Hard Candy
by Counting Crows
  • Record Label: Geffen
  • Release Date: Jul 9, 2002
Metascore
69

Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. AllMusic
    90
    Hard Candy is the sound of a band at a creative and poetic summit.
  2. CDNow
    80
    Few bands can both rock and pine as well as Duritz and company.
  3. PopMatters
    80
    Their best, most mature, and most vital effort to date.
  5. Launch.com
    70
    Duritz isn't the soul singer he'd like to be.
  6. Uncut
    70
    Every one of these 15 songs is a perfectly-crafted masterclass in great American songwriting. [Aug 2002, p.99]
    All this publication's reviews
  7. Entertainment Weekly
    67
    Beneath the surface shimmer are 13 more doleful songs about the impossibility of Duritz's ever forging a lasting relationship. [12 July 2002, p.84]
    All this publication's reviews
  8. E! Online
    67
    Too much of this mopey stuff can be Hard to take.

Awards & Rankings

61
#61 Most Discussed Album of 2002

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 28 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 28
  3. Negative: 3 out of 28
  1. TR3YWAY
    Nov 23, 2019
    10
    Great album, I totally recommend listening to hard candy by counting crows!!!!
  2. bhartman36
    Sep 9, 2014
    4
    This is my least favorite Counting Crows album. Here, the band sinks into a pop morass, and they only rarely come up for air.

    First, the    This is my least favorite Counting Crows album. Here, the band sinks into a pop morass, and they only rarely come up for air.

    First, the good:

    "Holiday In Spain" has become one of the band's classics in concert. It's a beautiful, well-written song. Similarly, "Up All Night" is the kind of song the band should be writing. Just beautiful. Even "Hard Candy" is a solid song.

    But then you have the rest of the album.

    "American Girls" is a peppy little song, but it's mostly a paint-by-numbers affair. And the title strikes of an odd pandering to patriotism (for Americans, obviously). Not a bad song, necessarily, but not their best.

    The rest of the album is forgettable. Except for "New Frontier", an exercise in electronica that is absolutely execrable. I try my best to forget that Counting Crows ever produced that song.

    Buy "Up All Night" and "Holiday in Spain" separately, and don't swallow this Hard Candy.    … Full Review »
  3. daven
    Sep 22, 2006
    8
    Their best release since August and Everything After.
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