Before These Crowded Streets

Amazon.com
The Dave Matthews Band is moving its music forward incrementally. While Before These Crowded Streets offers more of the folky melodies and vaguely international rhythms that made this Charlottesville, Virginia, group a major record and concert draw, it also finds them adding subtle new colorings to the mix. Alanis Morissette guests on two cuts, "Spoon" and the disc's first single, "Don't Drink the Water"; banjo Bela Fleck steps in, too. Most intriguing, however, is the modernist string arrangement from the Kronos Quartet on the driving "Halloween." Matthewsat least partly fulfills his obvious hopes to lead something other than a jam band here; at the same time, Streets should keep his fans satisfied. --Rickey Wright

Before These Crowded Streets,Dave Matthews Band,RCA,Adult Alternative Pop/Rock,American Trad Rock,Jam Bands,Pop,Rock,Rock/Pop

Before These Crowded Streets

Average customer rating:

wow
fantastic.....
Rocky Roads
Not DMB's best album, but still good
I still love this album

Before These Crowded Streets
Dave Matthews Band
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Rock Jam Bands | Jam Bands | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Adult Alternative | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Under the Table and Dreaming
Crash
Everyday
Busted Stuff
Remember Two Things

ASIN: B00000638Q
Release Date: 1998-04-28

Tracks:

Pantala Naga Pampa
Rapunzel
The Last Stop
Don't Drink The Water
Stay (Wasting Time)
Halloween
The Stone
Crush
The Dreaming Tree
Pig
Spoon

Amazon.com

The Dave Matthews Band is moving its music forward incrementally. While Before These Crowded Streets offers more of the folky melodies and vaguely international rhythms that made this Charlottesville, Virginia, group a major record and concert draw, it also finds them adding subtle new colorings to the mix. Alanis Morissette guests on two cuts, "Spoon" and the disc's first single, "Don't Drink the Water"; banjo Bela Fleck steps in, too. Most intriguing, however, is the modernist string arrangement from the Kronos Quartet on the driving "Halloween." Matthewsat least partly fulfills his obvious hopes to lead something other than a jam band here; at the same time, Streets should keep his fans satisfied. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews:

wow.......2007-06-09

this album is amazing. i have been a fan of dave matthews band for a long time, and i never got this cd. i was hooked on under the table and dreaming, but when i got this, it became my all-time favorite cd. this cd is very different from any other of theirs. it is much more dark, and seems to have more worldly influences, which is shown a lot in "the last stop". also, the band goes into a long jam session on almost every song, which is really fun to listen to. what has always amazed me about dmb, and especially shines in before these crowded streets, is that every member of the band is just as important as the other. i personally think that everyone else in the band are better musicians that dave himself. he is, although, an amazing songwriter. here's a review of each song:

1. Pantala Naga Pampa- this song isn't much of a song, but it's good for what it is. you can find it played at the end of the D&T version of "jimi thing".
2. Rapunzel- this song shows how tight the band is together. it's played in 5:4 time, which is really tough. the whole song is tasty, and the bridge is a 6:8 turnaround with a great violin part. great song.
3. The Last Stop- this song makes a very large use of a middle-eastern scale. that's what makes it sound really egyptian, and although i really appreciate the influence, it's probably my least favorite on the cd. it is still a good song.
4. Don't Drink The Water- i really like this song. i like the live version better, because i think it has more energy, but this version is very good as well. i love the passion that the lyrics show and how the music describes it.
5. Stay- great single, although it's almost 6 min long. it's very catchy and has a black female vocal group singing in it. i love the two jams that the band goes into. dave is very good at describing feelings in terms of music, this one being love.
6. Halloween- This song is very funny. It sounds like dave is singing like he's frankenstein's monster or something. Sometimes it gets on my nerves, but it's musically a great song. really funny to listen to.
7. The Stone- halloween fades into just violins and stuff and flows into the beginning of the stone. that makes for a great intro. then the guitar comes in, and it's a very good guitar riff. this is the most dark of all songs on the album. it also has the best of all guitar riffs on the cd in my opinion, the verse, chorus, and transition back to the verse. it has a very long, awesome jam at the end and fades. amazing song.
8. Crush- I think this is my favorite of all dmb songs. again, dave describes love in the form of music very well. this is just a feel good song. the jam at the end blows my mind. tim reynolds, leroi moore, and boyd tinsley are all soloing at once. even dave has a few funky chords in the jam himself, the closest thing to soloing i think i've ever heard from him. also one of the best live songs by dmb.
9. The Dreaming Tree- I love this song. It has a great story and just a great feel to it. A great bass line (not as great as in crush) carries the song through the verse.
10.Pig- this song has a great message to not waste days away, and that we take tomorrow for granted too much. musically, it's not as good as some dmb songs, but it's still good.
11. Spoon- This song is very jazzy, and has a guest female vocalist. i'm not sure, but i think she is the girl that plays with damien rice. it's a great finale to the whole album, a great way to end it all off.

Bottom line is, this cd is great. it's a lot different from other dmb albums, but if you're more of the listener that just cranks it up and listens to it instead of playing it in the background, this is probably the one cd by dmb that is most enjoyable when you have it really loud. you have to listen to this whole cd at one time to get the full effect. if you enjoy this, i recommend sunrise over sea by the john butler trio.

fantastic............2007-03-27

It took me (almost) ten years to hear this great album! I can't believe I waited so long. The Dave Matthews Band has been a fixture at The Gorge at George concerts, in Washington, for several years now, and Dave, himself, was often seen down at Pike Place Market in my hometown of Seattle, Washington, playing acoustic sets for the public.....that was a few years ago. BEFORE THESE CROWDED STREETS features some of the finest and most eclectic cross-section of music genres I have heard on one album. It's hard to believe that this music was all done by one band. We hear ska, power metal, jazz, world and pop all stirred and then blended into a great musical smoothie.

Some of my favorite cuts include "Last Stop," which eerily illustrates what was to become of the relationship between the United States and the Middle East, only three years later, when 9/11 took place (chillingly prophetic), "Stay," which is an upbeat, fun, and calypso-inspired romp in the grass and makes you feel like the sun is shining even if you're listening to it in the pouring rain, "Crush," a beautiful jazzy love song, and "The Dreaming Tree," which is poetic, ponderous and devestating. There really isn't a "bad" song on here. Dave Matthews is a fantastic story teller and he wrote most of the songs himself. This album is an example of rock/crossover music at its best.....

Rocky Roads.......2007-03-27

Dave made a name for himself crooning about things like love, lust, longing, and belonging with an opulent and mossy voice. His first two albums swam with sultry and complex arrangements, production values so riotous and rambunctious that they were almost too much to handle.

"Streets" marked a shift in his band's sexily sour and dreamily dour demeanor. There is still the classic romantic chaos ("Rapunzel" and "Stay") and the seeping wonderment of his melancholy moods ("Crush," "The Dreaming Tree," and "Spoon"), and as before it's done with meticulous attention to every chord and spark, every pluck and quaver.

Here, however, Dave has chosen also to get really, really angry. He saturates those moments with just as much technical skill as ever, but gone is the lyricism, replaced by Dave ripping resentful and revenge-hungry tirades out of his throat as if they have been sawed into shape with a cheese grater. I'm not saying he shouldn't be angry (his vendettas are against the rape and loss of cultures/land and also sometimes against things more difficult to pinpoint); I'm just saying he's more skilled at singing about love and bittersweet loss than he is at growling about drinking water and "Halloween."

Not DMB's best album, but still good.......2007-03-15

There are some great songs on this album and some that are kind of strange. But, all in all, it's still Dave Matthews! It's still worth buying and listening to.

I still love this album.......2007-02-11

Ok first of all, I got into dMb in high school and have since then expanded my cd collection greatly, but I still keep coming back to this album and still enjoy listening to it to this day. This album is the quintessential dmb studio album in my opinion. It has the "listen to it all the way through" quality of 'under the table and dreaming' and the song writing quality of 'crash'. Personally, I enjoy bands like radiohead, smashing pumpkins, modest mouse, fugazi, the flaming lips, and the pixies...bands in my opinion who really put out albums that keep the listener entertained from beginning to end, and really give you alot to listen to. The thing about 'before these crowded streets' is that there is alot to listen to without bring things like keyboards and electronic effects into the mix. These guys are great musicians, and despite their frat boy following and mainstream success, this band still deserves your attention. This was the last studio album recorded with Steve Lillywhite as producer and although their recent albums have been some what disappointing, this album still has alot to offer (as does the band **here's hoping that their next album will be a return to something close to this album**). Albums like 'under the table and dreaming' and 'crash' are good too, but in my opinion this album is superior. This album is similar to 'under the table' but the songs have more diversity, and unlike 'crash' which in my opnion is just a collection of good songs, 'before these crowded streets' flows and actually takes you somewhere. If you enjoy this album, check out their live in Chicago cd.

The Narrated Story of the Band with Interviews: [44 minute spoken word/interview by Dave Matthews Himself]

Average customer rating:

The Narrated Story of the Band with Interviews: [44 minute spoken word/interview by Dave Matthews Himself]
Dave Matthews , ************TRACK / TOPIC LISTINGS************ , Introduction / Dave Matthew's Youth / Leroi Moore / Carter Beauford / Stefan Lessard / Boyd Tinsley , Playing the Clubs / Recoridng 'Remember Two' / Signing With a Major Label / Personal Tragedy for Dave / Bands First Big Tour / 'Crash' Album / Bootleggers / Live at Red Rocks / Before These Crowded Streets , and Tibet Freedom and Other Events / Acoustic Tour / Forming Ato Records / Looking to the Futher
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000R5PKBW

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