Antsmarching.org Forums - Dave Matthews Band Discussion - View Single Post - DMB and the Present Tense
View Single Post
Old 02-16-2021, 12:56 PM   #25
HonestDenver1
 
Join Date: Jan 2021
Posts: 693

Shows Seen: 0

DMB Hub Stubs: 0

My Tour Central Stats

Re: DMB and the Present Tense

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dmbchile View Post
Hello everyone.

Let me start by saying this...

Welcome, Dmbchile.
You last visited: 04-26-2012 at 09:37 PM

It's been almost 10 years since the last time I visited these forums. I used to go through the forums daily for God knows how many years...never was much of a talker, but I enjoyed reading everyone's comments, that's for sure.

Anyway, the reason for my post is that I've wanted to check your opinion on something. I like to read music bios, any artist, no questions asked.

I stumbled upon a book called "Not for You: Pearl Jam and the Present Tense", and I was surprised to read so many similarities between the PJ world and the DMB world.

Before I go any further, I need to say that I'm not a PJ fan, if anything I'm far from it.

That being said, you can't ignore the similarities. Both bands have one of the strongest live acts in today's music, with shows that run over the 3-hour mark, setlists that change nightly, and most importantly, a huge, fully committed fan base.

Ask any so-called DMB fan for the best version of Seek Up (the best, not their favorite) and if they instantly say "7.30.01", you got a true fan in front of you.

Both bands worked with the same producer in the first few albums. They went some other way after some years, just to come back to that same producer with not similar results.

But the part that really got me about the book, and the reason I'm writing here, is that the author says that any band has 4, maybe 5 great albums in them. More than 5 is simply not possible.

And it hurts me to say it but I agree with him. I think the band's pinnacle was BTCS, and The Lillywhite Sessions would've been a really good record but not close to BTCS, and after that, it seems that every record is worst than the one before.

You may agree or disagree with me on this, but I would really like to know, why do you guys think this happens? Is it possible for a band so big, so successful, to go back to making something like BTCS? Is it possible to write lyrics as meaninful as "Now progress takes away What forever took to find" or any part of The Dreaming Tree for that matter?

Again, this is not an attack. I love DMB and always will, they are a huge part of my life as I'm sure are of yours, but would really like to hear your input on this. Maybe I'm wrong, and maybe someone here will show me that...

Thanks.
I see what you're saying, and DMB never really had the misfortune of totally falling into obscurity like say Neil Young in the 80's... Neil went off the deep end after making a dozen plus great albums solo and with bands... I'm not saying he had no fans, but was not looked at as a relevant artist due to crazy electronic albums like Trans...

Neil made a return to form though with Harvest Moon and caught the ride that the 90's brought back in terms of raw acoustic music... That might be his last great album, but he certainly has made good quality relevant music since then again...

I think DMB has potential for one more amazing album if they let themselves. If Dave can look past the more surface level lyrics that so many songs have, and get deep again.. A Song like Singing From the Windows gives me hope that he certainly has that ability to... Though I don't think that particular song is a BAND song, it is a great song..

Samurai Cop, Virginia in the Rain, Again and Again, DYR, Black and Bluebird all are great songs on a subpar album... It's just not cohesive at all... Production is a bit lacking in spots due to it being rushed out again... But those songs all are well crafted. You can tell time was spent on them as opposed to a song like Come Tomorrow which is pretty, but ultimately means nothing and should be a pop song for a 17 year old...

I really thought when Samurai Cop came out it was going to be a renaissance of DMB... I know not everyone likes it, but it had a lot of passion and energy and freshness to it... Unfortunately it should have just been a single as it doesn't fit the album it was put on...

We'll never get the old DMB sound again. That is impossible. But I think this 4.0 band is as strong of a cohesive musical force as a 30 year old band can be... It's just a matter of them not worrying about writing "A hit song".. Dave gets so in his head about themes that are universal... Which his themes have been.. But they had so much more depth than You & Me, Everyday, Mercy... etc... Like a simple song doesn't have to disrespect the audience's intelligence...

I will hold out hope that one more 16 song double album awaits us... possibly half songs that we already know, and the other half new... But bring back Lillywhite, Cavallo, John D Earth, Bela Fleck... Musicians and producers that bring the best out of this band...

If you take DMB's best songs since 2009 you'd have one really great album.

Grux
Shake Me
Why I Am
Samurai Cop
Lying in the Hands of God
Again and Again
Can't Stop
Virginia Naked in the Rain
Seven
Black and Blue Bird
----------------------
Little Red Bird
Broken Things
Belly Belly Nice
Do You Remember
Rooftop
Beach Ball
Snow Outside
Drunken Soldier
Timebomb
Baby Blue
Grux reprise
HonestDenver1 is offline   Reply With Quote