Unlike most DMB fans, I think of them as a singles band, not a live-album-jam-band. I either like their songs or I don't. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground at all. Half of the songs here are keepers. Still, I seem to continue to give the band a chance to reach me as I buy their new studio albums as they are released. The main problem with this album is that it is sorely lacking in hooks and it falls apart melodically at the end. However, Steve Lillywhite's production is solid, as usual.
Press of the time:
- Entertainment Weekly (B+): "ear-catching jazz-folk fusion"
- USA Today (3 out of 4): "a musical joy ride with dead-end lyrics."
- Billboard: "appealing collection of inspired and soulful tunes"
- Rolling Stone (★★): "simply plods along"
- Spin (5 out of 10): "they need someone to show them where to go"
Tracks: I like So Much to Say, Crash Into Me, Too Much, #41, Drive In Drive Out, and Tripping Billies. I can do without the rest - it's just non-melodic noodling.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: In my little maroon Honda Civic, I listened to the songs So Much To Say and Too Much on the way to work in 1997. Those songs helped me get hyped up as I attempted to teach 8th grade English. If you looked at the standardized test scores from that year, I was a huge success as an English teacher, but I know otherwise.
Previously revisited for the blog:
Weekend on the Rocks (2005)
Stand Up (2005)
Live at Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado (2002)
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