Dave Matthews Band's new CD returns to old style
CD REVIEW
In 1968, the Beatles let it be.
Unhappy with a collection of
songs, the Fab Four scrapped
their work on “Get Back” and
moved forward, only to find -
much to their dismay - the album
released some two years later.
Thankfully, the Dave Matthews
Band didn’t make the same mistake.
Sometimes, something so close
to greatness is a world away from
completion. Pieces lie scattered
about, needing only careful consid
eration and a little caring to turn an
abandoned project into a beautiful,
eclectic compilation.
DMB’s newest CD, “Busted
Stuff,” is a piece of work that re
sembles, at least for the majority of
the album, a collection of songs
that flaunt sounds of carelessness
and discontinuity — the corner
stones of their anti-formula that has
attracted the ears of so many.
Unfortunately, “Busted Stuff’
comes two years too late. This past
year, the band opted to put out the ul
tra-electric, disappointingly main
stream album “Everyday.” In the
process, the band shelved the songs
heard on the new disc, many of
which were intended for release in
late 2000. DMB began reworking
songs on the album in January, ap
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parently unhappy with their prior
work. Matthews rewrote lyrics while
the band tinkered with arrange
ments, and in doing so, produced an
exciting, free-flowing album.
Better late than never.
“Raven” jumps off “Busted Stuff”
as the band’s strongest song. After
opening with a peaceful riff, a bass
heavy, drum-laden groove takes
hold. Most noticeable are the haunt
ing saxophone solos played by Leroi
Moore, which resemble the heckling
chime of a bird. Matthews’ vocals,
sassy and condescending, drive the
funky verses while also carrying the
song’s smooth chorus.
“Raven” transcends as a head
bobbing sing-along despite the un
derlying lyrical content. Matthews
sings: “What you got, what you got
in your hand? / A father said the son
/1 got the whole world here, Daddy /
Between my fingers and my thumb. ”
It’s then revealed that it would take
“10 lifetimes” to undo what’s been
done. “Raven” is a sad, riveting tale
that should rival “Crash Into Me”
and “Crush” for notoriety.
The title track, “Busted Stuff,” is a
catchy tune that, after less than one
listen, will leave the chorus in the
long-term memory bank. “Captain”
serves as the album’s jazz track that
kindly pleasures the ears while
speaking sensually of a rendezvous.
“Grey Street” offers the multitude
of sounds that differentiate DMB
from other groups, and “Where Are
You Going” is a simple, easy to sing
love song. “Kit Kat Jam,” an instru
mental played by the group, unfortu
nately doesn’t jam and is difficult to
enjoy. “Big Eyed Fish” is dark and
heavy - the kind of song that
plagued “Everyday.” The lyrics of
the song, however, produce an inter
esting, grass-is-greener tale. “Bar
tender,” a fan favorite when the band
is on tour, doesn’t get justice at the
end of the disc.
Interestingly, DMB has a few
Beatles-esque moments on “Busted
Stuff.” Guitar strumming at the be
ginning of “You Never Know”
strangely resembles the introduc
tion of “Norwegian Wood (This
Bird has Flown).” The catchy tune
“Grace is Gone” has a lost-love plot
and simple chorus that has mo
ments of Paul McCartney.
“Digging a Ditch” proves to be the
most thoughtful, introspective song
on the album. The chorus is carried
lightly in therapeutic form by
Moore and coincides brilliantly
with the underlying theme. As
Matthews sings, the ditch is a place
“Where all these troubles weigh
down on me will rise / Run to your
dreaming when you’re alone /
Where all these questions / Spin
ning around my head will die. ”
The reemergence of DMB’s au
thentic sound is refreshing and,
while it’s likely not mainstream
enough to help “Busted Stuff’ over
take sales records of “Everyday,” it
will satisfy long-time faithful.
And in the end, Dave Matthews
Band turned a collection of busted
tunes into an album that surpasses
the best of what’s around.
Contact the sports editor
at bradschmidt@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald.
Payne
continued from page 9
Fall of the Third Reich. ” Shirer, one of
“Murrow’s Boys,” was a correspon
dent for CBS in Berlin until 1941 and
returned to Germany with the victori
ous Allied troops, where he got an
eyeful of captured documents.
Shirer’s writing, which is scholar
ly and very witty at the same time,
tells in its more than 1,000 pages the
tale of the hideous brutality of the
Nazis. But Shirer also writes of the
behind-the-scenes power struggles
that first catapulted a little-known
Austrian painter into power in Ger
many, and the machinery that kept
him there until the bitter end.
For those who think that the Soviet
Union or World War II may still hit
too close to home, a good book to
read is “The Annals of Imperial
Rome,” by Publius Cornelius Taci
tus. Tacitus wrote an overview of the
first five Emperors of Rome. For
those not keeping score, they are Au
gustus, Tiberius, Gaius (better known
as Caligula), Claudius and Nero.
Tacitus writes in an entrancing,
story-telling style that tends to damn
with faint praise many of the emper
ors, especially Tiberius, whom he
hated. Although portions are slow
reading, dealing with the minutiae
of state, there are still riveting ac
counts of mutinies in the armies,
great battles and palace intrigues.
Not all of Tacitus’ work survives
—the entire portion of the manu
script dealing with Caligula has been
missing for centuries, so we don’t
know if his accounts reach the “over
the top” madness and decadence
that have been linked with Caligula’s
name. But the account of Nero more
than makes up for the loss with what
has to be one of the most bone-head
ed murder plots ever devised.
There. Didn’t I say you’d learn
something?
Pat Payne is a freelance columnist.
His opinions do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald.
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