Counting Crows, with a discography often divided into “old stuff” and “new stuff,” has lost a share of its fan base in recent years.

 

The bands new disc, “Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings,” produced by Gil Norton, is split into two parts with distinctly varied moods.

The first half, “Saturday Nights,” hooks listeners with a few catchy choruses, like on the hard-hitting “Insignificant” — but the tracks often sacrifice the Crows’ usually solid song structure for wild timbre.

“Sunday Mornings” is decidedly more mellow.  It’s a return to some of the band’s earliest work, à la “August and Everything After,” with banjo, accordion and piano carrying the songs.

“Sunday Mornings” may persuade old fans to come back, but that’s not to say “Saturday Nights” falls short. Don’t be surprised if its songs end up in a commercial or a movie.

"Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings" by Counting Crows recieved three out of four stars.