**Away from the World** (new studio album)

[littlefriend]

I think Broken Things and Belly Belly (despite it's overall shittiness) are pretty catchy, and so are Merchy, Gaucho and The Riff.

[Banjobach]

Tim and Rashawn have done a pretty good job of making this band unlistenable to me

Get rid of the screeching trumpet/saxophone runs and Zeppelin rip-off overdrive and I think this band could make interesting music again

That is exactly the problem. It's not just that Dave isn't writing as well as he used to, it's that this band doesn't even sound like it used to.

I think changing how you sound as a band is a healthy and more interesting approach. If they sounded exactly like they used to with instruments, I'd be just as bored. In fact I think they haven't been adventurous enough. They have incorporated new sounds and influences into their music, but no radical left turns. And they seem to have lost the ability to discern when certain things are aesthetically tacky, like Tim's electric guitar diarrhea, or Rashawn's trumpet parts that lack dynamics or subtlety.

I guess I just don't see as strong a vision with this new music. It feels too similar to their old stuff, but not as inspired (this has been said 1000 times before). And I'm not saying they don't work hard. They probably busted their asses getting the recordings and performances as glossy as they were. But hard work doesn't translate to good work.

Had they become more multi-instrumentalists, putting aside their skills (and egos) with a previous instrument to instead learn something new to better compliment a song and performance... well... they'd be a much more interesting and productive band indeed.

Of course, I'm just an outside observer looking in at the band and I don't know all the facts. I'm just throwing out ideas for ways all of this stagnant music could have been avoided. Ultimately, the fact stands that almost everyone here (seasoned DMB fans) agrees that this was not impressive at all despite the false optimism of Lillywhite.

I liked the musical breaks in Drunken Soldier, but probably because the chord progression was a direct lift of Pink Floyd's Any Colour You Like.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ_yQ02xwsM

[bense27]

Tim and Rashawn have done a pretty good job of making this band unlistenable to me

Get rid of the screeching trumpet/saxophone runs and Zeppelin rip-off overdrive and I think this band could make interesting music again

That is exactly the problem. It's not just that Dave isn't writing as well as he used to, it's that this band doesn't even sound like it used to.

Had they become more multi-instrumentalists, putting aside their skills (and egos) with a previous instrument to instead learn something new to better compliment a song and performance... well... they'd be a much more interesting and productive band indeed.

dude, Out of my Hands was great.

[Cor]

Tim and Rashawn have done a pretty good job of making this band unlistenable to me

Get rid of the screeching trumpet/saxophone runs and Zeppelin rip-off overdrive and I think this band could make interesting music again

That is exactly the problem. It's not just that Dave isn't writing as well as he used to, it's that this band doesn't even sound like it used to.

Had they become more multi-instrumentalists, putting aside their skills (and egos) with a previous instrument to instead learn something new to better compliment a song and performance... well... they'd be a much more interesting and productive band indeed.

dude, Out of my Hands was great.

seriously, learning another instrument well enough to play something decent takes years.

[Banjobach]

Tim and Rashawn have done a pretty good job of making this band unlistenable to me

Get rid of the screeching trumpet/saxophone runs and Zeppelin rip-off overdrive and I think this band could make interesting music again

That is exactly the problem. It's not just that Dave isn't writing as well as he used to, it's that this band doesn't even sound like it used to.

Had they become more multi-instrumentalists, putting aside their skills (and egos) with a previous instrument to instead learn something new to better compliment a song and performance... well... they'd be a much more interesting and productive band indeed.

dude, Out of my Hands was great.

seriously, learning another instrument well enough to play something decent takes years.

not much of an excuse for a band that's been playing music for nearly 20 years.

[markTR]

I like Sweet. That's a great little chord progression on the ukelele, fun to play

[GSR]

Very pleased.

Great production. Relieved to have Lillywhite back. Lot of great little sonic details underneath. Worth listening with headphones.

Feels way more acoustic/less electric than even Big Whiskey. I didn't imagine Dave playing an electric anywhere on this album.

I'm not as offended by Tim as most of you are, but he didn't bother me at all here. He isn't featured nearly as much as on Big Whiskey, and every time the electric guitar is prominent, I found it very tasteful. Nothing like Funny the Way It Is, for example.

Jeff rarely sounds like Jeff, which is good. Dave said Jeff was particularly cognizant of Roi's sound on this record, and I definitely noticed. I only heard the Jeff sound (dissonant, crying quality) once, I think. Otherwise I thought he captured Roi's sound much better, which is great.

Rashawn sounds good to me too, both in terms of production and how prominent he is in the mix. I didn't hear any squealing, and I love the jazz on the tail end of Drunken Soldier.

For those saying the band doesn't sound like the band anymore, you have to remember that Roi died, and they added two new members. I wouldn't expect them to sound the same twenty years later even if it was still the core five.

Very few cringe-worthy lyrics. Belly Belly Nice is the only one that made me wince, but I like the music and chorus enough to overlook it.

Feels very cohesive. Considerably more depth/complexity than anything post-Busted Stuff. No swamp rock song. Good flow and dynamics. Way less cheesy than Big Whiskey. Interesting music. I enjoyed all the songs, and found very few painful moments, if any.

My expectations were decent, given the tracks they've been playing live, and the album exceeded them. Looking forward to my second listen.

[littlefriend]

I agree with everything in that post, especially about Jeff. There are definitely places where he sounds so much like LeRoi that I legitimately forgot it wasn't. I definitely don't get the Big Whiskey comparisons.

[Coldchillin]

I find myself skipping Gaucho and The Riff already after a few plays.

[Coldchillin]

I don't know why, but it bothers me that you can hear a stool or something creak before he starts singing in The Riff. They couldn't edit that out?

[GSR]

Anybody have information on the Warehouse super deluxe bonus disc?

Save Me (6.2.12 Molson Amphitheater)
You Never Know (6.8.12 SPAC)
Jimi Thing (5.22.12 Aaron's Amphitheater)
Halloween (6.6.12 Comcast Center; Mansfield, MA) >>
Tripping Billies (6.6.12 Comcast Center; Mansfield, MA)
Jam >> Why I Am (6.5.12 Comcast Center; Mansfield, MA)
Time Bomb (6.24.12 Harriet Island) >>
Two Step (6.24.12 Harriet Island)

[whip3512]

I'm liking this better than the last few albums, but still disappointed. There are some good moments on this album, but Dave's inability to write good lyrics has been a problem since Lillywhite Sessions and it gets worse with every album. His lyrics have never been that good, but at least some sense of artsy obscurity kept them interesting in the first three albums. Despite being a bit let down, I am digging Sweet and Drunken Soldier quite a bit.

[GSR]

I love that there's no gratuitous F-bomb on this record.

[GSR]

Also, deluxe edition cover art > standard cover art. Fits the feel of the album more, and is less Big Whiskey part two, aesthetically.

[mdel21]

Anybody got any info?