Soundbite

Dave Matthews Band “Stand Up” RCA
Records

In the summer of 2004, David J. Matthews was on the move. His
band was on tour, unveiling four new songs, and in the tumultuous
time just before the presidential election, it participated in the
Vote For Change concerts along with artists like Bruce Springsteen.
Dave Matthews Band was poised for a return to greatness. Instead,
its latest album, “Stand Up,” takes one step forward
and two steps back. This is the new, digital Dave Matthews Band. As
with 2001’s “Everyday,” the group has turned to
another hot-shot producer, Mark Batson of India.Arie and Beyonce
fame. Batson has pointed the band in a new direction, one that is
surprisingly successful in style, if not substance. Full of
multi-tracked guitars, drum loops and keyboard effects,
“Stand Up” is an extravaganza of ideas without the
sweeping vision and songwriting depth that marked early Dave
Matthews Band albums. Matthews’ vocals, which have long been
a strength of the band, sound worn and tired. He’s doing his
best grouchy Peter Gabriel impression throughout, and the bridge of
“Old Dirt Hill (Bring That Beat Back)” would be right
at home on the recent Batson-produced Seal album. The megaphone
vocals on the cluttered “Everybody Wake Up” are another
example of “Stand Up”s sonic over-saturation. The
recording sessions were done with a try-anything mentality that
translates into bloated, indulgent songwriting. All but one of the
summer songs were abandoned, a symptom of the band’s mindset
““ but being good at being the familiar old Dave Matthews Band
isn’t enough. Unfortunately, the things that made the band
great in the first place are lost in its fumbling attempts to
advance its sound. Matthews is still more than capable of writing a
great song, as evidenced by “Stay Or Leave” from his
solo album and the pointed political critique of last
summer’s “Joy Ride,” but “Stand Up”
is full of slogans and tossed-off verses. Matthews is a notorious
re-writer of his own lyrics, so first-draft songs like “Dream
Girl” are disappointing: “You’re my best friend/
And after a good, good drink/ Wake up and make love after a deep
sleep/ Where I was dreaming, I was dreaming/ Dream girl.”
Matthews has covered the same subject matter much more poetically,
using the narrative perspective of a man drowning his sorrows at
the bar in “Grace Is Gone.” Such storytelling is absent
from the banal generalities of “Stand Up.”
Occasionally, the band sticks to its strengths. “Stolen Away
on 55th & 3rd” stays subdued, centered around
Matthews’ vocal harmonies, LeRoi Moore’s sax and Stefan
Lessard’s prodding bass line. Matthews’ voice is high
and sweet, and his self-harmonization creates perhaps the
album’s most effective song. For every piano ballad, though,
there’s a clunker, like the horrendous metal riff-monster
“Hunger For The Great Light,” and even the best tracks
are weighed down by uncharacteristically bland drumming. Carter
Beauford, arguably one of the most distinctive drummers in pop
music, sounds much like he did on “Everyday,” where he
was given written parts to perform: flat, repetitious and downright
boring. Matthews’ guitar work is similarly stunted; if the
riff of the title track sounds like vintage Dave, it’s
because it’s stolen from Crash’s “Drive In Drive
Out.” The concert setting has always been Dave Matthews
Band’s forte. Maybe these songs will come alive in the arena, but
“Stand Up” is another in a too-long series of
half-baked studio releases. An adventurous recording process is no
excuse for lukewarm songs and poor performances, and “Stand
Up” struggles to reach its feet. -David
Greenwald