Dave Matthews Band--

Before These Crowded Streets

(RCA 67660)

Though the band's basic formula is still intact on Before These Crowded Streets, Dave and company's latest release feels like a collection of soundscapes. Perhaps because it was totally conceived in the studio, and wasn't hashed out live for years like the DMB's other recorded material, the album appears to be made up of pieces instead of songs.

At its best parts, in the second half of the album, the soundveers into classical music. During this section, the collected pieces nearly qualify as movements at their peak. Throughout the album, each piece drifts in and out, leaving mostly a memorable impression, while other times not.

Even so, the band's sound hasn't changed. Violin and sax leads remain on top of Dave's syncopated rhythm guitar, while the bass and drum anchor the unit's polyrhythmic sound. Yet, it's easy to be numb to the specific parts of each instrument on this album, except for Dave's dynamic voice. This is not to say that the instrumentation is bland, but that the band's sound is very cohesive and integrated.

Oddly, the first half of the album contains the weaker, less interesting compositions. The album's opener, a nice lilting piece, ends before its musical theme is barely touched. "Rapunzel" immediately follows, stumbling along in an unmemorable stop and go fashion until it stretches out into a typical DMB jam. "The Last Stop," an eastern styled song which closely resembles the earlier penned tune "Minarets," follows with a familiar DMB tension / relief pattern. It works, but the main melody gets tiresome as it is overly repeated under the song's apocalyptic lyrics until the tune spirals into a jam. The outro, however, is very pretty, and is highlighted by Bela Fleck's banjo.

"Don't Drink The Water," the mid-tempo first single with socially conscious lyrics about the plight of the American Indian (or any displaced ethnic group), features a fantastic vocal job by Dave. The instrumentation, however, is a bit unremarkable and is only saved by Fleck's banjo and the electric guitar of Tim Reynolds. Alanis Morissette makes an appearance here, but she isn't given the space to strut her stuff.

"Stay (Wasting Time)" arrives mid-album after another snippet of a DMB idea. It's good-time party groove starts well, but becomes tiresome. The inclusion of outside background singers also doesn't add much, and feels like overkill.

"Halloween" leads off the second half of Before These Crowded Streets, in its reworked form. Featuring the Kronos Quartet, and John Dearth's orchestral arrangements, the song sounds much more exciting and intricate than the growling version on the Recently EP. Especially cool, is the weird vocal line near the song's end. A slight orchestral interlude follows Halloween, and introduces five long dreamy compositions that stretch to the album's end. Taken together, "The Stone," "Crush," "The Dreaming Tree," "Pig," and "Spoon" make up this section and showcase the capabilities of this band's lineup.

"The Stone," a meditation on the weight of fame, visits the same musical territory as Crash's "Too Step." Utilizing the band's familiar tension/relief pattern, the ideas begun in "Too Step" are allowed to grow and are complimented here by the Kronos Quartet.

"Crush" floats by nicely with a modern jazz bent, after a quick little rant led by Fleck's banjo. The song's vocal melody is especially nice, as is Reynolds lead guitar, and Butch Taylor's keyboards. "The Dreaming Tree" follows as a sweet meditation on the price of fame and the loss of innocence. The gorgeous song "Pig" then hits with a common DMB lyrical theme live in the beauty of today and never mind tomorrow, it will be all right.

Before These Crowded Streets closes with "Spoon," A moving song about rolling with life's punches. Morissette is given room to leave her mark here, and with great success; Dave and Alanis' voices compliment each other well. An added bit after several seconds of silence bids the listener goodbye and urges him to hang on. A sweet ending to a mostly fine album.

--- Mark Leta