REVIEWS:
A very instrumentally skilled roots rock/alternative outfit that musicians in the future could very well point to as a big influence - they are very underappreciated, skilled and eclectic as players (with Matthews on vocals and guitar, Boyd Tinsley on violin, Stefan Lessard on bass, Carter Beauford on drums, and Leroi Moore on saxophone). Another strength of this band, as album reviewer Pat D. points out, is that they appeal to a wide variety of people, which certainly counts for something. So far they've released four studio albums and various live efforts (their stage performances is what they're most known for, after all), and this page will attempt to cover most of them.
--Nick Karn
Post your comments about Dave Matthews Band
(reviewed by John Sieber)
Definitely not a "first purchase" for this band, I'll tell you that right now. But it is a little quaint disc that almost demanded my attention one day while perusing Best Buy for some obscure music. So, naturally, I picked it up, and found that I even knew a few of these tunes! However, I was not ready for them in this form, yo. For this is a half-live, half-EP of Dave standards, and in my humble opinion, the live stuff just don't ring like the studio cuts do. For example, the opening cut, "Ants Marching". GREAT SONG! But here, it just plods along like a dying horse, and it lacks that full arrangement that makes me pine for the studio version. Only at the end does it rock in any sense of the word. But unlike some people, I DO like the 27 or so snare hits at the beginning. So there!
Anyway, "Tripping Billies", another standard Dave tune, does not suffer quite as bad as the opening track, as it actually moves a little bit. But still, Give me the Crash version of this one any day. Dave's shifty guitar work and songcraft shine on "Recently", a definite precursor to the middle section of "Warehouse", and all the better for it! Check it out, man! However, I will warn you that it is long - not in the "Starship Trooper"-long category, more like the "When the Levee Breaks"-long category. "Satellite" is a good song wherever you can get it, and seein' as this is a studio version, it comes off very full and echoe-y and it makes me smile like a giddy guidance counselor...
Er, just skip the next couple tunes if you like. "One Sweet World" and "The Song That Jane Likes" are both predictable, sappy Dave shit. The poor guy - he could write a fuckin' song now and then, but then he brings out brown love packages like these on CD! Fuuuuuuck. "Minarets" give us a little Dave shuffle in some Indian scale and it's sorta cute, even! And that little fiddle break that pops up every once in a while, that's pretty cool, right? I know I am. Right, that is. I ain't cool, yo...
BUUUOOOOONNNGGNNN.
You'll have to forgive me, I just watched Clerks, Mallrats, and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. So, snoogens.
"Seek Up" and "I'll Back You Up" drag, IMHO. Even though "Seek" ain't repulsive, so I'll sing along with it if it comes on! But I LOVE "The Christmas Song" in all it's acoustic nature. It proves that Dave Matthews isn't all overrated garbage. Only about 2/3 of his stuff is. Jesus. Half the people at my school love this bastard, and here I am putting him into perspective. Of course, I'm the guy who hates the Beatles, so... Anyway, the whole thing is capped by a reprise of "Seek Up" that sounds like, pissin' hold music and some outdoorsey sound effects. Jesus, what an immature record. But then again, look who ended up buying it. Hehe.
Post your comments / reviews for this album
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
This was the band's breakthrough second album (and first studio release), which succeeds on very good singalong melodies and of course the fantastic musicianship, the real strength here. The lyrics are also well-written and often display a touch of personal darkness (as best noted on "Typical Situation" and the live favorite "Rhyme And Reason", whose musicianship really brings these feelings through convincingly), with the vocals of Dave Matthews being an acquired taste which, depending on your perspective, can either carry a song or ruin it. There's little argument that the hit singles "What Would You Say?" and "Ants Marching" are very catchy and exceptionally well performed tunes with some very clever lyrical wit (the musical ability on both is again without question).
As for other highlights here, "Dancing Nancies" manages to boast an edge but yet an entertaining and uplifting feel, "Warehouse" is haunting and introspective with good jam sections, "Lover Lay Down" shows that ballad writing is also a strength of the band's arsenal, "Satellite" is another decent, catchy minor hit single, and "The Best Of What's Around" just rocks out nicely with no punches pulled as the opener. The only relatively weak cuts are "Jimi Thing" (which sounds nearly identical to "Best Of" in a bad way) and the rather boring instrumental closer "#34".
Post your comments / reviews for this album
(Nick Karn's review)
On the all-important Under The Table And Dreaming followup, the true instrumental talent of the musicians is even more apparent than before, featuring a number of powerful jam passages (especially during "#41" and "Say Goodbye"), but it's a somewhat less focused record than the last, and the melodies aren't really great. Even the hit songs - the darkly sexual "Crash Into Me", the fun and upbeat leadoff single "Too Much", "So Much To Say" and the live classic "Tripping Billies" (where the energy is outstanding and the musicianship is phenomenal) - aren't as powerful as before, with the exception of the latter song, which is, from what I've heard, easily the best thing they've ever written.
The main problem here is that the songs here are longer, and it really takes a lot of patience to get into them at all (even the more captivating jams), and quite a few are uninteresting, ineffective numbers which drag a whole heck of a lot - especially in the second half on "Drive In, Drive Out", the aimless 9 minute closer "Proudest Monkey", the weak ballad "Let You Down", and to a lesser extent, "Cry Freedom". Even with an incredibly powerful dark intro jam in another live classic, "Two Step", that tune goes into a more upbeat direction that feels so out of place. "Lie In Our Graves", however, is unfortunately stuck in between those songs but gets the album out of its' rut for awhile, and may be the most infectious thing on Crash, a very inconsistent record that shows both flashes of brilliance and quite a few moments of boredom.
One of the very few interesting popular bands today. And they appeal to an EXTREMELY wide group of people. For example: My mother owns all three of their studio albums, and cannot stop listening to their latest release. So what, you say. They probably appeal to middle aged yuppies Well, hold on there a second. Just about every trendy high school girl of any race adores Dave. Oh, it gets better. Classical pianist (stop it with those sick thoughts, it means he plays the PIANO) John, a friend of mine, also loves Dave. Classic Rock and Pearl Jam freak Kevin loves Dave. Korn and generally lousy music dude Jason, also loves Dave.
And finally, metalbanger Pat D. (who sucks and has no life and no musical taste) likes this band. Whew! If that doesn't illustrate the incredible range of fans this band has, I don't know what will. OK fine. Quite a few Yngwie Malmsteen devotees like Dave too. Although they obviously have no taste in music whatsoever. For those 2 people in existence today who have never heard the Dave Matthews Band, the best description I can make is that they are a bit grassroots, a bit funk, a bit improv, and a bit folk. And they do all of that at once! Now I am not a big Dave Matthews fan, nor am I particuarly fond of any of the forementioned music genres, but this album is very cool. Very consistent too.
The first thing that attracted my ears to this band was the virtuosity exhibited by every member. Dave himself is quite a good acoustic guitarist. And I know shit about violinists, but Boyd Tinsley seems to get the job done nicely. And then of course is the VASTLY underrated rhythm section of Stefan Lessard (bass) and Carter Beauford.(drumkit). Stefan writes some great basslines, and Carter is one of THE better drummers I have heard in a while. Carter combines Neil Peart-type precision, with occasion heaviness, and occasionally INCREDIBLY fast drum fills (see the end of "Tripping Billies"). Sorry, but I cannot say enough about this man. Easily the best pop percussionist ever. Well, then again who does he have to beat? Charlie Watts? Ringo? Tre Cool? I mean, lets face it. Most pop drummers blow. And Carter even gives Neil and John Bonham a run for their money in my book.
Virtuosity aside, this is my favorite DMB album. Which is odd, cause most 'professional' critics dislike these 12 tracks. So, I guess its a good thing your reading MY reviews, for otherwise you'd miss out on a damn good album. All of the singles are great, and even the overplayed "Crash Into Me" still is a wonderful song to listen to. But this album goes above the call of duty and makes some very enjoyable non-singles, one of which "Two Step", is absolutely phenomenal. Kudos to pianist John (He PLAYS THE PIANO!) for getting me to listen to that track. My favorite on this album is "Tripping Billies" which has an indescribably groovy bassline, and cool percussion hits (courtesy of the great Mr. Beauford) at the end. "#41" is a cool track that I still wish I could listen to. Damn cat scratched up my Crash CD, so it skips on tracks 3-5. "Proudest Monkey" is a cool ender, and "Cry Freedom" is a fun listen. The other tracks are fairly good, nothing really spectacular, save "Let You Down". And there's not really a bad song on this disc. Well worth the $18 those damn record chains charge for CDs nowadays.
Post your comments / reviews for this album
(Nick Karn's review)
Here it is, the album that puts on display everything that's both good and bad about the Dave Matthews Band in one nearly 70 minute package. The melodies in general are a huge step up from Crash, and the production is exceptional, especially the extremely fluid sound of the instruments, and the entire first half is solid, from the enjoyable intro ditty "Pantala Naga Pampa" leading into "Rapunzel", which boasts has a phenomenal groove and great bassline in the verse and awesome start-stop time changing chorus, shifting to "Last Stop", which features more precise musicianship and dark, dramatic melodies, on to the effective five minute build of the chorus of "Don't Drink The Water" (featuring provocative lyrics and strong melody), shifting to the relaxing single "Stay", which works to relieve the tension of the previous songs, and ending with the downright possessed mood of "Halloween", courtesy of Dave's vocals.
The second half features even lengthier pieces at generally around seven or eight minutes, which wouldn't be a bad thing if not for the fact most of them stay at the same pace and melody the entire time, with really drawn out structures and monotonous jamming - four minute pop songs dragged out a lot longer than they should be. "Crush" is an extremely beautiful funk-oriented ballad, but in no way does it deserve to be eight minutes long. "The Stone" and "The Dreaming Tree" are occasionally captivating, too, but their main melodies and arrangements are simply not strong enough for their length. "Pig" and "Spoon" are better, mostly because both use relaxed stripped down beauty effectively, especially the former's contemplative vibe, but in all the second half is still somewhat of a letdown - if only they'd shorten their songs a bit and come up with good melodies consistently, this band could be something of a force. And this album demonstrates why, in my eyes, they aren't just yet.
The third studio release from the weird Dave Matthews Band. I feel a little guilty about giving this a six; in fact it probably deserves a higher rating, but Dave does a lot of weird contortions to his voice on this album which sometimes ruins the experience. Think of the vocals of "Drive In Drive Out" from Crash. That growling shout-type vocal. Some of you might enjoy that particular Dave voice, but it sounds really funny to me.
Thankfully, there are a lot of catchy music to make up for this deficiency. It seems that this album is the most diverse that the band has ever done. For example: the Eastern-tinged "Last Stop" which is just SO damn catchy. The opening instrumental, "Rapunzel", and the instrumental at the end of "Halloween" are all really groovy, and show the jam tendencies and virtuosics of the band. And, of course, there are the mandatory singles, since Dave and his buddies do have a rather sizable (and chronically crazy!) fan base. In this case, all three singles "Don't Drink The Water" "Stay (Wasting Time)" and "Crush" are all exceptional. Hearing them on the radio gives me (slim) hope that this irritating "pretty boy pop band" phase will one day be over. And "Crush" in particular is such an emotional, powerful song, that its pushing "Tripping Billies" as my #1 DMB song. Not quite there, mind you, but its damn close.
So why did I give this a (relatively) low rating? Well, despite the greatness of side one, (and the first song off side two, of course), the second side is mostly disappointing. "Pig" is the only song I consistently listen to. And the vocals on side one's "Halloween" get rather ridiculous at times, despite rather cool backing music. Overall, though, an interesting album, but don't listen to the critics. Before These Crowded Streets is nowheres near as completely enjoyable as Crash.
Post your comments / reviews for this album
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
Yeah... now this band decides to finally make an album where its' songs (and the final product) are of reasonable length without rambling and boring material mixed in with quite powerful moments, and it coincides with a songwriting slump. Put together after the first sessions were aborted and replacing producer Steve Lillywhite with corporate songwriter Glenn Ballard, the end result showcases a much more conventionally generic pop songwriting approach, with the band losing much of its' distinctiveness, and ultimately sounding more like a Dave Matthews solo album with a serious lack of captivating performances from the other quite talented musicians. It hardly makes a good first impression either, with lead single and opener "I Did It" being an extremely grating song, with really stupid lyrics and a generic melody that doesn't exactly compensate for them.
Fortunately, the rest of the album doesn't get any worse, but it really doesn't get much better either. Fairly dull and straightforward fare, which are mainly in the form of ballads, come in the pretty but forgettable "The Space Between", the ponderous "If I Had It All" (weak lyrics here), the bluesy "Angel" and the unbearably sappy "Sleep To Dream Her" (another low point). The closing title track's annoying singalong harmonies and insubstantialness doesn't cut it either. Even the highlights here aren't really anything fantastic, though "Mother Father" and "So Right" with their desperate melodies (plus an interesting exotic feel and shift in the former) come close to DMB classics. "When The World Ends" isn't a bad acoustic tune, and "Dreams Of Our Fathers" and "Fool To Think" have their majestic moments (particularly in their choruses), though these songs aren't enough to bring up the mediocrity of their surroundings much. A stumble.
Post your comments / reviews for this album
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
Wow, it certainly seems like the guys have been listening to my complaints about their albums the last few reviews. Well, not exactly, but after the bland pop of Everyday caused me to think they were falling into a slump, Dave and his band look back to their slightly more distant past, and the result is not only a comeback, but what I easily consider the best album they have released so far. The aborted Steve Lillywhite sessions for the followup to Crowded Streets had reached almost legendary status to this point, as the leaked songs from them online caused fans to hold the opinion that they were better than the album they actually did release (sure, what isn't?) I guess the band agreed with this asessment, as they played several songs from it on tour, and eventually decided to rework the material into something less raw and depressing, adding two new songs in the process, and this is the result.
So what about this album causes me to consider it superior to its' predecessors? Well, the simple reason is that they take the shorter song lengths of Everyday and mix it with their actual distinctive sound, which was sorely missed last time around. And maybe the shorter song lengths help in this respect, because the material here has a predominantly laid-back, mellow tone to it, but remarkably, this does not translate to boring! This is immediately apparent in the opening title track, a catchy pop groove that you can just feel the band playing in your very living room. And for once, the jam-styled songs have an excellent flow to them, especially something like "Captain" (fantastic rhythm playing!), which really has that loose feeling of a few guys getting together and play off each other, an intimacy not always easy to capture on tape. This style comes to a peak in "Kit Kat Jam", which may be a little generic in construction, but the majestic middle section and how the rest of the band plays off Dave's catchy guitar part here is easy to like.
There are a couple other aspects of here that seem improved to me - consistently catchy melodies and powerful emotion. Even ballads like "Where Are You Going?" that probably would have sounded forgettable were they written in the style of the last album are made into enjoyably melodic, introspective material. And I don't consider Dave Matthews one of the most moving songwriters of the last 10 years or whatever (although he did have his moments, like "Crush"), but "Grace Is Gone" and especially "Digging A Ditch" have to rank as his most impressive emotional highs, just gorgeous acoustic-oriented songs where you can really feel him opening up his pain to the world in the lyrics, or whatever cliched phrases like that you may want to use, and the melodies in the latter song (the acoustic and vocal one) can be considered excellent (and I love the effective sax work in the chorus). And there's also one other high in the sphere of gorgeousness on the album - "Grey Street" is ironically titled, because the combination of the lyrics, vocal delivery, and the memorable instrumental interplay (dig the violins and sax here!) creates something sweeping, and, well, awfully colorful.
Of course, I don't consider this album as an absolutely brilliant masterpiece or anything like that, but still, there isn't anything among the rest that's bad. "You Never Know" is the only song that lacks memorability, but it's still as nice to listen to as the others, and even the 8 minute closer "Bartender", while certainly overlong, has a really catchy repeating sax riff and a convincing epic feeling that I don't get from something like "Proudest Monkey" or most of side 2 of Crowded Streets. "Big Eyed Fish" is probably a song I wouldn't even have noticed were it buried this deep on their other albums (due to the fact that I want them to end at that point), but here, it's a catchy predecessor to its' closer, and "Raven"? That pretty much symbolizes what I'm looking for in a typical DMB song - standout playing and melody (how can you resist that intro or that quirky refrain?). Come to think of it, Busted Stuff has most of what I'm looking for in a typical DMB album. I recommend picking this one up if you have an interest in the band.
Post your comments / reviews for this album
COMMENTS
Yeah, but they certainly didn’t listen to your complaints about Vapor Trails. There is so much clipping on this album that it is fucking RUINED. STOP JOINING THE LOUDNESS RACE, PEOPLE!
Index | Main band/artist reviews page