilling.

Disappointing return of Counting Crows
You can say many things about Adam Duritz and his band Counting Crows, but one thing we can say for sure is that they never rush things and take their time in between studio albums. Indeed, this album is only the 4th studio album since the 1993 debut smash album "August and Everything After", and it's been 6 years since the previous album, the surprisingly strong "Hard Candy".

"Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings" (14 tracks; 60 min.) brings 2 mini-sets onto one album: the more forceful and urgent Saturday-themed tracks 1 through 6; and the more pensive and quiet Sunday-themed tracks 7 thought 14. I have several issues with this album: (i) there is no stand-out attention-grabbing song on here: where is the "Hanginaround" or "American Girls" of this album? I can't find one; (ii) several of the songs are overly wordy (see, for example, "Cowboys" and "Le Ballet d'Or"); (iii) the mellow second half of the album goes on way too long; cutting out a couple of songs would have improved the flow of the album greatly; and (iv) last but certainly not least, I am sick and tired hearing Duritz tells us how hard and difficult his life truly is (actually: still is, as he's been writing about this for the last 10 years now), give it a break already!

In all, I was quite disappointed with "Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings", which is not nearly as strong as "Hard Candy" was. I saw Counting Crows again in concert last summer, and live they remain a very solid act. While they are coming back to this area later this summer, I doubt that I will go again, as I simply don't find most of the "Saturday/Sunday" songs all that compelling.