"Everyday" by Dave Matthews Band

I was late jumping on the Dave Matthews Band-wagon.  I didn't really check them out until 1997 when I bought "Crash" about a year after graduating from Allegheny College, but then I was instantly hooked.  I'm a guitar player with a mostly acoustic style, and here was a band who really rocked out with a mostly acoustic style.  After devouring "Crash" I quickled moved on to "Under the Table and Dreaming."  I bought "Before These Crowded Streets" the week it was released  -- in Spring 1998 if I remember correctly -- and got "Remember Two Things" as a Christmas present later that year.  I loved each one of those albums and the band was easily my favorite actively recording artist (favorite defunct artist:  Led Zeppelin).  I wondered how long DMB could sustain this string of hits. 

That was pretty much it, as it turns out. 

I know a few people who like "Everyday," but not many, and I have yet to meet someone who loves it.  DMB suddenly abandoned their grassroots acoustic sound for a slicker, louder tenor.  Reportedly the recording sessions included the first-ever moment in which Dave Matthews picked up an electric guitar with serious intentions.  I don't have any problem with bands who try to re-invent themselves after early success, and I might even argue that artists with long careers absolutely need to do so at some point (see: The Beatles; Led Zeppelin; Elvis Presley).  Unfortunately, in some cases it just doesn't work, and that's what happened here.  Where earlier DMB efforts showed up at your doorstep like a neighbor you liked even more once you got to know her, on "Everyday" each over-produced track tries to drive a Mack truck through your front door. 

I read an interview of Dave Matthews around the time of the album's release and I remember him talking about going through a difficult time in his personal life and how that affected his writing.  However, though the band recorded some darker stuff in the studio (during what fans came to call "The Lillywhite Sessions," after producer Steve Lillywhite), in the end they scrapped those songs because Dave never wanted to be the kind of artist who recorded music that touched on the more desperate arcs of our lives' stories.  Perhaps that accounts for the emptiness in this album's lyrical turns.  Did Dave force himself to write happy songs, sacrificing authenticity of emotion in order to maintain a reputation for joyfulness?  It seems a harsh assessment but it's hard to deny when you listen to the album.

Two notable tracks:

• Everyday: The one song in which the more upbeat style seems to work is the title track. It's a decent song that incorporates Gospel overtones into the band's more classic sound.  Not one of the best songs in the DMB repertoire -- not by a long shot -- rather, merely adequate.
• Angel: I'm not sure if this song was purposely meant to elicit comparisons to the Jimi Hendrix song of the same name, but if it's not a deliberate tribute, one has to think there was at least a subconscious inspiration.  Again, adequate but not much more.

It hurts me to say this, since I'd loved every DMB release up to this point, but there's not another song on this album worth your time, let alone your money.  2 STARS for Dave Matthews Band's "Everyday."

5 stars: Excellent; a must-have for any music lover
4 stars: A great addition to your collection
3 stars: An effort that brings adequate quality, though not necessarily consistently
2 stars: A few good songs/pieces, but not a good album overall
1 star: Don't bother; at best, buy the singles of a song or two