Review Summary: This album is the band's Tour de Force bringing everyting to the table. That includes some of the group's best songs. Theres barely a flaw visible, and just about anyone can find something they like in this album.
Dave Matthews Band:
Dave Matthews – Lead Singer, Guitarist
LeRoi Moore – Saxophonist
Stefan Les – Bassist
Boyd Tinsley – Violinist
Carter Beauford – Drummer
Crash is the band’s second studio album. It was released in 1996 after their breakthrough album
Under the Table and Dreaming. It is often thought of as one of the group’s classic albums. I can’t disagree.
Dave Matthews Band is a special group. They have the uncanny ability to appeal to people of all ages, races, and genders. With his unique voice, Dave Matthews helps separate the band from the rest of contemporary rock. His guitar skills aren’t too shabby either. In fact the entire band is incredibly creative and talented at what they do. I just think these fellas were born to play music.
“ah…ooh…ah, ooh, eeh, oh!” These are the first words you here before the guitar starts it’s catchy riff and
So Much to Say kicks in. The chorus comes in and we hear Moore and Beauford show their stuff. Nice backing vocals help the “So Much to Say” lines as the song continues to entertain. This starts the album off as a great opener and definitely catches your attention.
We tone it down a bit in the next track,
Two Step. Beauford plays a nice little diddy on the snare during the verse and another good chorus follows. Matthews’s vocals are surprisingly good on this track and probably contribute to the fact that this has become on of the band’s staples. The song is little long though and just slightly drags on in certain areas.
Crash into Me starts us off with that classic riff, before Matthews comes in with his soothing vocals. Once again, Beauford emphasizes the snared drum to keep the time. The song slowly builds up until we finally get to the chorus a good ways into the song. The lyrics are little childish on this track however. The song none the less is the band’s most successful single and is the only song to win a Grammy award.
No time is wasted to get
Too Much going. This is the first truly upbeat song up to this point. No one is neglected in this jam fest. Matthews is all over the place near the end of the song (that’s a good thing). At one point Beauford comes in with his temple blocks, which adds a whole new dimension to this song. The song never lets up and overall is an awesome track.
Ah,
#41. This is one of my personal favorites. Nifty hi-hat work brings us into this track before it gets going. The whole song has this sort of triplet feel which is very fun to listen to. Moore flairs the song up with his sax before the awesome chorus comes in. Eventually the song breaks into a great violin solo by Tinsley with Beauford playing his awesome temple blocks. The flute even comes in at one point. These guys are just awesome. We also hear a sax solo before it’s all said and done. This is probably the strongest track on the album and really showcases the band’s ability.
A nice flute comes in to start
Say Goodbye. Beauford continues to run the show with his awesome chops and single stroke rolls. This song has a much lighter feel than the rest of the songs up to this point. While good, it’s not one of the best tracks. The ending is very good however and makes the whole song feel worthwhile.
Drive in Drive out is probably the rockiest song on the album and stands out a bit from the rest of the tracks. Nothing too flashy, just good music. About halfway a trippy guitar lick comes in, and Beauford plays a Peart like rhythm on the ride. The end of the song is where this track truly shines. After the timed unisons played by the band, the band goes into an all out jam session. That was bad-ass ****! (Listen closely and you will hear it.)
The next track,
Let you Down brings us back down from the last energetic song. It’s short and isn’t the best song on here, but it’s a good change of pace at this point in the album. This wasn’t really necessary though and is just some light filler.
We come back into the action with
Lie in our Graves. This is very strong effort by the band that gets everyone involved. I especially like Tinsley on this, as he has some great violin work. Beauford brings that independent snare drum work back. He’s starting to make it somewhat of an album trademark. The dynamics go up and down throughout the song but end on a high note.
Cry Freedom is a little different than what we’ve heard so far as it shifts the spotlight more on Matthew’s vocals. It’s very melodic and reminds me of the group’s other song,
Crush. It’s a little long for this type of song but it works.
The music fades in and boom!
Tripping Billies dives right in. Sounds very similar to
Too Much, but that’s a very good thing. It’s a very upbeat song with good syncopated rhythms by Beauford. Beauford brings out the temple blocks once again and Tinsley joins in to create a very explosive sounding jam.
The last track is probably the most unique. I guess that’s not surprising for the end of the album.
Proudest Monkey is a long song and unless you’re a prog fan like me you might not make it through all nine minutes. It’s a good song though if you stay for the show. There’s even a slide whistle to be heard at one point. All the members are toned down bit, sort of like they’re ready for the album to end. The last two minutes are just the light music fading out.
So as you can tell, I’m a big fan of this album. I believe it’s their best album, edging out
Under the Table and Dreaming. From start to finish, it flows very well. The album is full of catchy hooks and good musicianship. It’s definitely everyone at their best, especially Matthew’s vocals. I believe it’s the most accessible album in their catalog too. Only one song can really be considered filler, and the rest are just top notch. I mean chances are you have heard
Crash into Me, but the rest of the songs are just as great. No matter who you are, there is something to like in this album. It’s hard to recommend this band to a specific group of listeners so I’ll just recommend it to anyone who likes quality music.
4.5/5
Recommended Tracks:
All of them but specifically:
So Much to Say
Crash into Me
Too Much
#41
Lie in our Graves
Tripping Billies
