OOPS! Dave 'did it' again

Fans have waited three years with one scrapped album for the new Dave Matthews Band release. Although a departure from the previous album, Before These Crowded Streets, fans will not be disappointed with Everyday, the product of three years of hard work.\nThe album starts out with the first single, the radio-friendly "I Did It." Poppy and aggressive, this marks one of the few times listeners will hear small solos from violin player Boyd Tinsley and sax player Leroi Moore, a nice change of pace. Yet this hard-edged song does something better than Streets' first single, "Don't Drink the Water," in that it knows when to lay off the heavy rhythms and return to the lighter chorus.\n"When the World Ends" is a groovy pop song, mixing the aggressor with soft melodies. The result is true genius. The creation is a jazzy rock song that is the defining characteristic of the new, more mature Dave Matthews Band. \nThe second single, arguably one of the best songs on the album, is "The Space Between." Like "Satellite" and "#41" before it, this song is a guilty pleasure love song. The calm, beautiful melodies that have become one of Matthews' hallmarks come back on this song. But it is unique in its twinge of Peter Gabriel in the lyrics. Dave contorts his voice to sound much like Gabriel did on "Red Rain." The result is pure euphoria.\nThe trend continues with tunes like the achingly good rock ballad "So Right" and the smooth and funky "Angel." In previous Dave albums, the songs seemed to be anchored by Tinsley's beautiful violin, but Dave is looking for a new focus with his new sound. Moore's saxes and horns are featured much more heavily as are electric guitars, which are used on almost every song. The result is a blending of a little bit of yesterday with today. Ending with the sunny "Everyday" seems to be the appropriate note to go out on.\nThat is not to say every song is magic. In "Mother Father," the guitar mastery of Carlos Santana gets lost in the shuffle of Matthews' entreating lyrics. "Dreams of Our Fathers" is so convoluted with lyrics that require Matthews to yell at the listener. \nMatthews has the uncanny ability to produce an album of live versions of old songs in such a way that fans would eat up. I have a feeling the same will be true of this album. But for non-Dave fans, Everyday offers something out of the ordinary, and that makes it a good buy. Still, to capture the complete mastery of the album, you need to hear it live, where Dave and the rest of the band are at their best.