The Dave Matthews Band released their fourth studio album "Crash," a week ago, and the world has been cheering ever since.
During the last few years, the Charlottesville, Va.-based band led by the South African vocalist/acoustic guitarist Dave Matthews has steadily attracted more and more fans.
The new album contains 12 tracks. All of these tunes, with the exceptions of "Crash Into me," "#41" and "Proudest Monkey," have been played live for years, and "Tripping Billies" comes from their first album, "Remember Two Things."
Unfortunately, the lack of brand new songs is a disappointment.
The album opens with "So Much to Say," in which Matthews gropes for a sense of identity.
The track "Two Step," is one of the more interesting cuts on the album due to the sharp contrast between Matthews' slow delivery and Carter Beauford's fast drumming. Unfortunately, the groove developed in this song is too restrictive for the other musicians to show off their stuff.
"Too Much" features Leroi Moore on the saxophone and Boyd Tinsley on violin. The funkiest tune on this album, "Too Much," brings back memories of artists such as Janis Joplin, mostly due to Matthews' lyrics about the excesses of life.
The lyrics to "Say Goodbye" are interesting -- Matthews is hoping that a friend will be his lover for a night. But the song, due to his mournful delivery, lacks the vitality necessary to convey the emotions properly.
"Let you Down," the album's token ballad, is a plea for forgiveness. Despite the interesting triangle solo and whistled closing of the song, the lyrics are quite trite due to the plethora of bands that have already released songs that essentially have the same message.
"Cry Freedom," a song about South Africa, is Matthews' strongest political statement on the album.
The album closes on a skeptical note with "Proudest Monkey." Its lyrics can be interpreted on two levels -- on one, Matthews is commenting on the difficulties of growing up, or perhaps he is talking about his longing for the old days before the group came into the limelight.
The band is excellent at the music they create, and the mixing of funk, rock, folk and country results in catchy pop tunes and great live jams.
Beauford's drumming is tight as usual, and the violinist's use of pizzicato and Moore's sax are excellent on this album.
However, the arrangements on some of the songs such as "Two Step" are weak, and those tunes do not reach their full potential.
Despite the album's many shortcomings, "Crash" will sell at the record stores and attract many new fans with the band's catchy songs.
