| Before These Crowded Streets | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Dave Matthews Band |
| Cover: | DMB - Before These Crowded Streets.jpg |
| Recorded: | 1997–1998 |
| Studio: |
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| Genre: | |
| Label: | RCA |
| Producer: | Steve Lillywhite |
| Prev Title: | Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95 |
| Prev Year: | 1997 |
| Next Title: | Listener Supported |
| Next Year: | 1999 |
Before These Crowded Streets is the third studio album by the American rock band Dave Matthews Band. It was released on April 28, 1998, through RCA Records. The album was produced by Steve Lillywhite, his last collaboration with the group until 2012's Away from the World. Recording took place at The Plant Recording Studios in Sausalito, California and Electric Lady Studios in New York.[1]
Taking its title from a line in "The Dreaming Tree", the album marked a shift in the band's sound, having darker themes and textures and more complex arrangements. Certain songs see the band apply polyrhythms and Middle-Eastern scales. Numerous guests are featured on the album, including Béla Fleck, Alanis Morissette and the Kronos Quartet. Additionally, guitarist Tim Reynolds guests on every track; he would later join the band as a full-time member. Lyrically, the album tackles both personal and socio-political themes, such as war in "The Last Stop" and the slaughter of Native Americans in "Don't Drink the Water".
Before These Crowded Streets was a critical and commercial success. The album debuted at the top of the Billboard 200, selling 421,000 units in its first week of release and knocking the Titanic soundtrack from the top of the chart after a run of 16 consecutive weeks at number one.[2] Three singles were released from the album—"Don't Drink the Water", "Stay (Wasting Time)", and "Crush"—all of which received varying levels of commercial success.
At the end of many tracks on the album, there are "musical interludes" most of which consist of small jams or outtakes not developed into full songs:
Songs that were recorded during the sessions, but were not included on the final cut:[3]
"MacHead" was a song recorded during the album's sessions, but it was never completed, so did not make the album. Producer Steve Lillywhite named the song, claiming it sounded like a cross between the sound of Paul McCartney and Radiohead.[4] The song's existence is only known from an image on the 1999 fan calendar with a list of the working titles of the other songs on this album and from an alleged meeting in which Jake Vigliotti claims to have heard said recording.
Some fans familiar with the idea of "MacHead" speculated it had been developed, renamed, and added to the band's catalog.[4] They speculate that "MacHead" developed into "Bartender", which debuted in January 1999 at a Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds concert just months after the April '98 release of Before These Crowded Streets. In November 2009, Jake Vigliotti claims to have heard 6 different demo takes of "Machead" from an early 1997 recording session for the album,[5] effectively confirming its existence to the fan community.[6]
In a 2010 interview with Cali from CBS Radio, Stefan Lessard was asked to give his thoughts on Machead. He replied that "Machead's this little number that I believe was the last song to possibly make it on Before These Crowded Streets and I think there's a recording I have of it somewhere. So it's just finding a recording of it and listening to it and that's on our homework list."[7] Although as of July 2024, no official recording has surfaced, a demo recording has leaked and has been spread among fans.
Before These Crowded Streets received generally positive reviews from critics. Writing for The Baltimore Sun, J. D. Considine stated that with the album, the band had "improved on every level", praising the writing, playing and ambition of the arrangements. Additionally, he praised the band for integrating many guests on the album and for "broadening [their] palette". Mark Weingarten, writing for the Los Angeles Times, highlighted the tracks "Rapunzel" and "The Stone" in particular for their "vertiginous polyrhythms and serpentine riffs that dart around Matthew's clenched vocals, yet always manage to lock into an enjoyable groove."
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine felt that despite the "songwriting remain[ing] a problem" and finding Matthews' lyrics occasionally "embarrassing", the album's "sonic daring results in the most satisfying album they've yet recorded." Another retrospective review came from Pitchforks Jason P. Woodbury, who wrote that it "remains DMB's most experimental album, a crossroads in the band's history" and stated that it "explores the uneasy zone between celebratory anthems and grim lamentations".
Special guest Tim Reynolds is featured on all tracks.
Dave Matthews Band
with special guest:
Additional musicians
Technical
| Peak position | |
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[8] | 66 |
|---|---|
| Year | Position | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200[9] | 1998 | 30 | |
| US Billboard 200[10] | 1999 | 77 | |
| Canadian Alternative Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[11] | 2002 | 184 |