Author Topic: Dave Matthews Band -  (Read 25921 times)

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Offline HOF

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Re: Dave Matthews Band -
« Reply #210 on: June 24, 2021, 04:11:34 PM »
The one thing about BTCS that holds it back for me is that some of the poppier songs seem to go on for a bit too long. Stay and Crush, even Rapunzel a bit, kind of wear me out by the end. I do like all those songs though. Overall I agree the album is a remarkable work, and one that kind of came out of nowhere in 1998. Nobody else in the mainstream sphere was doing anything that expansive at that point in time (maybe Radiohead or Tool I guess, but they were less mainstream than DMB).

Offline DTA

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Re: Dave Matthews Band -
« Reply #211 on: June 25, 2021, 05:48:35 AM »
I can't remember the exact reason, but I think Dave got with Glen Ballard and wrote songs with him instead of the band, and it's clear Dave wanted to write a more streamlined rock record.  Everyday is not a bad record - I like the majority of it - but it threw off their trajectory, from which they have seemingly never recorded.  Even Busted Stuff, which had most of the TLS stuff, came off like the band was recording material that wasn't as fresh and exciting to them anymore.

Yeah it does seem like a major shift that changed the band's course. The songwriting never quite seemed to go back to the style of their first 3 albums, and while I'm all for musicians evolving, the style on those first 3 albums was so unique to the band that is feels like they abandoned the core of what made them really great. The song lengths all got shorter and while long songs are no guarantee of quality, a longer track kind of promised that the songs were going to be less straight pop songs and more adventurous.

The one thing about BTCS that holds it back for me is that some of the poppier songs seem to go on for a bit too long. Stay and Crush, even Rapunzel a bit, kind of wear me out by the end. I do like all those songs though. Overall I agree the album is a remarkable work, and one that kind of came out of nowhere in 1998. Nobody else in the mainstream sphere was doing anything that expansive at that point in time (maybe Radiohead or Tool I guess, but they were less mainstream than DMB).

I could go for like 10 more minutes of Crush since the mood and vibe is addictive, but I hear you on Rapunzel and Stay's extended outros. They don't bother me at all but extending an outro just repeating the same thing does get old after awhile.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: Dave Matthews Band -
« Reply #212 on: June 25, 2021, 06:27:24 AM »
Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King was a major return to form, except that the songs were still mostly kept pretty short like the other albums they have done since BTCS, but the songs themselves are all really strong.  I have no issues at all with putting that album in the same tier with the first three, even if it does sit at the bottom of that top tier.

Also, the Crush outro is not the same thing repeated over and over. There is a progression there, and the leads by the flute and electric guitar in there are just magnificent.  The single edit of that song literally sounds like someone chopped its balls off.  That said, the single edit is still a good song.  The full album version, in all its glory, is just magnificent.  :hefdaddy :hefdaddy

Offline HOF

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Re: Dave Matthews Band -
« Reply #213 on: June 25, 2021, 12:52:18 PM »
Also, the Crush outro is not the same thing repeated over and over. There is a progression there, and the leads by the flute and electric guitar in there are just magnificent.  The single edit of that song literally sounds like someone chopped its balls off.  That said, the single edit is still a good song.  The full album version, in all its glory, is just magnificent.  :hefdaddy :hefdaddy

The outro to Crush is really cool. It’s more that the chorus repeats a few too many times. It’s not that I don’t like it though.

Offline DTA

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Re: Dave Matthews Band -
« Reply #214 on: June 28, 2021, 09:41:49 AM »
I've been listening to a lot of Big Whisky the past few days and it really does have a lot of great songs. I can't help but enjoy the sheer energy and bombast of Shake Me Like A Monkey and other songs like Spaceman and Seven with their really catchy vocal parts. However, I think my favorite songs are Alligator Pie and Squirm which are ones I don't really hear anyone mention. The tempo shift in Alligator Pie is such a cool moment and has a southern rock vibe that appeals to me even though I don't typically enjoy that sound. The heavy riff/2nd half of Time Bomb feels like a stylistic departure from the usual DMB sound but it's another section I really love. You & Me has a great melody and works really well as a closer. Lying In The Hands Of God is the only song that I find merely tolerable rather than excellent like all the other tracks.

I really have no complaints about this album. 

Offline devieira73

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Re: Dave Matthews Band -
« Reply #215 on: June 28, 2021, 02:53:08 PM »
Big fan of DMBand (AND of the amazing Carter Beauford :hefdaddy :hefdaddy :hefdaddy)! I'm a bit lazy to post in this thread, but let me say two things: besides Before These Crowed Streets being one of the best albums made by mankind, does anyone here also feels that, after that album, they began to overdo in solo/improvisations in the live setting and underuse it in the studio? (ok, maybe not on Busted Stuff) Groo Grux is an excellent album, but it suffers a bit of that IMO (maybe I'm wrong, but I believe is what KevShmev meant to say when "complained" about its shorter songs).
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Offline KevShmev

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Re: Dave Matthews Band -
« Reply #216 on: June 28, 2021, 03:10:03 PM »
Not sure about overdoing it live (feels like they always had the tendency to do long jams live), but I definitely miss the cool extended instrumental sections on all of the albums post-BTCS. There are exceptions, but they became exceptions, while on the early albums they were the rule. I think Big Whiskey... is nearly as good as Crash and Under the Table and Dreaming, and feel like it could have been as good had they stretched out a little bit instrumentally in just a few of the songs.  Songs like Lying in the Hands of God, Time Bomb, Spaceman, Dive In and Squirm are all stellar and I rate them all very high in the DMB catalogue.  Even as is, Big Whiskey... is a fantastic record. Sadly, it is their only album this century I can say that about, but at least we got it.

Offline devieira73

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Re: Dave Matthews Band -
« Reply #217 on: June 28, 2021, 06:42:18 PM »
Complementing what I said earlier about their live performances, my favorite DMBand live album is Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95, mainly because it's a true statement how just only the 5 members of the band could make such a full and complete live sound and because, at that point in time, I think the live improvisations were perfect, nothing short or too long. Anyway, I think they keep improving their shows, adding more musicians, which was a good thing, no doubt. And, to me they kept great balance in the improvisations until Everyday/Busted Stuff tours. Especially on the Everyday tour, when we had the opportunity to hear the entire (or most of) album with the band's arrangements, not like a Dave Matthews solo album (by the way, I love Everyday the way it is). From then on, I think their live shows became, as rule, with too much improvisations in almost every song, always having to make some space for each of the 10 musicians in the band to shine. So, to me, the jam aspect of the shows became a bit tiresome and something predictable, which, in the past, was the highlight of the shows.
But I must say that they did a great great show on the last Rock in Rio! And I think the time constraints of their performance helped them to stay more focused on the songs, like in the old days:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmxvB6bJP10
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Offline KevShmev

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Re: Dave Matthews Band -
« Reply #218 on: June 28, 2021, 08:17:53 PM »
I don't have the time or the stamina anymore to seek out the 3,319 live DMB albums that are out there. :lol  I am good with the Central Park live album and DVD and certain performances from other shows that have given my go-to versions of certain songs, like JTR, One Sweet World and Minarets.

Offline DTA

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Re: Dave Matthews Band -
« Reply #219 on: June 29, 2021, 04:23:25 AM »
Complementing what I said earlier about their live performances, my favorite DMBand live album is Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95, mainly because it's a true statement how just only the 5 members of the band could make such a full and complete live sound and because, at that point in time, I think the live improvisations were perfect, nothing short or too long. Anyway, I think they keep improving their shows, adding more musicians, which was a good thing, no doubt. And, to me they kept great balance in the improvisations until Everyday/Busted Stuff tours. Especially on the Everyday tour, when we had the opportunity to hear the entire (or most of) album with the band's arrangements, not like a Dave Matthews solo album (by the way, I love Everyday the way it is). From then on, I think their live shows became, as rule, with too much improvisations in almost every song, always having to make some space for each of the 10 musicians in the band to shine. So, to me, the jam aspect of the shows became a bit tiresome and something predictable, which, in the past, was the highlight of the shows.
But I must say that they did a great great show on the last Rock in Rio! And I think the time constraints of their performance helped them to stay more focused on the songs, like in the old days:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmxvB6bJP10

Red Rocks is the only live album of theirs I have so far and I agree about the improvisations being the perfect length. That version of Seek Up is such a perfect way to open a show and I listen to that more than the version on Remember Two Things. I'm also enjoying the Rio concert you posted though the "rockier" version of Don't Drink The Water was a bit of a surprise.

I need to relisten to Away From The World a bunch of times and don't yet own Come Tomorrow but I'll work my way to them eventually. I'm probably going to get some of the official live albums, but any suggestions on good Live Trax to check out? Like Kev, I don't have the desire to acquire all of them but I'd like ones that have rare songs, b-sides, or really unique versions of the studio album songs.

Offline devieira73

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Re: Dave Matthews Band -
« Reply #220 on: June 29, 2021, 06:49:24 AM »
I'm not a specialist on the Live trax releases. I've heard some of them (is there anyone that heard ALL of them?! :D) and it seemed to me that they are more interesting because of the live rarities. As for the whole show performances, I believe the official releases like Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95; Listener Supported; Live at Folsom Field; The Gorge; and Europe 2009 (Love this one! From Groo Grux tour and with a more intimating setting, different from their usual stadium shows. Watch the DVD) are the best representation of them live. The Central Park Concert is really great if you are looking for a "best of" kind of setlist.
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Offline Stadler

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Re: Dave Matthews Band -
« Reply #221 on: June 29, 2021, 07:29:49 AM »
The first segment of disk three of Central Park - where Warrren Haynes comes out and does Cortez The Killer and Jimi Thing (with For What It's Worth thrown in there) is pretty much the high point of the catalogue for me. That's the pinnacle of the DMB for me.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: Dave Matthews Band -
« Reply #222 on: June 29, 2021, 03:26:53 PM »
Hell yeah!   That live version of Cortez the Killer is so bad ass. I had that cranked a few weeks ago on a drive home late at night and it just slayed me.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: Dave Matthews Band -
« Reply #223 on: May 28, 2023, 08:56:16 AM »
New album out earlier this month, which I had no idea about until the other day. I guess it shows how off the radar this band is for me now when it comes to new music.  I checked out a couple songs and they seemed okay, but I will give the full album some listens here soon.  Been in a DMB mood all week, and they are always great summer music for me.  If nothing else, maybe I will get a few good songs out of this new album.  The last album from 2018 was more miss than hit, but it did have 3-4 songs I liked quite a bit.

Offline King Postwhore

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Re: Dave Matthews Band -
« Reply #224 on: May 28, 2023, 09:55:08 AM »
I need to check it out as well.
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Offline MrBoom_shack-a-lack

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Re: Dave Matthews Band -
« Reply #225 on: May 28, 2023, 10:00:35 AM »
Funny enough i've also been in a DMB mood this week and I also found out they had a new release.  :lol

Honestly the best part about DMB is Daves voice and guitar work.
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