Rob Thomas is the lead singer and primary songwriter for the adult-alternative rock band Matchbox 20. You may recall some of that band's hit songs such as "Push" and "3 AM" from six or seven years ago. You also may recall Thomas had a successful guest vocal on Carlos Santana's "Supernatural" album where the Matchbox 20 frontman dropped his rock persona and took on a more pop-oriented sound with the song "Smooth". Well... That trend continues with "...Something To Be". It is Thomas' first full-length solo effort and, moreover, a full-fledged pop album complete with synth sounds. Interestingly, his record label in the States has decided to issue the new record as a single-inventory DualDisc with CD on one side and DVD on the other. (No regular CD-only version is readily available.) Perhaps even more intriguing is Atlantic Records' decision to include high-resolution DVD-Audio. This means that almost every record store from Sam Goody to Wal-Mart is selling a DVD-Audio album; and I think that's pretty darn cool! But how does it sound?
Well... In my opinion, it is definitely worth flipping the disc over to the DVD side for anyone who has already purchased this album. The added resolution for the surround tracks (96 kHz / 24-Bit PPCM) apparently makes for an improvement because sonically this album sounds fairly decent (for a Pop album) on a full-sized home system. Indeed, perhaps even the stereo tracks (48 kHz / 24-Bit LPCM) may yield an improvement in sound over the CD side. However, I was slightly disappointed that the surround mix wasn't more aggressive and, honestly, more gimmicky.
It seems to me that the average Joe Consumer out there would've been more impressed by an over-the-top surround mix---especially considering he or she would've likely been listening in Dolby Digital. My hope then would have been for that to have stimulated more interest in surround sound music. That said, the surround mix is still enjoyable for those who may have already developed an appreciation for a more subtle mix. I don't find anything obviously wrong with the mix. Listening to the song "Lonely No More", vocals are spread out across the front, rather than sounding stuck in the center channel. And the surrounds, whilst much quieter than on many other albums, are still effective in their role of enhancing the mains. So could the mix have been better? Yes. But have I heard worse? Oh, yes---far worse. So it would seem that "...Something To Be" isn't a total loss. The question then: "...Is it something you want?"
