Dave Matthews Band : Name Your Reasons Why They Are So Bad & Hated.

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and ours too.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 20:31 (twenty-three years ago)

he sucks, huh?

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 20:37 (twenty-three years ago)

I never understood all the 'Sounds like Hootie & The Blowfish and Sting" stuff. he sounds like neither. And its not like DMB has stolen any songs off him. DMB songs dont sound like anyone elses. Especially Hootie & The Blowfish.
Crash Into me and Space Between are 2 of the best songs written in recent years. Something Sting, Hootie or any of ILMers fave pop or indie bands could write(in my own personal opinion of course) I dont want to start fights. I just dont understand why he is so hated. But maybe thats because hes unknown over here in the UK. Most Americans seem to have an opinion on him.

― John McAteer, Tuesday, 11 February 2003 20:39 (twenty-three years ago)

like a vacuum.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 20:39 (twenty-three years ago)

Something Sting, Hootie or any of ILMers fave pop or indie bands could write

John Darnielle and Momus -- please write songs like Dave Matthews.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 20:47 (twenty-three years ago)

McAteet: even the Dave Matthews fans I know think the Space Between is awful; why do you think he eventualy released the lillywhite sessions - becuz all his fans were bitching about how awful everyday (and in particular the space between) was. Dave Matthews came from the same circuit as Hootie and has the same fans, the only difference is that Darius Rucker has a better voice than Dave Matthews and they made the mistake of having their first album be an impossible to followup megaseller. I doubt there's a single article on the Dave Matthews from 95 that doesn't paint them as the 'new' Hootie.

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 20:49 (twenty-three years ago)

...they made the mistake of having their first album be an impossible to followup megaseller.

To play devil's advocate (heh) for a second - how could they have "controlled" sales of their first alb?

― hstencil, Tuesday, 11 February 2003 20:50 (twenty-three years ago)

Ping Pong's first track was about as deep as it needs to be, now just extend it seven minutes with bongos and play it at the appropriate speed for bong hits.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 20:50 (twenty-three years ago)

...but without black people, he (Dave Matthews) wouldn't be funky!
Dave Matthews...funky.
I'm sorry, but this does not compute. Those two ideas are mutually exclusive.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 20:52 (twenty-three years ago)

To play devil's advocate (heh) for a second - how could they have "controlled" sales of their first alb?

... Get Dave Matthews to sing on it.

― dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 20:54 (twenty-three years ago)

hstencil - by not writing such incredible songs of course! take a cue from Axl (he pulled "Don't Cry" from Appetite to save it for the followup) and spread the love!

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 20:54 (twenty-three years ago)

seriously, the label should've put the kibosh on videos and singles much earlier; same thing happened to alanis.

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 20:55 (twenty-three years ago)

not sure that's the band's fault, esp. one as yokel-filled as Hootie. "Yes, Mr. A&R Man, anything you say!"

― hstencil, Tuesday, 11 February 2003 20:59 (twenty-three years ago)

Just don't put the Kibosh on me!

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 21:01 (twenty-three years ago)

The-guy-who-was-fired-from-Rolling-Stone-for-dissing-Hootie to thread

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 21:01 (twenty-three years ago)

but Horace Mann's already here!

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 21:06 (twenty-three years ago)

you think DeRogatis has the spare time to be...4th on the Users list?
Geez, am I lame.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 21:08 (twenty-three years ago)

Hey...where is this users list? You got me curious.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 21:09 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm sure Dave Matthews and his band are perfectly nice guys, but y'know what? Their music is fucking * B O R I N G *.....which is, as far as I'm concerned, a worse crime that sounding like a muppet (which I don't hear at all). Dave Gedge of the Wedding Present sounds like Muppet, and I loved them. Dave Matthews Band (and...really, couldn't he have come up with a decent name for the band at least?) are just dull, dull and thrice verily dull.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 21:14 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh, and I *REALLY* hate their fucking fans as well.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 21:15 (twenty-three years ago)

...sounding like a muppet (which I don't hear at all).
Nope, hstencil is right. He has a Kermit T Frog kinda vibe going on. But then again, so does Hootie (granted, he drops his voice a couple octaves to hide his plush-felt interior.)

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 21:17 (twenty-three years ago)

hating the fans is not a reason to dislike the music.

(come on alex you're a killing joke fan)

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 21:19 (twenty-three years ago)

Bland, blander, blandest.

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 21:20 (twenty-three years ago)

"hating the fans is not a reason to dislike the music."

Why not?

― Nick A. (Nick A.), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 21:20 (twenty-three years ago)

cuz it makes you an asshole

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 21:24 (twenty-three years ago)

do you know every single dave matthews fan? are they all idiots just becuz they like that brand of music? etc etc

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 21:26 (twenty-three years ago)

Its not the band I hate,
its there fans.

(Im sorry couldnt be helped)

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 21:26 (twenty-three years ago)

I hate the band, not the fans (I like girls who wear abercrombie & fitch).

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 21:29 (twenty-three years ago)

There's at least one reason to like the Dave Matthews Band.

And it could be worse. You could be one of a dillion Athenians who flock to see DMCB. Yes, "David Matthews Cover Band".

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 21:30 (twenty-three years ago)

(simon T is so gonna smack me.. again.)

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 21:31 (twenty-three years ago)

VERY aware of the Dave Matthews Cover Band (they play the same clubs Dave Matthews used to play). I used to joke about starting a Dave Matthews Cover Band Cover Band, and I'd write RUN on their flyers above DMCB. What's kinda insane is I know people who prefer the DMCB to Dave Matthews (cuz they focus on the era of Dave before he sold out, etc.)

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 21:34 (twenty-three years ago)

(when did Horace Mann = DeRo become accepted knowledge 'round here?)

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 21:53 (twenty-three years ago)

You hate the band's fans??

???

That's like, you hate me.

― Evan (Evan), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 22:08 (twenty-three years ago)

i think that the dave matthews band has descended into midtempo bore-rock for the past few albums, but those that insist that the group always has been boring (with lifeless production, etc) have likely not actually listened (with open mind) to Before These Crowded Streets, for instance - an album with enough darkness and life to defeat such criticism. it's not a masterpiece, but it's certainly not Hootie and the Blowfish. just ask the Kronos Quartet.

― Sean@tangmonkey (Sean M), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 22:25 (twenty-three years ago)

I'll pass on asking the kronos quartet, thanks!

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 22:27 (twenty-three years ago)

I was just gonna post how Kronos doesn't fit my description of "enough darkness and life," but you beat me to the punch.

― hstencil, Tuesday, 11 February 2003 22:33 (twenty-three years ago)

"hating the fans is not a reason to dislike the music."

Fair enough, Coolio, but it certainly doesn't help their cause. I just happen to find the DMB's music *DREADFULLY, PAINFULLY, UNBEARABLY DULLLLLL*. Couple that with a nation of tobacco-chewin', hackey-sack punting frat boys zealously espousing the band's dubious skills and you have a whole new reason to hate the DMB. Does this mean that I think that *EVERY*one who likes the DMB is a slack-jawed, monobrowed troglodyte? Not necessarily, but to those who are on the fence about them, I'd say this --- RAISE YOUR STANDARDS! There's more fucking interesting music out there....seek it out before you settle for less.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 23:11 (twenty-three years ago)

i don't think you read what I wrote - instead, you just made something up that you could make fun of. the kronos quartet doesn't scream "darkness and life" to me, either - but it "certainly" isn't an authority on hootie-style altrock yawners.

― Sean@tangmonkey (Sean M), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 23:12 (twenty-three years ago)

I have met many Dave Matthews fans but I have never met anyone who chews tobacco AND hacky-sacks.

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 11 February 2003 23:13 (twenty-three years ago)

uh, I did read what you wrote and yes Kronos does quite indeed seem the authority on "yawners" to me, probably even as much as Hootie.

― hstencil, Tuesday, 11 February 2003 23:15 (twenty-three years ago)

He sounds more like a donkey than a muppet. That is,if donkeys could sing.

― Scott Seward, Wednesday, 12 February 2003 00:15 (twenty-three years ago)

Just the whole combination of being so very very uninteresting and yet being so widely worshipped, is the main reason.

Which is also why all this Dave Matthews hatred from Americans is so delightfully bizarre and hilarious for the rest of us. It's like you guys just decided to pick the most average guy on Earth to focus all your hatred on (kinda like that Gary Larson strip with the guy looking out of his window and seeing a gigantic crowd advancing towards him with signs featuring suitably vague accusations)

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 00:20 (twenty-three years ago)

For the reasons Daniel Rf referenced, I just can't hate the guy. Sure it's boring, whatever, and his best music, "Crash," had the worst lyrics. But damn, it's the fans that make everybody go rabid. They're probably the jam band I find the LEAST annoying, since they have the most attention to songcraft. Though John Mayer may steal his thunder in that department (if he can stop making that ugly face live). Both look oddly like Tom Hanks in different stages of his life.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 01:01 (twenty-three years ago)

mediocrity is the worst crime, daniel_rf. alex nyc, hstencil, etc have pinned the tail on the donkey.

― jack cole (jackcole), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 01:21 (twenty-three years ago)

In the attempt to be objective (setting aside for the moment the myriad reasons I loathe DMB, and almost puked on myself when my then-girlfriend told me how much she loved "Crash Into You") is that DMB sort of catalyzes a cultural opposition that's deeply intrenched in North American culture: the jocks vs the geeks. Geeks (eg, music critics) have never gotten along well with jocks, by and large. And in the US, DMB is jock music, played on mainstream university campuses, worshipped in the jam-band festival circuit, etc. I think some of the geek-side antipathy towards DMB has a lot to do with what DMB is perceived as representing: white mainstream America, self-satisfaction (not that we geeks don't have that too), Republicanism, white baseball caps, fraternities, pre-law types and MBAs who like to let their hair down and rock out to bland, corporate rock. Now, I'm not saying that all of these are valid points, but I think they're all tendencies behind the loathing.

Personally, in my most unbiased terms, I dislike DMB because I find the music totally uninspired. I come to loathe them because of the godawful portentousness with which they portray themselves, and with which DMB's most rabid fans have adopted his music as the soundtrack to a generation. Everyone wants meaning and depth in our paltry little lives, but jeez, can't you find something with a little quality to represent that?

― philip sherburne (philip sherburne), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 01:30 (twenty-three years ago)

defently time for three cans of whatever hurts me.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 01:35 (twenty-three years ago)

Damn well said, Philip!

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 03:34 (twenty-three years ago)

hate other bands please

― artiste, Wednesday, 12 February 2003 04:20 (twenty-three years ago)

He spawned that John Mayer and that HORRIBLE "Your Body Is a Wonderland" which really is a crime against humanity.

I just call the whole genre "fratboy easy-listening."

― j.lu (j.lu), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 04:38 (twenty-three years ago)

"Name Your Reasons Why They Are So Bad & Hated"

Because they are the American Coldplay. And as I mentioned on some other thread, because Dave Matthews sings like Adam Sandler!!

― original bgm, Wednesday, 12 February 2003 05:01 (twenty-three years ago)

Skipping 3000 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

Can confirm, the two people in my extended orbit that I know go see DMB every summer are both finance guys.

― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 26 July 2024 14:29 (one year ago)

it took me a few seconds to parse that tweet bc I associate fussy 10/8 time signatures with DMB as much or more than I do with Radiohead

― waste of compute (One Eye Open), Friday, 26 July 2024 14:42 (one year ago)

yeah I guess they're thinking of like Paranoid Android and its weirdness but even THAT song is in 4/4

― rick beato meato manifesto (Neanderthal), Friday, 26 July 2024 14:54 (one year ago)

the late-high school and college-era DMB fans I encountered in the late 90s/early 00s were stereotypically the pukka shell necklace-wearing fraternity-type guys and the hippieish-adjacent women. not jam band enough to be restricted to jam band fans, not too soft rock to alienate others

by the late 00s Jack Johnson seemed to be feeding off the same people

― ɥɯ ︵ (°□°) (mh), Friday, 26 July 2024 16:19 (one year ago)

Granola in all its forms

― papal hotwife (milo z), Friday, 26 July 2024 17:23 (one year ago)

at least people are finally talking about DMB regarding topics other than poop-dumping or how gross the lyrics to Crash Into Me are, even if they are written from the character of a peeping tom

― rick beato meato manifesto (Neanderthal), Friday, 26 July 2024 17:26 (one year ago)

enjoy while this lasts, because the 20th anniversary of the poop dump is on August 8th.

― StanM, Friday, 26 July 2024 17:58 (one year ago)

at least people are finally talking about DMB regarding topics other than poop-dumping or how gross the lyrics to Crash Into Me are, even if they are written from the character of a peeping tom

― rick beato meato manifesto (Neanderthal)

yeah but Lady Bird loved it.

― the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 26 July 2024 17:59 (one year ago)

we are on maybe the 3rd wave of dmb reassessment. we had the Ryley Walker album, Lady Bird, yasi salek on every podcast, etc.

― 145 feet up in a Jeffrey Pine (Sufjan Grafton), Friday, 26 July 2024 18:08 (one year ago)

I need this thread to remain a safe space for naming why they are bad & hated

― waste of compute (One Eye Open), Friday, 26 July 2024 18:16 (one year ago)

Venn diagram of late 90s college music with DMB, Phish and Ween

― Heez, Friday, 26 July 2024 19:52 (one year ago)

I don't think those overlap nearly as much as you think. All of my Ween loving friends in college HATED DMB with a fiery passion.

― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 26 July 2024 20:03 (one year ago)

it was kinda really ridiculous during orientation at FSU, I dont' remember if I told someone I was into DMB, or if I had a DMB shirt, but like, nobody would shut up about em.

in line we were discussing DMB and this guy yells across the room HEY SO AND SO, THIS GUY HERE LIKES DMB and this other girl started cheering loudly and that just kept happening throughout the day, I was like is this Jim Jones university, why the cult-like excitement

― rick beato meato manifesto (Neanderthal), Friday, 26 July 2024 20:42 (one year ago)

and the funny thing is I'd still ride for the first three albums lol....but got tired of their steez real fast after Space Between

― rick beato meato manifesto (Neanderthal), Friday, 26 July 2024 20:42 (one year ago)

I probably mentioned it upthread, but I saw DMB like 7 or 8 times between 1995 and 2000. I was never a big fan, nor did I really hate them, mostly just went out of inertia because I had a lot of friends way into them and they played around us A LOT.

― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 26 July 2024 20:46 (one year ago)

I don't think those overlap nearly as much as you think. All of my Ween loving friends in college HATED DMB with a fiery passion.

― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0),

Yeah the overlap wasn’t necessarily listening habits but random keg parties

― Heez, Friday, 26 July 2024 21:26 (one year ago)

DMB fandom overlaps with Dispatch, OAR, Rusted Root, and Blues Traveler in my experience

― 145 feet up in a Jeffrey Pine (Sufjan Grafton), Friday, 26 July 2024 23:32 (one year ago)

i would say Radiohead has more songs in 5/4 (Everything In Its Right Place, Morning Bell, 15 Step, plus a couple Smile tracks) but DMB overall has weirder time signature stuff where there'll be changing the meter from one bar to the next and then dropping out or stretching a beat.

― some dude, Friday, 26 July 2024 23:37 (one year ago)

and Phish are 10x more prog and weird than either

― 145 feet up in a Jeffrey Pine (Sufjan Grafton), Friday, 26 July 2024 23:39 (one year ago)

Technically I would say “Everything In Its Right Place” is in 6+4/4 (ie alternating 6/4 and 4/4 bars) but otherwise point taken

― laughter is the best weapon (DJP), Saturday, 27 July 2024 01:48 (one year ago)

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