Hard Candy (album)

Hard Candy
Studio album by Counting Crows
Released	July 9 2002
Genre	Alternative
Length	59:30 (U.S. Version) 67:47 (UK version)
Label	Geffen
Producer	Steve Lillywhite
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link
Counting Crows chronology
This Desert Life (1999) Hard Candy (2002) Films About Ghosts (2003)

Hard Candy is the fourth studio album by Counting Crows released in 2002 on Geffen Records. The studio album is credited by some fans for bringing Counting Crows back to their roots, referring to their first album "August and Everything After". Album sales were less than its previous, though the album was well received. The song "American Girls" was featured as the background track to a Pepsi commercial. A new version of the song "Holiday in Spain", recorded as a duet with the Dutch band Bløf and became a number one hit in the Netherlands. On the last track (13 or 15, depending on the album version), after a period of silence the hidden track "Big Yellow Taxi" plays. This Joni Mitchell cover was one of their biggest radio hits from the album, although it is unlisted (except for the note "May contain trace amounts of Joni Mitchell"). Several notable collaborators appeared on Hard Candy, including Ryan Adams (lyrics and vocals for "Butterfly In Reverse"), Jerry Hey (flugelhorn solo on "Carriage"), Sheryl Crow (vocals on "American Girls"), and Vanessa Carlton (background vocals on Big Yellow Taxi)

Track listing

1. "Hard Candy" (Duritz/Vickrey/Gillingham) – 4:20
2. "American Girls" (background vocals by Sheryl Crow) (Duritz) – 4:32
3. "Good Time" (Duritz) – 4:24
4. "If I Could Give All My Love -or- Richard Manuel Is Dead" (Duritz/Vickrey/Immerglück/Gillingham/Malley) – 3:52
5. "Goodnight L.A." (Duritz) – 4:17
6. "Butterfly in Reverse" (Duritz/Adams/Gillingham) – 2:48
7. "Miami" (Duritz/Gillingham/Immerglück) – 5:01
8. "New Frontier" (Duritz) – 3:51
9. "Carriage" (Duritz) – 4:04
10. "Black and Blue" (Duritz) – 3:53
11. "Why Should You Come When I Call?" (Duritz/Gillingham) – 4:38
12. "Up All Night (Frankie Miller Goes to Hollywood)" (Duritz) – 5:07
13. "Holiday in Spain" (Duritz) – 3:50
14. "4 White Stallions" (Bonus Track UK Release) – 4:21
15. "You Ain't Going Nowhere" (Bonus Track UK Release)
16. "Big Yellow Taxi (Featuring Vanessa Carlton)" – 3:47 (Hidden Track)