''Crash'' is the second 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 ...

, released on April 30, 1996 by

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 ...

. By March 16, 2000, the album had sold seven million copies, and was certified septuple platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. ''Crash'' is currently Dave Matthews Band's best-selling album.

Recording

Recording of the album began in October 1995, and ended in January 1996. There were only four known songs from the ''Crash'' sessions that "didn't make it to the final cut." However, none of the titles are known.

Critical reception

'' Q'' described ''Crash'' as "equal parts originality and willful complication", and stated, "Although the band's determinedly jammy methods do lead them away from their songs at times, almost every track of ''Crash'' is at least 'good in parts'". ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

''s Tom Sinclair praised the band's technical abilities, concluding that "one of the nicest things about DMB's music is that its distinctive complexity serves as a virtual assurance against a flood of lame imitator bands."

Jim DeRogatis James Peter DeRogatis (born September 2, 1964) is an American music critic and co-host of ''Sound Opinions''. DeRogatis has written articles for magazines such as ''Rolling Stone'', '' Spin'', ''Guitar World'', ''Matter'' and '' Modern Drummer'' ...

of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' was less favorable and deemed Matthews' vocals "too much like

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

's at times" and his lyrics "typically banal", while remarking that the album's musical eclecticism "gives Matthews a slight edge over his peers, but that's sort of like saying you prefer vanilla ice cream to vanilla frozen yogurt."

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'' evaluated ''Crash'' as a "dud".

Track listing

Personnel

Dave Matthews Band *

Carter Beauford Carter Anthony Beauford (born November 2, 1958) is an American drummer, percussionist, and founding member of Dave Matthews Band. He is known for his ability to adapt to a variety of genres, and both his ambidextrous and his open-handed drumm ...

– drums, percussion, backing vocals (1, 7, 10, 11, 12) *

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,

tack piano A tack piano (also known as a harpsipiano, jangle piano, and junk piano) is an altered version of an ordinary piano, in which objects such as thumbtacks or nails are placed on the felt-padded hammers of the instrument at the point where the ha ...

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, design assistant *

LeRoi Moore LeRoi Holloway Moore (September 7, 1961 – August 19, 2008) was an American saxophonist. He was a founding member of the Dave Matthews Band. Moore often arranged music for songs written by Dave Matthews. Moore also co-wrote many of the band's ...

– saxophones, flute,

whistles A whistle is a musical instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It is a type of fipple flute, and may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a small sl ...

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 and

electric violin An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument intentionally made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body. It can also refer to a violin fi ...

s Additional musicians *

Tim Reynolds Tim Reynolds (born 15 December 1957) is an American guitarist and multi-instrumentalist known as both a solo artist and as lead guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band. AllMusic critic MacKenzie Wilson has called Reynolds "an under-rated master". ...

– acoustic and electric guitars Technical personnel *

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 ...

–

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

, mixing engineer (3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12) *

John Siket John Siket is a music producer, recording engineer, and mixer. He is best known for his work with Sonic Youth, Phish, Yo La Tengo, Dave Matthews Band, Blonde Redhead, Fountains of Wayne, Moe, Peter Murphy, Freedy Johnston, The Bottom Dollars a ...

– engineer * Chris Laidlaw – 1st assistant engineer * Scott Gormley – 1st assistant engineer * Paul Higgins – 2nd assistant engineer * Phil Painson – additional recording assistant *

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1962) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at Unique Recording in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground ...

– mixing engineer (1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 11) * Alex Case – mixing assistant (1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 11) *

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 preproduction *

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 engineer * Thane Kerner – art direction, design, illustrations * Jane Matthews – design assistant * C. Taylor Crothers – Band photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crash (Dave Matthews Band Album) 1996 albums Albums produced by Steve Lillywhite Dave Matthews Band albums

RCA Records albums RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...