Continued Growth

[Luv4Roi]

Originally Posted by ShotgunDMB

People really need to quit trying to recreate the 90's. Yeah, they made good music back then but it's gotten to the point where it's almost comical in how people glorify it as if the band could do no wrong then and every performance was just this magical experience that we should all be thankful to have heard/witnessed. Really annoying. It's not even close to reality.

It was a magical experience. No matter if it was new to you or not. Roi definitely created an amazing atmosphere at shows. He was able to bring the crowd from a roar to near dead silence with his playing. The shows are still great now, but they have indeed lost that "magic" about them. If you've seen shows with Roi and seen them since, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The whole feeling of the shows was completely different than it is now. Not just in the 90s, but throughout the 2000s too. That "magic" that you so described was real, and it left with Roi.

[MinaretMarching]

Originally Posted by Panther41

Nope, pure electronica. The real Carter Beauford died in a car crash in 1997, and if you play "Old Dirt Hill" backwards you can hear Stefan whisper "The anchovies skipped watusi."

That's why Dave was down-trodden when he wrote songs for the Lillywhite Sessions and they left the studio and parted with Lillywhite...everyone was sad Carter died. If you look at the cover of Everyday it's in black & white, they are all mostly wearing black, Carter is NOT wearing a jersey, and Dave's back is to Carter meaning that the old Carter is the past and he is not looking back AND (I think) they are standing on a dock meaning Carter sleeps with the fishes. He must be dead.

[character111]

Originally Posted by MinaretMarching

That's why Dave was down-trodden when he wrote songs for the Lillywhite Sessions and they left the studio and parted with Lillywhite...everyone was sad Carter died. If you look at the cover of Everyday it's in black & white, they are all mostly wearing black, Carter is NOT wearing a jersey, and Dave's back is to Carter meaning that the old Carter is the past and he is not looking back AND (I think) they are standing on a dock meaning Carter sleeps with the fishes. He must be dead.

It was no accident. I think Dave killed him. Dave said in an interview that his facial expression on the cover of Some Devil was like he had just murdered someone (and looking around to make sure no one saw it.) I don't think it was a joke; I think it was an actual confession.

[aggiekjw]

I expect this album to be a rock album. I really expect booming drums with roaring horns, big guitars, and electronic violin.

[acousticmike80]

I expect songs about Devils and Monkeys.

[MinaretMarching]

Originally Posted by character111

It was no accident. I think Dave killed him. Dave said in an interview that his facial expression on the cover of Some Devil was like he had just murdered someone (and looking around to make sure no one saw it.) I don't think it was a joke; I think it was an actual confession.

So, Mr. Matthews killed Mr. Beauford in the library with the candelabra?

[MinaretMarching]

Originally Posted by acousticmike80

I expect songs about Devils and Monkeys.

And a big-eyed something-or-other.

[MinaretMarching]

Originally Posted by MinaretMarching

And a big-eyed something-or-other.

Apologize for the hat-trick triple post....

Edit: Also, having or losing Grace. Whether it be a concept, person, or metaphor.

[vklugf]

I expect the word "baby" to be in a number of song too.

[LadyMadonna68]

i expect there to be some forced authentic grunts

[yanks7533]

Originally Posted by Luv4Roi

It was a magical experience. No matter if it was new to you or not. Roi definitely created an amazing atmosphere at shows. He was able to bring the crowd from a roar to near dead silence with his playing. The shows are still great now, but they have indeed lost that "magic" about them. If you've seen shows with Roi and seen them since, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The whole feeling of the shows was completely different than it is now. Not just in the 90s, but throughout the 2000s too. That "magic" that you so described was real, and it left with Roi.

There was magic in the 90's cause it was the first 20 times you have seen the band. I started in 04, 04-06 was magical to me and it was the worst time to see a dmb show (04 was ok). It was magical because I had never experienced live music like that before. Starting in 07 it got real stale for me. i started noticing things about the band and the way they jammed and even stuff like how Roi was flat that made me not as interested. The band jams sounded uninspired and too rehearsed, I never thought they would be able to write an above average dmb song again.

Then the band found themselves in '08. There was a new found energy, there was a stage excitement. I heard it in the live stuff and saw it in videos. They played a bunch of sweet covers and had some outside the box fun. They played some outrageous jams, I just listened to the two step from '08 spac, when the hell did the band EVER play a jam like that before in their entire existence. Find it for me please. Then roi passed, and somehow the band still maintained it's energy and excitement. They finished an album that they began in 2006 and it had some damn good songs on it, at least there was some creativity on it at points.

Everyone wishes roi was around especially, how he sounded in '08, for the first time in years. I listened to a '97 show and I miss that raw sound but I don't miss how they did the same thing every night. Notice how we point to examples with the flectones and timmy for those extra special performances in the 90's? The magic of DMB was always they were bigger than the sum of their parts, I think they still have that, and I don't think you've seen the best DMB yet.

[pantagampa]

As has been previously said, the song structure is one of the main things that makes the new DMB sound not so good. 90% of BW is Verse 1 > Chorus > Verse 2 > Chorus > Bridge etc. When compared to the likes of You Never Know, DDTW, Pig and Proudest Monkey, BW is infinite% more predictable. I don't even know what's a verse, chorus or whatever in any of those songs!
Another thing is chords. I listened to BW today, and it struck me how very diatonic it was. Basically, this means that if a song is in the key of F major, it won't stray out of F major, and every chord in the song is directly related to F. Again, compare this to (especially) BTCS, almost every song uses new and inventive chord sequences that definitely contain chords that aren't 'supposed' to be there.
Because of these factors, each song was completely different and original, and very very few sounded the same. This was a big part of the attraction for me. Because of not sticking to conventions of music and thinking outside of the box every song was completely different (bar a few examples).
Addressing the topic of the thread, DMB did not need to change their sound, because it was so versatile. Compare Proudest Monkey to the Last Stop. Compare Satellite to #41. Compare Dancing Nancies to WWYS. I could go on, but NONE of these songs sound alike.
Unfortunately, they did change their sound, they conformed to musical conventions and their signature sound was lost.
I have high hopes for the new album though, despite my large rant. I just like explaining reasons behind my feelings.

[yanks7533]

I def agree with this, Dave likes traditional folky/country songwriting, which sucks because we all love him for nontraditional songwriting. So his music has gone to a standard format which takes away from the uniqueness mentioned above.

[CDuron04]

I have thought this for a wile. Im not a biggest fan of Everyday or Stand Up BUT! I think that if you put the albums in order from the Big Three and then go backwards Grux, Stand Up, and Everyday. (Busted Stuff i don't count because it a rehash of LillySessions but it fits in there too somewhere.) When the albums are in this order their musical progression makes more sense. Even the worst songs on Everyday you can kinda begin to understand.

Just my 2 cents.

[rnbayne12]

Originally Posted by beantown dmb1

All great bands change their sound over an over as to stay fresh.

Think of the Beatles. Every one of their albums has a totally different sound. Yellow Submarine got horrible reviews because of how different is was from the Beatles "sound". However, the Beatles were professionals in so many different genres of music because of their background. Early in their career they played thousands of hours of gigs, many of which were in the same bars/clubs. Because of this, they explored so many genres and sounds as to entertain the same guests and themselves.

DMB, after their big 3, changed their sound as well. Each album is different in sound - especially after the big 3. I believe, this is a sign of DMB's growth and strength as a band.

So will we hear the "old" sound back on this new album? I HIGHLY doubt it. If anything, I believe the band will go even farther from its original sound and explore new areas and I happy about that.

The band from the days of UTTAD and Crash and BTCS is gone. This to me is not negative. In fact it keeps me coming back for more, excited to hear the new sounds the band has explored.

Great statements change is not bad! I've liked the difference on each DMB album the good and the bad.

[jaymas9]

Okay the only thing that bothers me with the whole "bands change their sound thing" (which I support and understand), don't any of you get, that, well that's not what gets criticized by the rational, critical posters on here? BTCS started them changing their sound, it changed drastically in fact, so different from the first two records. The difference is after that...the overall quality dropped significantly along with different sounds. So I know, and support the band changing sonically, they should...but let's get the quality back. It started on BW, and I think it can be even far better, more unique song structure being the biggest starting point.