Dave Matthews Band

[JohnRogers]

I was listening to one those inherently unreliable podcasts. This is a daily pod, non-musical pod, two days in a row DMB is briefly discussed. Off the top of my head I can’t name a DMB song. What struck me was RUSH like similarities in the conversation. Genre bending, musicianship, position in the zeitgeist.
 

Is any of that crazy? Most importantly does the band’s catalog deserve a deep dive? Have I been missing out on something great? 

[Principled Man]

The Dave Matthews Band is overrated.  The music is OK, but Matthews is arguably one of the worst singers ever. 

 

I bought their first album when it came out, and there are some good songs on it, but Matthews's voice grated on my ears.  

[The Analog Cub]

They've got a fanatical follower base like Rush but it feels more like the jam band culture with the nature of their music. I don't think their performances are overanalyzed as much as Phish or Grateful Dead, but there's an element of that there.

 

I'm also not a fan. His vocals are atrocious.

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

15 minutes ago, Principled Man said:

The Dave Matthews Band is overrated.  The music is OK, but Matthews is arguably one of the worst singers ever. 

 

I bought their first album when it came out, and there are some good songs on it, but Matthews's voice grated on my ears.  

 

Yeah, Dave's voice takes some getting used to, and some people can't get that far. I totally get that. If you can deal with that, the music is pretty interesting. I'd classify it as funky prog folk pop country. Drummer Carter Beauford is an absolute beast.

 

I'm not a DMB disciple but I do like them. If I were to recommend an album it'd be Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King since it's where (IIRC) they started incorporating some electric guitar into their music. A little more rock, and little less folk.

 

Here are a few songs that a Rush fan might like. (The horn lines that start off the first track sound super dated.)

 

 

 

 

[J2112YYZ]

He's a worse vocalist than Dave Mustaine.

[Nova Carmina]

I like DMB a lot in the mid-90s, but then the sameness of the material (to my ears) sort of wore thin. I liked that they released lots of live albums, and those were pretty good. I wouldn't make the Rush comparison, but The Dead/Phish thing seems more accurate. 

[Principled Man]

7 hours ago, 1-0-0-1-0-0-1 said:

I'd classify it as funky prog folk pop country. 

That just gave me a headache….   

[invisible airwave]

Haven’t listened to them since Busted Stuff which is their best one.  Everyday has not aged well.

 

Dave’s lyrics can get cringey at times but it’s worth if early on just for Beauford.  He’s up there with Grohl, Chamberlain and Carey amongst best 90s drummers.

[BastillePark]

His voice isn't any worse than Geddy's. A while back I was talking to a huge DM fan and related to him how my son had said that Rush in concert sounds just like their albums and this guy said "Why would you want that"? He went on to explain that the reason he likes them so much is you never know what you'll get when you see them in concert. I suppose there's something to that but the nearly endless jamming is not my thing at all.

[Rick N. Backer]

I like him.  I wouldn't call myself a fan, but I have his first couple of albums and a live acoustic one with Tim something or other.  Good mellow stuff.

 

Were you listening to Matt Continetti?

[Todem]

Was a fan thru the first three albums.....actually a pretty big fan. Tremendous live band. Carter is a beast for sure. 

 

On Everyday they over produced their music and tried to wrote “hit songs"......as an earlier post said it did not age well. Busted Stuff was a dark record and was supposed to the album they released instead of Everyday. Steve Lillywhite (yeah the guy who sold out Rush before Grace Under Pressure was recorded) was their producer on that and the previous threes albums. I have a bootleg of Busted Stuff called the Littlywhite sessions.

 

They just started sounding way to the same after those first 4 albums......and the live shows started to annoy me with the bohemian crowd who followed them everywhere....did not shower and would try and steal your seats constantly. It was ridiculous......also they would play 8-9 songs in 2.5 hours. They would just jam and jam and jam....and more jamming and more solos......yeah....not my kind of thing. It got old quick. 

 

Jumped ship in 2007 as a supporter. 

 

I still will listen to those first 4 albums......also love some of his live stuff as well from those early tours. The Live from Central Park CD is amazing.

Edited August 3, 2023 by Todem

[Jaminbenb]

On 8/2/2023 at 8:44 PM, Todem said:

Was a fan thru the first three albums.....actually a pretty big fan. Tremendous live band. Carter is a beast for sure. 

 

On Everyday they over produced their music and tried to wrote “hit songs"......as an earlier post said it did not age well. Busted Stuff was a dark record and was supposed to the album they released instead of Everyday. Steve Lillywhite (yeah the guy who sold out Rush before Grace Under Pressure was recorded) was their producer on that and the previous threes albums. I have a bootleg of Busted Stuff called the Littlywhite sessions.

 

They just started sounding way to the same after those first 4 albums......and the live shows started to annoy me with the bohemian crowd who followed them everywhere....did not shower and would try and steal your seats constantly. It was ridiculous......also they would play 8-9 songs in 2.5 hours. They would just jam and jam and jam....and more jamming and more solos......yeah....not my kind of thing. It got old quick. 

 

Jumped ship in 2007 as a supporter. 

 

I still will listen to those first 4 albums......also love some of his live stuff as well from those early tours. The Live from Central Park CD is amazing.

I was in the same boat as well.  The first few albums were great, they had a great live show,  and Carter's playing was phenomenal!  When the bass player passed away, and then the violinist got weird, they fell out of my rotation. I still pull some of the older stuff and some bootlegs out occasionally, but not into them anymore.

[goose]

On 8/1/2023 at 9:38 AM, Principled Man said:

The Dave Matthews Band is overrated.  The music is OK, but Matthews is arguably one of the worst singers ever. 

 

I bought their first album when it came out, and there are some good songs on it, but Matthews's voice grated on my ears.  

Substitute "Geddy Lee" for "Matthews" and you have what most people think of RUSH.

 

Over time Ive learned to ignore the more annoying aspects of Dave's singing style and to focus on the music, which is stellar.  I like the band a lot now.