DMB Week - My History

It's day two of Dave Matthews Band Week here on the 9th Green. If you missed day one, just scroll down for my ranking of their albums. Today I will be giving the history of Dave Matthews Band through my eyes, so sit back and enjoy.

Like many outside the southern east coast, my first experience with the Dave Matthews Band was when I first saw the video for What Would You Say. And I can't say it was a good first impression. It was just a bunch of weird dudes repeating lines such as "Mom, it's my birthday, would you say." And I said I don't get it. It's because of that I gave little notice to the follow up single, Ants Marching. It wasn't until the release of Satellite, with the dude from Roseanne in the video that I started taking notice. It was a great song with a soothing melody and a great interplay between the violin and sax. Then during a conversation with a high school buddy, I made a fleeting comment that I don't own their CD, and then low and behold, I received Under the Table and Dreaming for my birthday weeks later. One listen and I was hooked playing the album obsessively.

Within weeks, the next album, Crash came out and I snapped it up the first day. Not as good as the first one but still spent plenty of time in the CD player. Crash also served as a good Barry White substitute for a while with great in the mood songs like Crash into Me and Say Goodbye.

From there, it was time to hunt down the independent releases. First there was Remember Two Things, with a cover that features one of those posters that were big in the mid-90's (I can't believe they weren't featured on either I Love the 90's programs) that you were supposed to stare at to see the image. I, to this day, have not been able to see anything. But I digress. Next came Recently with a killer version of All Along the Watchtower that sounds nothing like the Dylan or Hendrix versions. The album also featured the great Halloween that could legitimately be considered a heavy metal song. I also started picking up the live albums that come out between studio albums. They seem to put out more in-between album more frequently lately.

Their next album, Before These Crowded Streets, put the DMB in the rare Lifetime First Day Club, where from each album there after, I will buy the new album the first day it is available. Currently only U2, Eric Clapton, and the Beastie Boys are the only members.

I also saw my first like DMB concert around this time. I got to see the show just a few rows back from the stage on the right side. The luck chick I was with even got to meet Dave before the show. There is no better way to start a concert than with Don't Drink the Water. This first show ranks as the second best live show I have ever been to (Clapton is #1). I also pick out a shirt at that concert that just had the initials DMB on it that would later be referred to as my DuMB shirt as one of my friends thought it said.

After the relatively dark Before These Crowded Street, the boys went back into the studio to start on a new album with longtime producer, Steve Lillywhite. Near the completion of the album, somebody (Dave? The record company?) decided the album was too dark and put it on the self and the band instead started writing songs with Glen Ballard. And we all know how that turned out. Luckily some how the Lillywhite Sessions, as it has commonly become to be called, surfaced on the internet before Everyday was released. When Everyday was finally released, everyone was left wondering why did they scrap the Lillywhite Sessions for this? Luckily, the most of the songs were later dusted off and made up most of the album, Busted Stuff. Granted Grace is Gone and Bartender sounded better on the Lillywhite Sessions.

And that leads us to today, the release of the new album, Stand Up. I'm still giving it a thorough listen and will have a review for it by the end of the week. Hopefully you picked up a copy for yourself today. Also take a look at the iTunes offer of the week below for a link to the album, the first time a DMB album has been available for download.