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

'Jassy Thang' a believable DMB song title

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speaking of 800 lbs of shit, i have contemplated reviving this thread to talk about how before these crowded streets is a good record and the lillywhite sessions is an excellent one

Sure, Jan.

every(?) jam band has exactly two good records

grateful dead: u know
phish: billy breathes, story of the ghost
dmb: before these crowded streets, lillywhite sessions (counts even tho it was shelved)

I do kind of like that theory. Like, if you just keep playing and recording eventually you're going to do something good, like monkeys with white baseball caps sitting at type writers.

By the way, the other day, yesterday, and saw a young couple walking down the street holding hands. She was head to toe goth, with black fishnets and a black hat obscuring her face. He was just a preppy dude in jeans and a DMB t-shirt. I assume they were in love.

my boyfriend is not "preppy," he was a crust punk for like five years ok

then he got sober, embraced his inherited wealth, and found dave

Don't forget about Rift, Brad!

Also, I had never seen the location of the poo dumping before. I don't know why, but I had always imagined it from a more significant elevation. Like, "oh, the boats look like tiny little dots down there - we just didn't see them." Maybe at the edge of a cliff. Obviously not taking into account Chicago's geography. Nope, that was just right on their heads. Wow!

I'll plug Ryley Walker's cover of the Lillywhite album, it's really good even if you hate Dave.

Before These Crowded Streets is darker-edged than most of his stuff, I like "Don't Drink the Water", which has his attempt at death growls

Death Matthews Band would be kinda cool

the alanis morissette feature on "spoon" is my favorite singing she's ever done

in fact most of the guests on that record add a lot to it, cf. kronos quartet on "the stone," his best song

i will say i dislike the goofier musical interludes on the album but it's a tapestry man

So Brad did hear the Ryler Walker album jon mentioned?

did you*

yes i thought it was really good!

every(?) jam band has exactly two good records

grateful dead: u know
phish: billy breathes, story of the ghost
dmb: before these crowded streets, lillywhite sessions (counts even tho it was shelved)

IIRC Steve Lillywhite was the producer for Billy Breathes as well

I am billy breathing

my boyfriend is not "preppy," he was a crust punk for like five years ok

― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Sunday, August 8, 2021 11:54 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

then he got sober, embraced his inherited wealth, and found dave

― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Sunday, August 8, 2021 11:56 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

lmao, these posts have a deeply comforting familiarity to them.

the narrator from The Stone is singing to his inherited wealth

A Dave-head coworker posted the lyrics of “Don’t Drink the Water” (in honor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day), but the title just made me think of when they dumped poop in a river.

LOL

Weirdly enough, I love "Under the Table and Dreaming" and "Crash". And I shall not be moved.

haha hard not to make that association.

I started listening to Crash the other night after reading that (pretty good, actually) Sunday Review at Pitchfork, and was shocked to know how much of that still lives in my head even though I hadn't listened to it in probably 20 years. That album was inescapable for me, given that I was a sophomore at a Big Ten school when it came out and 95% of the people I hung out with loved DMB. I went to quite a few shows while I was in school, mostly out of obligation to my friends and it being just "the thing we did", but completely quit listening to DMB pretty much the instant I graduated, not even intentionally, I just couldn't be bothered.

I didn't know they did a Sunday review for "Crash". Thank you for alerting me, and good on them.

Link is here for those who are curious https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/dave-matthews-band-crash/amp/

"Crash" remains an album that I feel is unfairly overlooked because of the anti-DMB stigma. Terrific album, not one bad song.

My pal around the time of peak Dave Matthews just could not fathom how that dude managed to retain a musician as good as Beauford.

I mean, cynically, $$$$$ but also maybe he genuinely liked what he was playing?

i think crash is kinda uneven, feel like i can name a few songs i dislike on it. the singles are crazy tho

partic "too much"

I EAT TOO MUCH
I DRINK TOO MUCH

i also loved "two step" so much in middle school

"Proudest Monkey" is a go-to road trip song for me.

don't drink the water
Don't drink the water
There's blood in the water
Don't drink the WA-EE-YUH-EE-YUH-EE-YUH-AAAAHH

Did I ever tell the story of a friend of a friend who was on a benefit bill with Dave Matthews? They were hanging out backstage and Dave of course was a nice dude, but, more shocking to this person, talked like a regular low-voiced human being. But then the second he went onstage he suddenly shifted into "Kermit the Frog" mode.

Reminds me of a time I saw Neil Young, and he hilariously mumbled between songs, "I bet you're wondering how this voice speaking right now can be the same one you've been hearing singing those songs."

It embarrasses me to remember I once found this guy cute.

But he was kinda cute until 2001, yes?

no

now even in his older pics he looks like a bellybutton left on a log

I mean, I knew at least a few dozen girls circa 1996 that would say he was.

is Luther College even a real place? is it exclusively for chiropractors?

Yeah, it's a Lutheran liberal arts college in Iowa.

very upset, revisiting crash, to realize i like "#41" as much as i ever did lol

also the beginning and end of "two step" is so cool, i think i unconsciously hoped they would move further into that doomy and atmospheric sound. which they sort of did, until they made an album with glen ballard

ugh listening to the lillywhite sessions now

this is the best album ever

"captain" and "big eyed fish" are among the best songs dude ever wrote

and busted stuff may exist but it doesn't have my favorite song "jtr" on it (and the band apparently hated "jtr" the most of the material????)

very upset, revisiting crash, to realize i like "#41" as much as i ever did lol

― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Tuesday, October 12, 2021 11:16 AM (forty-nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

the back half of that song is special

oh yeah i said it already

I love the (3+ minute) coda on #41 through the intro of Say Goodbye.

― IKEA metaballs (Spottie), Tuesday, April 1, 2014 9:24 AM (seven years ago) bookmarkflaglink

i think "bartender" is the only extended dmb studio cut that doesn't make me feel like it's weird that they're a jam band

then again i think a binding feature of jam bands is possibly that, excepting the allman brothers, they're never really bands you would want or expect to be jam bands, it's always like, "these guys? playing this music? ok i guess"

I have been revisiting the work of DMB myself of late, driven by the 60 Songs That Explain the 90s episode on "Crash" and the Bandsplain episode featuring Grayson Haver Currin (who wrote the Sunday Review) - I would highly recommend both, especially the latter. There are many good observations and insights throughout the two. Some of the ones that are most memorable:

- The band's unique diversity, especially for the time
- Matthews' ability to write approachable acoustic guitar driven pop songs that a totally average player could manage to learn--paired with the well-documented musicianship of drummer Carter Beauford, bassist Stefan Lessard, and the many talented guests they've surrounded themselves with over the years (e.g., Tim Reynolds, Bela Fleck, Trey Anastasio, etc.)--make them sui generis; they are not a jam band, so much as a pop band with jam band ambitions, while most jam bands (e.g., Phish) tend to be the opposite
- Matthews' international upbringing and personal/family struggles have occasionally manifested in inspired writing, most notably "Cry Freedom", which Currin writes eloquently about in the Sunday Review: "Though written about apartheid after its end, the song feels prescient for the United States 25 years later, a smoldering lament for a country of Blue Lives Matter banners that flap even as state-sponsored violence rages on. It is a salient reminder to be a witness, even if you’re not a savior."
- Their incredible longevity and popularity - Under the Table & Dreaming hit #11 in 1994, Crash hit #2 in 1996, and all of their studio albums since--7 albums over 20 years--have hit #1

Upon re-listens, Live at Luther College and Before These Crowded Streets hold up and stand out as the best of their pre-Stand Up catalog in my book.