Newspapers / The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.) / March 16, 2001, edition 1 / Page 6
Part of The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Page 6 Pick Me Up Love.... Everyday: a review of the new Dave Matthews Band album Matt Geiger STAIT WRITER With 12 tracks on the latest Dave Matthews Band release Every day and none of the songs running over four minutes, it would seem that the band is at a crossroads. One road goes to their already amaz ing critical and commercial suc cess and doing more of the same style of free flowing pop/jam rock. The other road leads toward per haps an even greener pasture of pop success, making an album with more radio appeal than any of their other previous albums. With Evetyday, they choose the radio route, and it has brought the Dave Matthews Band to a new level of music. Abandoning longtime pro ducer Steve Lilywhite, the Dave Matthews Band felt that it was time for a change, a change in the type of the album they wanted to make. Glen Ballard, perhaps best known for his work on Alanis Morisette's multi-platinum album Jagged Little Pill was brought in to help give the group and fresh and more refined sound. His goal was to bring a song that might take seven minutes to finally come to gether, to com pact it and bring it closer to a four-minute mark. In es sence that is what this album is, a tighter and more compact version of the Dave Matthews Band. Some might scream bloody murder that somebody would try to limit the abili ties of five very talented musi cians, with the end result being a weaker album. Everyday, how ever, is more co hesive than it is dysfunctional. Instead of an al bum that feels like sandpaper, it more often than not feels like silk, smooth and beautiful. Perhaps The Dave Matthews Band have always allowed taping at their ■ ■ concerts. The following are ten DMB shows any fan should have. All ■ m DMB set lists can be found at www.nancies.org 10) 12-01-98 First Union Center, Philadelphia, PA (Special Guests Tim ! Reynolds on electric guitar for the whole show, Butch Taylor on keyboards for the J whole show, Bela Fleck on banjo during "Don't Drink the Water, #4l and Two ■ Step." Jeff Coffin on alto sax during #4l) 9) 06-07-98 Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ (Special Guests Big Voice I I Jack on "Back to Alexandria", Bela Fleck on banjo during "Don't Drink the | Water, Pig, Back to Alexandria, Crash Into Me, Two Step, Stay, and All Along the | | Watchtower." Butch Taylor on keyboards for the whole show, and the Lovely | ■ Ladies on backup vocals during "Stay") 8) 10-31-98 Oakland Arena, Oakland, California (Special Guests Greg ■ Howard on Chapman Stick for the whole show, Tim Reynolds on electric guitar ■ I for the whole show, and Joshua Redmond on tenor sax during "All Along the _ Watchtower") 7) 12-13-00 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York (Special ■ ' Guest Warren Haynes on electric guitar during "Exodus" and "All Along the ■ I Watchtower") 6) Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds Acoustic, 3-14-99 The Marin Civic I I Auditorium, San Rafael, California (Special Guests Bob Weir during "All Along | | the Watchtower" and Carlos Santana during "Love of my Life" and "John the | | Revelator") 5) 02-13-92 Bridgewater College, Bridgewater, Virginia 4) Dave Matthews Solo, 9-11-92 DKE House (University of Virginia), ■ Charlottesville, Virginia (Set list includes "Redemption Song", "Spotlight", and ■ I the famous "Penis Song") 3) 03-23-93 Trax, Charlottesville, Virginia (This was original keyboardist 5 Peter Grieser's last show; all songs had alternative titles and some had different ■ lyrics that night) 2) 07-19-00 RFK Stadium, Washington D.C. (Special Guests Ben Harper B I on vocals and on a Weissenborn guitar during "All Along the Watchtower," Butch I | Taylor on keyboards for the whole show, and the Lovely Ladies on backup vocals | | during "JTR, True Reflections, Stay, Best of What's Around and Long Black | | Veil".) 1) 02-24-95 Roseland Ballroom, New York City, New York (Special Guests g ■ John Popper on harmonica during "Say Goodbye" and "All Along the Watch- ■ ■ tower." Trey Anastasio on electric guitar during "All Along the Watchtower") Features the highlight of the album is the title track "Everyday," which is a re worked version of a previous DMB song, "#36." Its stunning vocals and distinct African beat is the best of ex ample of Ballard's discipline in the studio combined with the musical The new album cover roots of the band. "Mother Father'' has a Latin rhythm and beat, which is complemented by Carlos Santana, who guests on the song playing acoustic guitar. In the center of this entire The Guilfoidian album is Dave Matthews himself, the South African melody maker whose beautiful lyrics make this album a winner. He has been seen as a cross between Sting with his pop sound, Peter Gabriel and his lyrics, and Eddie Vedder in a voice that sounds like no other. With this album, you get the sense that Matthews has something to say, and he is going to speak whether anybody is go ing to listen or not. The album does not work at all times, however; "What You Are" does not benefit from the Ballard's production style and is perhaps the only track where you get the sense that the band is holding back. Those points are few and far between, however, and this album works on so many other levels that it is easy to look past the few areas of weakness. For a band that has aver aged over 200 concerts over the DNOW. COM past 10 years, this album is defi nitely the road less traveled for the type of music they have played be fore. New beats, rhythms, and lyrics that are more focused than they have ever been before make Everyday the strongest album put out by the Dave The annual Student Research on Women Conference Many of us here at Guilford have wicked amounts of free time on Fridays. As it happens, this educational institution offers a variety of classes during the Mon day through Thursday stretch of the week, allowing some students the enjoyment of a three-day week end. But I ask you how do you spend that first day of your week end? Perhaps you sit around on Fridays hoping for a fun, non threatening mode of learning. Your wildest fantasy is about to come true. The Annual Student Re search on Women Conference (AKA: the Women's Conference, for simplicity sake) will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Fri day, March 23, in the King 109 lounge. You have the opportunity to come by and visit as you please; grab a snack and enjoy the plethora of knowledge and cre ativity that will be shared during the conference. Maybe you are one of those poor souls who have classes on Fridays; stop by in-be tween them. This conference is comprised entirely of student presenters who will be sharing their thoughts on a variety of gender and women's issues. From female spirituality to sexuality myths, the topics will be diverse in both material and presentation format. Enjoy the soothing Bounds of woman-cen tered music as you gaze at paint ings which challenge the "ideal" female body. So again I ask you how will you spend Friday, March 23? Hopefully, your final answer will be "at the Women's Conference." The Women's Conference equals free fun for all. Okay, maybe this article was not as funny as Dark Side Girl, but hopefully you will come to the conference despite the lame humor. Also, there is still time to sign up to present any one who is interested in partici pating please call Mary Kate at ex tension 3964. Matthews Band. Every day does not break new musical ground, but that was not its goal. The goal was to bring all the parts of the Dave Matthews Band to gether, and it succeeds beautifully. It takes a lot of courage for a band to aban don its old style and try to make something that is com pletely differ ent. For a less talented band, the results might be mixed, but with the Dave Matthews Band, the re sult is perhaps the best album of2ool. March 16, 2001 Mary Kate Allee GUEST WRITER
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 16, 2001, edition 1
6
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75