 "Your music" | 2008-08-13 |
| - Reviewed By User: APU8LMT5U8W2Q |
| This was on my grown daughter's Xmas wish list. Must be good because she has her dad's good taste. |
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 "Sloppily Produced, Poorly Played, and Easily Forgotten" | 2007-11-09 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1939ZKYTFJHLG |
I don't even know where to start with this album. It feels like it was so sloppily and quickly put together. The segue between Hello Again and Louisiana Bayou is truly terrible, not to mention the fact that they ruined Hello Again (a previously dynamite live song) completely. Dave's vocals slip past that "terribly lovable" stage and into the "so grainy and harsh that it hurts me" stage. Worst of all... where is the band? It feels like no one in the band is doing anything on this album, and when they are it seems simple and uninteresting.
Bottom line: there is not a single song worth listening to on this album. If you want to hear DMB at their absolute worst, listen to "Dream Girl," "Old Dirt Hill," or "Hunger For the Great Light." If you want them at their absolute best, pick up Before These Crowded Streets.
Everyday may have been a sell-out, but at least it created a buzz and made for interesting (if not disappointed) listening. Stand Up, on the other hand, warrants no listening at all. |
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 "Commits the worst crime of all: forgettability" | 2007-05-15 |
| - Reviewed By katgirl42 |
| I seem to have lost my copy of this record, and I'm not really mourning it--not nearly as much as "Busted Stuff." Yeah, DMB tried to write songs with the same types of melody and freeform as their early work, but this feels forced. And I remember exactly one musical phrase from the whole album, whereas I could sing you the entirety of "Under the Table and Dreaming" if you asked me to. Don't bother with this one, it's a dud. |
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| "Boring and unmemorable" | 2007-03-25 |
| - Reviewed By rayburk |
| I'm not a hard-core DMB fan, but I buy and enjoy most of his stuff. This album, however, is simply boring and unmemorable. There's nothing that comes close to showing the true musical talents that I know DMB has. I got through the first 8 songs and couldn't remember anything about what I had just listened to. I'll shelve it for a couple months and then listen to it again and may change my mind later, but I'm not very optomistic that it will make a difference. |
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| "Decomposing sound touched with fire, and out comes silver" | 2007-03-24 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1CSA5RRD25JKJ |
Three stars is too few for a band that has successfully mined the soul out of their music for the first time since "What You Are" on the stilted Everyday.
If Everyday was DMB re-inventing themselves, Stand Up presents them as a band that cannot go home and refuses to. Stand Up should convince even the most casual fan (e.g. myself, I just heard it for the first time last week!) that there was enough passion stirring in the heart of this band to push them deep inside themselves - the end result is some of the bravest and boldest songs composed yet by this band. The songs also come across as more relaxed, even as they dig in and step up the beat.
Buy this album, if for no other reason than to remind yourself that DMB earned their spot and deserve to keep it. The naysayers that wag their tongues about the frivolousness of the lyrics forget that the sheer hedonistic joy of the music was what made DMB famous in the first place. People come to a DMB show to be loved because they know they are. This is DMB's "Darkness on the Edge of Town," and should be drawing their listeners back for a long time. |
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| "Stand Up Does Deliver" | 2007-03-21 |
| - Reviewed By ulearn2seekup |
| Not far from participating in the Vote for Change Tour during the 2004 presidential champain, 2005's Stand Up is filled with a lot of political statements when you listen to the lyrical content in two of the album's best songs with "Everybody Wake Up," and "You Might Die Trying," and they still show the deep thought the band has always had. "American Baby," is another exceptional piece and filters feelings on political and emotional levels. Musically, the production is tight, and while the songs don't carry the instrumental pauses or extended jams as often, they also don't lack the energy. Tinsley's violin may sound a little more discreet, but not lacking as he takes control in the final moments of "You Might Die Trying," and plays a fabulous finishing take on "Louisiana Bayou,"(and Tinsley plus the band jam long and hard when they perform these tracks live). The band experiment with some musical edges with soft R&B on "Stolen Away on 55th & 3rd," and the Southern Country feel on "Louisiana Bayou," but there are a few flaws here and there. "Smooth Rider," would be the dud on this release and not one I would consider as the band's shining moment. "Hello Again" doesn't work well either. But overall, the Dave Matthews Band haven't lost their musical cool and conclude with two more great tracks in "Steady As We Go," and "Hunger For the Great Light," containing the spiritual honesty and raw emotion the band is so well-known for. |
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| ""Dave's not here"" | 2006-11-09 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3EBHHCZO6V2A4 |
Back in the '90s,the Dave Matthews Band was considered the next Grateful Dead,with Dave Matthews as its clean-shaven Jerry Garcia.In my college days,the DMB was praised for blending world music,jazz&rock.It was The Next Big Thing.There were Daveheads.But then came "Everyday" produced by Glen Ballard (who also produced Alanis Morrissette's music),which was seen as a sell-out.
"Stand up" was the last gasp.When this album was released,a local Bay Area radio station was mocking the DMB as "annoying"&saying that having the ubiquitous Black Eyed Peas (who are now collaborating with Sergio Mendes&Michael Jackson)open for them made the DMB "doubly annoying."
This album has a few highlights-
1)American Baby,intro&song-Despite the use of the African kora (harp),this song sounds Asian with its pentatonic scale.It's quite electrifying.It's danceable&shows the brilliance the DMB once had.It's powerful in the use of acoustic instrumental music,like REM's "Losing my religion."
2)Louisiana Bayou-Very jazzy,you could say it evokes the New Orleans sound.Again,the DMB plays to its strengths.
3)Finest Hour-This song is catchy despite Dave Matthews' politics.Great as a song,not great as a protest song.
4)Out of my hands-Reflective with the use of piano,like REM's "Nightswimming."
Can the DMB make a comeback?It's hard to tell.In a decade,they've managed to go from being the Next Big Thing to Has Beens."Stand up" made the mistake of being produced by an R&B/hip-hop producer who tried to make the DMB sound like any other group.DMB isn't 50 Cent;it isn't Justin Timberlake.Whether the DMB returns to form remains to be seen. |
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| "Doesn't work in my cd player" | 2006-08-23 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3OD1SWLM3NYPG |
First point to consider...I am a major DMB fan, so giving this cd a 2-star rating was tough for me.
A lot of frustration was delivered along with this dual cd. The audio side refused to play in any traditional equipment. I had to use my computer to play the audio. I work at my computer and have neither gigantor speakers nor the luxury of the mood to enjoy DMB. The music, to me, was not typical DMB so it went unnoticed. Amazon quickly and easily replaced my defective cd, however, the problems on the new cd were identical...no music on a traditional player.
The video side played in my computer and the large portion I have seen is interesting; however, it is not something I would play over and over again like the MUSIC side. A little lacking in Dave himself, though.
The only reason this cd got 2-stars is because it is DMB...otherwise it would have received a Zero! |
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| "check this out too" | 2006-07-08 |
| - Reviewed By roots-rocker |
I am a big fan of rootsy, acoustic rock with some jam band style, but not too much jam band style. This album is a fantastic treat that consistently delivers great music, song after song. If you enjoy this album and are looking for some similar albums then I recommend the following:
1) Beneath These Fireworks by Matt Nathanson
2) Good To Be Here by Ernest Goodlife Band
3) 1972 by Josh Rouse |
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| "BUYER BEWARE!" | 2006-03-28 |
| - Reviewed By speedy_boomer |
HUGE dissapointment. I'm not usually one to give extremely bad reviews, but this one deserves it. You cannot rip this CD without installing some mysterious software on your computer which seriously limits what you can do, and quite possibly has spyware. In the future I will be VERY weary of recent RCA albums, as this is something they have been getting into lately.
Musically, it is a substantial departure from their traditional style (and I do like their previous albums); it's pretty boring to me. |
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