"This Desert Life", the newest album from The Counting Crows, seems to bring together everything that fans love about the band, Adam's dense, and incredibly meaningful lyrics, a multitude of instruments, and some wonderful harmony all have a chance to showcase themselves. Old themes, like 'Anna' and 'Maria' surface again, and are joined by 'Amy'. My overarching impression of this album as compared to the others is much happier. 'August and Everything After' seemed to swirl around losing yourself by making yourself a household name. 'Recovering the Satellites' was very dark. 'This Desert Life' is more upbeat, and had (to my ears at least) hints of CSNY (see 'Four Days')and the Black Crows (see 'Kid Things', the bonus track). I am hoping that the band will keep experimenting with musical styles (they cover a LOT of ground here), and instrumentation in the future. All in all, a wonderful album for CC fans out there.