Before These Crowded Streets

What a delightful time capsule. I'm not sure why I've never heard any of these songs before, most of them could have been radio singles.

This guy is just so damn corny, and not in a fun way. I can't take it seriously at all.

When I was younger, I kinda wrote Dave Matthews Band off because they're kinda a jam band (their songs are typically 6 minutes plus), and I didn't have the appreciation or attention span to enjoy it. I've since developed my tolerance for it more and it's actually pretty solid. Lots of grit in his vocals (especially in the song Halloween where it sounds like he's sacrificing his vocal chords.... In a good way). Thanks to the OP for recommending this album and reintroducing me to Dave Matthews.

Favourite songs: Halloween, Stay (Wasting Time), Crash, Rapunzel, The Last Stop, Don't Drink the Water

Least favourite songs: The Stone

4/5

I really did not enjoy his vocals. 2.5.

I kind of liked a Dave Matthews Band album? My parents must never know...

Some songs sound like a washed out Pearl Jam copy, others like a Midwestern Kula Shaker, at least one sounds like James Blunt decided to try his hand at flute-based fusion.
A band I previously only knew as a clichéd punch line, but turns out they are OK. I'm not sure why they went to all the bother to get Alanis to guest (on two tracks) but then (aside from half a verse) bury her in the mix - but it was nice to hear her anyway!
There's got to be *something* played between the good songs on an 'alt-rock 90s college hits' radio station - it might as well be this.
Better than I feared, but not as good as I had hoped.

Oh man, this is an easy band to make fun of, but I actually really liked this.

Obligatory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Matthews_Band_bus_incident

Groan. Okay so Dave's music has a lot of baggage for me, so he is perpetually an artist that I just cannot for the life of me give a fair listen to. There is a lot of good texture sonically, I just cant take Dave's vocal delivery, texture, or really anything about it seriously. This is the guy that literally took a shit on Chicago. When he gets the orchestra involved on Halloween its overstuffed. The Stone is good. Its just this kitchen sink over the top instrumentation. See Crush. And also Dave its okay to make a song that's 5 minutes or less come on. Also multitracking your scatting is bullshit.

One of those bands that should have been on the original list, not a massive fan but can’t say this isn’t good music.

70 minutes of Friendscore torture.

I didn't get my driver's license until I was 27 years old. Because of this I had to depend on a lot of other people for rides anywhere/everywhere I went - a lot of people with a wide variety of music tastes. This was mostly when I was a teenager in the 90s, before I moved to smaller college towns where I could get around without a car. It goes without saying Dave Matthews was quite popular at that time, and I had many people giving me rides who were fans. By this point I was shuffling my way towards being a hipster, and shying away from most mainstream music on my own time. So, I never owned any Dave Matthews CDs or anything, but I ended up listening to him quite a bit. I'll tell you, most of those people who were fans, were some of the nicest, more generous people I knew at the time. I know Dave Matthews is the butt of many jokes for some reason, but I don't find his music any great pain to listen to. It's not the feel good jam band fluff the internet might have you believe. At least not on this album. In fact I'd say it's pretty out there, challenging even, for what was a multi-platinum Billboard chart topper. Just listen to "Halloween" for example - it's unhinged. Or, better yet, just to show you how much DMB I listened to back in the day, listen to the live version of "Halloween" from the "Recently" EP. Besides a handful of standout tracks, I can't say I love this, but I don't think it deserves the shit talking it gets from my hipster peers. This album certainly brings me right back to the CD era - secret tracks and all.