The Return of Dave

Sorry, I haven't published anything in a while. I have actually been writing stuff, but it's been more of the personal catharsis stuff, that is not really something anyone else would likely want to read.

If I had published them, you probably would think I'm either going insane or am in a deep depression. Perhaps a little bit of both, but work is hectic and that always puts me on edge, but who doesn't have their down moments. But I digress.

Last week, I picked up the new Dave Mathews CD, and I'd like to sing its praises for a while. Now, typically, I'm your standard music pirate, picking and choosing only the songs I want to hear, much like everyone I know. However, I've been a little let down by the quality of downloads I've gotten recently, and quite frankly Dave Mathews is one of the few artists that I can listen to an entire album of. Most artists are either too annoying (Gwen Stefani), repetitive (3 Doors Down), or just don't have enough good songs (The Killers).

That's the thing with the music industry now. If they're so upset that people are downloading songs, why don't they stop putting out crap where there are only like 2 or 3 decent tracks on the whole disc? I'd have to say that in the last 8 years or so, I've only found a handful of artists that actually put a decent complete album together. Linkin Park is one of those, and Dave Mathews used to be that way (Under the Table and Dreaming; Crash), but the last few albums have seemed like garbage. I've downloaded a couple of the songs, listened and been let down time and time again.

But then I read a review of the latest album. Several people had written in and commented that this album was a return to Dave's original sound...less commercial. Well, I don't really know what that means, but I like the "return" idea, so I figured I'd give it a whirl. I went to FYE, used my $10 gift certificate (honestly, you didn't think I'd just go and pay full price for a CD when it's free on the internet), and walked away with the new album.

I've listened to it in its entirety about 5 times now, and it appears as if Dave has returned. The beats are all very eclectic, with the sax, drums and fiddling sound going like mad (Dave favorites of mine). The thing I always liked about Dave Mathews' music was that it really gave you a feeling that you were taking a pleasant journey as you listened to the whole album. Now, I'm sure the stuff I was smoking when his first album was out helped the journey, but I hope you can relate to what I'm talking about. Songs like Satellite, Lie in our Graves, and Jimi Thing just put you into a different place. And the new album starts off just like that.

There's a medley of slow and fast songs so I don't get board, and he's even got a song or two that incorporate that new computer-esque hard beat, like Linkin Park has thrilled me with. Needless to say, I'm happy that the old sound has returned, as music on the radio is starting to bore the crap out of me. Now I just hope I don't listen to this CD too much and grow to dislike it.