Dave Matthews Band
Busted Stuff
On Sale Now
For $13.48

Quiet honestly, after 24 million albums sold around the world, I'd had just about all I could take of the Dave Matthews Band. It was all starting to sound the same. And although these cats are extraordinary musicians, their whole trip sounded like one big re-run.

Enter Busted Stuff, the latest, and possibly best, album by the Dave Matthews Band. It is, in a word, stunning. Something happened in the studio. Something happened with the songwriting. Something happened somewhere along the line to take the tired grooves and endless jams to a place that is familiar yet still fresh and exciting.

Actually, the story of this record goes back a bit. Most of these songs were recorded a few years ago for the album Everyday. The label thought the songs were too dark so they canned the sessions and hooked Dave up with super-producer Glenn Ballard. Anyway, the original unfinished tracks leaked to the internet and spread like wildfire under the name The Lillywhite Sessions. Hardcore fans thought these were some of the finest songs the band had ever written. So the guys headed back into the studio to re-record and finish the tracks.

Make no mistake, the sound is still DMB. But now there is passion and pain in the soundwaves. On the title song and album opener, the lazy jazz grooves twist up your heart and make you wanna cry. And if this one doesn't touch something deep inside you, "Grey Street" will push you over the edge with its melancholy lyrics. In a pensive swirl Dave sings, "Oh, look how she listens/ She says nothing of what she thinks/ She just goes stumbling through her memories/ Staring out on to grey streets."

Some cuts here, like the gorgeous "Where Are You Going?" and "Digging a Ditch" swell and drip with acoustic guitars and subconscious beats. Other tracks like "You Never Know" get smoky with late night funkiness. It's a dreamy direction for the band, taking the music into dizzy new spaces.

Besides all the great tunes, Busted Stuff includes an additional DVD of concert footage, access to special features on the website, and a key for an audio webcast. That oughtta be enough extras to get even the most hardcore download freak to actually buy the CD.

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