Before These Crowded Streets
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''Before These Crowded Streets'' is the third studio album by the American rock band
Dave Matthews Band Dave Matthews Band (also known as DMB) is an American rock band from Charlottesville, Virginia. The band's lineup consists of Dave Matthews (lead vocals, guitar), Stefan Lessard (bass), Carter Beauford (drums), Tim Reynolds (lead guitar), R ...
. It was released on April 28, 1998, through
RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...
. The album was produced by
Steve Lillywhite Stephen Alan Lillywhite (born 15 March 1955) is an English record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited on over 500 records, and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including new wave acts The Alarm ...
, his last collaboration with the group until 2012's ''
Away from the World ''Away from the World'' is the eighth studio album by the American rock band Dave Matthews Band. It was released on September 11, 2012 through RCA Records. The album was primarily recorded at Studio Litho in Seattle, Seattle, Washington from Janu ...
''. Recording took place at The Plant Recording Studios in
Sausalito, California Sausalito ( Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's ...
and
Electric Lady Studios Electric Lady Studios is a recording studio in Greenwich Village, New York City. It was commissioned by rock musician Jimi Hendrix in 1968 and designed by architect John Storyk and audio engineer Eddie Kramer. It was completed by 1970. Hendrix ...
in
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. 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 Béla Anton Leoš Fleck (born July 10, 1958) is an American banjo player. An acclaimed virtuoso, he is an innovative and technically proficient pioneer and ambassador of the banjo, playing music from bluegrass, jazz, classical, rock and various ...
,
Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, she became a cultural phenomenon during the mid 199 ...
and the
Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classical musi ...
. 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 War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
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. Three singles were released from the album—"Don't Drink the Water", " Stay (Wasting Time)", and "
Crush Crush may refer to: * Infatuation or limerence, the romantic attraction to another person * Puppy love, feelings of love, romance, or infatuation felt by young people Crush may also refer to: Film * Crush (1972 film), ''Crush'' (1972 film), a H ...
"—all of which received varying levels of commercial success.


Background

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: *A clip in which LeRoi Moore is heard answering his cell phone follows "Rapunzel." *A clip of flute music follows "Don't Drink the Water." *A string passage by the Kronos Quartet serves as a segue from "Halloween" to "The Stone." *An outtake featuring Bela Fleck and Alanis Morissette follows "The Stone." *A clip of "Doobie Thing," an early DMB instrumental song, follows "The Dreaming Tree." *A clip of " Anyone Seen the Bridge?", a live show transition song, and a short excerpt of "Deed is Done," an unreleased song from the previous tour, follows "Pig." *A clip now referred to as "The Last Stop Reprise" follows "Spoon."


Excluded songs

Songs that were recorded during the sessions, but were not included on the final cut: *"Help Myself" – Licensed for the ''
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'' soundtrack in lieu of "Halloween", which the band decided was too good to leave off the album. *"Don't Burn the Pig" – Evolved into "Pig" during the sessions. *"Get in Line" *"MacHead" *"#40 (Always)"


MacHead

"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 Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
and
Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...
. 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. They speculate that "MacHead" developed into "
Bartender A bartender (also known as a barkeep or barman or barmaid or a mixologist) is a person who formulates and serves alcoholic or soft drink beverages behind the Bar (establishment), bar, usually in a licensed bar (establishment), establishment as ...
", 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, effectively confirming its existence to the fan community. In a 2010 interview with Cali from CBS Radio,
Stefan Lessard Dave Matthews Band (also known as DMB) is an American Rock music, rock band from Charlottesville, Virginia. The band's lineup consists of Dave Matthews (lead vocals, guitar), Stefan Lessard (bass), Carter Beauford (drums), Tim Reynolds (lead gui ...
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." Although as of July 2024, no official recording has surfaced, a demo recording has leaked and has been spread among fans.


Reception

''Before These Crowded Streets'' received generally positive reviews from critics. Writing for ''
The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...
'', 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
heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...
palette". Mark Weingarten, writing for the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', 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 AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
,
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...
felt that despite the "songwriting remain nga 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 ''
Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...
''s 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".


Track listing

Special guest Tim Reynolds is featured on all tracks.


Personnel

Dave Matthews Band * Carter Beauford – drums, percussion, backing vocals *
Stefan Lessard Dave Matthews Band (also known as DMB) is an American Rock music, rock band from Charlottesville, Virginia. The band's lineup consists of Dave Matthews (lead vocals, guitar), Stefan Lessard (bass), Carter Beauford (drums), Tim Reynolds (lead gui ...
 – bass guitar *
Dave Matthews David John Matthews (born January 9, 1967) is an American musician and the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band (DMB). Matthews was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and moved frequently between South Africa, ...
 – vocals, acoustic guitar * LeRoi Moore – saxophone, penny whistle,
bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common Soprano clarinet, soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays no ...
*
Boyd Tinsley Boyd Calvin Tinsley (born May 16, 1964) is an American violinist and mandolinist who is best known for having been a member of the Dave Matthews Band. Early life Tinsley was born and raised in Charlottesville, Virginia. His was a musical fami ...
 – acoustic violin with special guest: * Tim Reynolds – electric guitar and
mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...
Additional musicians * The Lovely Ladies – background vocals (5) **
Tawatha Agee Tawatha Agee (born November 14, 1954) is an American vocalist and songwriter. Her voice has been described in ''The New York Times'' as an "acrobatic, gospel-charged soprano." She was the lead singer of funk and soul band Mtume; her soulful lead ...
** Cindy Myzell ** Brenda White-King *
John D'earth John D'earth (born March 30, 1950) is an American post-bop/hard bop jazz trumpeter born in Framingham, Massachusetts, who has appeared on recordings by Dave Matthews and Bruce Hornsby as well as recording a number of CDs on his own. He curren ...
 – trumpet (6) *
Béla Fleck Béla Anton Leoš Fleck (born July 10, 1958) is an American banjo player. An acclaimed virtuoso, he is an innovative and technically proficient pioneer and ambassador of the banjo, playing music from bluegrass, jazz, classical, rock and various ...
 – banjo (3, 4, 11) * Greg Howard – Chapman Stick (9) *
Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classical musi ...
 – strings (6, 7) ** David Harrington – violin ** John Sherba – violin ** Hank Dutt – viola ** Joan Jeanrenaud – cello *
Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, she became a cultural phenomenon during the mid 199 ...
 – guest vocals (4, 11) *
Butch Taylor Butch Taylor (born Clarence Francis Taylor on April 13, 1961) is a composer, writer, keyboardist and long time guest musician with Dave Matthews Band. Early life Butch Taylor was born in Shawsville, Virginia on April 13, 1961. Taylor attended J ...
 – piano and organ (2, 8) Technical *
Steve Lillywhite Stephen Alan Lillywhite (born 15 March 1955) is an English record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited on over 500 records, and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including new wave acts The Alarm ...
 – producer, mixing * Stephen Harris – engineer *
John Alagía John Justin Alagía is an American record producer, composer, mixer and co-founder of Drive Music. Alagia has worked with artists including Lukas Nelson, Paul Simon, Herbie Hancock, Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Serena Ryder, Brett Denn ...
 – additional pre-production * Joel Cortright – assistant engineer * John Seymour – assistant engineer *
Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Early life ...
 – mastering * John D'earth – orchestral arrangements (6, 7) * Thane Kerner – art direction, design * Ellen von Unwerth – photography


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


References

{{Authority control 1998 albums Dave Matthews Band albums RCA Records albums Albums produced by Steve Lillywhite Albums recorded at Electric Lady Studios Albums recorded at Record Plant (Los Angeles)