Since first taking over pop radio airwaves with the contagious "Mr. Jones" from 1993's "August and Everything After," the Berkeley, CA-based Counting Crows [ tickets ] have developed a cult-like following throughout the US. Lead singer Adam Duritz, well known for wearing his sappy heart on his sleeve, connects with die-hard supporters with his usually forlorn, occasionally hopeful lyrics.

The group's fifth studio album and first release since 2002's well-received and upbeat "Hard Candy," "Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings" draws on a more trying time in Adam Duritz's life filled with health issues and relationship woes and, in true Counting Crows fashion, the audience hears all about it. Fast-paced and riddled with crafty electric guitar, the album's opener, "1492," inspired the following five songs, the "Saturday Nights" portion of the record. Produced in New York by Gil Norton, who also worked on the group's 1996 release, "Recovering the Satellites," these dramatic tunes focus on the lonely disintegration of the self, relayed through cloudy, downtrodden lyrics and beautifully emotive instrumentation that emits an angry frustration via electric guitar. It's hard not to turn inward with Duritz through the hazy instability of his "Saturday Nights."

But then comes the dawn of "Sunday Mornings," a still depressive but sunnier side to the album, produced by Brian Deck (Iron & Wine, Josh Ritter, Modest Mouse) in the Counting Crows' familiar stomping grounds of Berkeley, CA. Still down on his luck but this time more coherent, Adam Duritz sings of loss in "Washington Square," accompanied by piano, banjo and acoustic guitar. The comfortable familiarity of the harmonica adds to the slow-moving "On Almost Any Sunday Morning," while the banjo reappears for "When I Dream of Michelangelo," a telling tale of Duritz's mindset with the lyrics, "I want a white bread life/ just something ignorant and plain."

Combining the two facets of "Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings" into one album wasn't the original concept for the Counting Crows, but with Adam Duritz's health improving after the completion of the "Saturday Nights" portion, it seemed a perfectly natural next step. The result, 14 passionately honest tracks, works well with the group's unpredictable discography. This most recent release will again resonate with fans appreciative of Duritz's sentimentality and no-holds-barred emotion.