Counting Crows [ tickets ], whose new greatest-hits album lands in stores later this month, will follow the release with multi-night stands in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The group has lined up shows at The Warfield in San Francisco on Dec. 8, 9, 12 and 13; and at The Wiltern in Los Angeles on Dec. 19, 20, 22 and 23. Tickets hit the box office on Sunday (11/9).

Members of Counting Crows' official fan club, Cloudkookooland, can participate in an online pre-sale that begins on Wednesday (11/5), and the group's Counting Crows Direct Ticketing service will launch a public pre-sale on Thursday (11/6). Details are posted at the band's website.

On Nov. 25, Counting Crows issue "Films About Ghosts," a collection of previously released hits from the group's four studio albums. Also included is the hard-to-find track "Einstein on the Beach," a cover of The Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil" and the new original song "She Didn't Want Nobody Near."

The group's most-recent studio release is last year's "Hard Candy," which spawned the group's hit version of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi." Vanessa Carlton guests on the cut.