Any Dave Matthews Band fans here ?

**MAJOR METAL** · #1 08-20-2007, 06:32 PM

Any Dave Matthews Band fans here ? I inherrited the album Crash and I am very impressed , great positive spirit to that album. What are some other good albums by them ? Steffan is the man , great groove an excellent 5 string player.

WJGreer · #2 08-20-2007, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAJOR METAL

Steffan is the man , great groove an excellent 5 string player.

Funny, I always thought him to be the odd man out in that group. All of the other band members are incredible, musical, chopsy guys. They hang out with the tune and groove until their chance comes along and then belt it. Lassard is just kind of there; he does a nice enough job with his bass parts but doesn't seem to have another gear like the other guys do.

**Eric Perry** · #3 08-20-2007, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAJOR METAL

Any Dave Matthews Band fans here ? I inherrited the album Crash and I am very impressed , great positive spirit to that album. What are some other good albums by them ? Steffan is the man , great groove an excellent 5 string player.

Huge DMB fan and played in a Dave tribute band for about a year.

joelb79 · #4 08-20-2007, 06:56 PM

Before These Crowded Streets rocks. Under the Table and Dreaming is a must buy. The live disk Listener Supported is my favorite live disk. I have not been in tune to them much these days, but Grey Street is a great song off Busted Stuff makes that disk worth it.

You must buy Under the Table and Dreaming and Before These Crowded Streets, IMO. Their best work is on those two disks + Crash.

bassman275 · #5 08-20-2007, 06:58 PM

Nope,not any.

none.

avid · #6 08-20-2007, 07:10 PM

I have a couple of the DMB DVDs. Really fun to watch and one of these summers I am going to make it up to the weekend concert at the Gorge Theater.

To me DMB is all about Carter Beaufort, that dude rocks!

bluerimedeyes · #7 08-20-2007, 07:12 PM

+1 to under the table and dreaming, the two disc 'live at the gorge' concert rocks, I love just about any of their stuff. Even the last album, 'Stand Up' which had a few of what I personally believe to be some of their best songs, only to be near ruined by what sounds like the worlds worst cold/flu. Dave's usually excellent vocals, and rather impressive range, are cut to mostly a very scratchy baritone. Not completely worthless, and I recommend you still listen to the album a few times, as the songs will grow on you, American Baby, Smooth Rider, both in my top ten favorite DMB songs. Along with Crash, Grave Digger, Say Goodnight, and a few others.

capnsandwich · #8 08-20-2007, 07:35 PM

It's funny about the timing of this thread. I've known about DMB for years now and I've borrowed some of their cd's. I've never owned one of my own since they were never my cup of tea at first.

Recently, I've been trying to listen to and study music that is based on groove instead of all the technical stuff I listened to before like Alan Holdsworth, Steve Morse, Planet X, etc. A friend from work reintroduced me to DMB as we're both musicians. I went online and downloaded from itunes his greatest hits vol.1 and began to absorb everything I could the first time around. I was amazed at how simple, yet complex their grooves were. Simple patterns, repetative, alot of 4-4 time stuff but the complexity of it was in how tight these musicians played together. One of my favorites is American Baby. It's a fairly easy tune to play. It doesn't move much or get complicated but when the bass starts those 1-2-1-2-1-2 strokes my neck starts bobbing automatically.

I'd say that DMB is a pefect example of how good musicianship doesn't have to have a bunch of crazy soloists and Berklee snobs to be good. It just takes a group of musicians who are willing to put their heads and hearts together and groove. The complexity is in the groove and the overall song.

p.s. not everyone who went to Berklee are snobs, just some of them.

WJGreer · #9 08-20-2007, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by capnsandwich

I'd say that DMB is a pefect example of how good musicianship doesn't have to have a bunch of crazy soloists and Berklee snobs to be good. It just takes a group of musicians who are willing to put their heads and hearts together and groove.

Yeah, but those guys do take some extended blows in their live sets. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's a band full of guys who don't care about technical virtuosity. I hear plenty of it coming out of them (excepting Lassard, see my post above).

capnsandwich · #10 08-20-2007, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WJGreer

Yeah, but those guys do take some extended blows in their live sets. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's a band full of guys who don't care about technical virtuosity. I hear plenty of it coming out of them (excepting Lassard, see my post above).

Well yeah, I'm sure they do. They've been playing for a long time. I've never seen them live so I can only go by what I hear on their cd's. My original point though is on how they groove together and that really overrides anything they do in their solos, at least for me.

T. Alan Smith · #11 08-20-2007, 08:43 PM

Love DMB.

WJGreer · #12 08-20-2007, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by capnsandwich

how they groove together and that really overrides anything they do in their solos, at least for me.

Me too. That's what keeps me coming back.

BTW, I think Crash is the best DMB album.

JimK · #13 08-21-2007, 05:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by avid

To me DMB is all about Carter Beaufort, that dude rocks!

Agree 100%.
I recall the 1st time I heard DMB...once upon a time (early-mid '90s), we had a pretty cool radio station that played 'anything' (even The Flecktones before they became a 'known entity').
So, I'm driving around town & I hear what turned out to be a live version of "Tripping Billies"...my God, the drummer was just going ballastic. Ihe DJ IDs them as DMB & I head to my favourite record store to pick up this cd. Well, long story short: NO CD was avaialble, these guys were from Charlottesville, &, per the owner of this store, the drummer's name was "Carter something-or-other". I knew a Carter Beauford that had played in a Richmond band called Secrets...was this the same guy? Yes!

FWIW, I like Lessard a lot...wasn't too impressed with how his bass sat in the mix on those early major label releases.
IMO, he sounded really good on Remember Two Things & Recently.

Baryonyx · #14 08-21-2007, 06:54 AM

I tried listening to them last night for the first time. I thought Crash Into Me was okay, but I'm just not feeling a great deal of hooks or anything!

MaxZolt · #15 08-21-2007, 11:00 AM

Stefan is able to hold an excellent groove. It's a pity that he's turned way down in the mix on many of DMB's studio albums. One of the most impressive things about him, however, is the way he and Carter are locked in together. The bass drum kicks are timed perfectly with Stefan's bass lines. I swear they have a psychic connection or something.

I would absolutely recommend checking out their live albums. The whole band plays just as tight as they do in the studio, but they also show off their technical skills in - very - extended solos (I have a version of their song #41 which stretches to over 30 min - it includes a guest appearance by Bela Fleck in which he plays one of his songs in its entirety, then goes back to the jam). All in all, I think the collective musical talent in this band surpasses any other group currently performing.

The above posts have mentioned the one exception, which is unfortunately Lessard - the one solo he regularly has is at the beginning of "All Along The Watchtower", which usually isn't very exciting, tuneful, or technically demanding. It tends to sound as if he's just standing around messing with effects. I think he's more suited to holding down the bottom line, which he does masterfully, especially with so many virtuosos (virtuosi?) on stage.

In short, if you didn't read all that and skipped to the bottom, I am definitely a DMB fan and their live albums are certainly worth a listen.

tycobb73 · #16 08-21-2007, 11:01 AM

First, SOAD, now DMB. MM you really need to keep up on your music.

Foamy · #17 08-21-2007, 11:03 AM

I don't like any band that thinks their $4!+ doesn't stink.

WJGreer · #18 08-21-2007, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaxZolt

The above posts have mentioned the one exception, which is unfortunately Lessard - the one solo he regularly has is at the beginning of "All Along The Watchtower", which usually isn't very exciting, tuneful, or technically demanding. It tends to sound as if he's just standing around messing with effects. I think he's more suited to holding down the bottom line, which he does masterfully, especially with so many virtuosos (virtuosi?) on stage.

+1. I find it strange, though, that he can have grown up musically around such crazy players and maintain such an understated musical personality of his own. In most cases, one would expect he would become a great blower by hanging around with all of those great blowers.

But, all of this said, maybe it's just his way. The band certainly does not suffer from his contribution; he does a great job. I think there is more room for expression from the bass in that musical situation than he provides, but that may or may not make the overall sound better than it is. Excellent band overall.

**Eric Perry** · #19 08-21-2007, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchanter_Tim

I don't like any band that thinks their $4!+ doesn't stink.

Why do you assume they think that?

Foamy · #20 08-21-2007, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric618

Why do you assume they think that?

Because they thought it was perfectly fine to toss it on a few folks having a great time on a boat.