Big 4

[barbogast]

Let You Down is an 8 and Two Step is a 7. Unbelievable

[dobyblue]

DIDO = awesome percussion.

[dmbbearcat]

UTTAD and BTCS are two of the best albums ever made? Interesting. Two of the best albums of the '90s, certainly. Ever? Rofl.

[rickyh24]

Crash on par with standup and bw??? Yikes.

[trippingant]

Originally Posted by Dannyyankou

Big Whiskey is better in the studio.

Everyday is better live.

Outside of WYA, So Right and Everyday, what is good about ED live exactly?

Sure, I would put those 3 above anything on BW, but I would put SMLAM, FTWII, LITHOG, WIA, Squirm, Alligator Pie, Time Bomb and Baby Blue above anything else on Everyday.

[KevinTH]

Originally Posted by trippingant

Really surprised at all the people putting Everyday above BW. Everyday is not a DMB album, it is a Dave solo album that could've used random studio musicians and sounded exactly the same. No signature Carter rhythms. Cheesy synthesizer-sounding violin. Very few memorable sax riffs. No musical exploration during jams or at the end of tracks. As a collection of songs that have been fleshed out live, not bad. As a studio album, still atrocious.

I disagree with this, and this is simply my opinion versus yours. While this album was a shock to the DMB Fanbase system initially, I think the songs have stood the test of time. Fans HATED this album when it first came out, but now it appears the years have worked in it's favor. The songs are well written, but just written in a different way. To me there's nothing wrong with a band shaking it up after a while.

While the songs don't explore much in the studio, given the song lengths, I would argue that they at least have sax and violin solos and have definitely been taken to new heights in the live setting. My question now is, where do they explore any "jams" in Big Whiskey? Other than a violin solo in "Funny the Way It Is" the only other solos on the album are short guitar solos in FTWII, Dive In and Seven. So nowhere on the album do you even have the main solo instruments of the band brought to the forefront. On top of that the songs have not really gone anywhere in the live setting. Don't get me wrong, I love Big Whiskey and appreciate what it is as an album, but for the sake of argument, Everyday captures more of the old DMB spirit that was present in the first 3 albums. You could even argue the same for Stand Up in a sense. That album has a bunch of solos from both Boyd and Roi and have also grown in the live setting.

For those reasons alone I give Everyday the edge over Big Whiskey. While the bands sound changed in 2001 they still managed to keep a lot of the sound that made them what they were to begin with. I dig what they're doing now and that they aren't just repeating themselves over and over, but I prefer the less fast paced rock sound of the newer years.

Originally Posted by dmbbearcat

UTTAD and BTCS are two of the best albums ever made? Interesting. Two of the best albums of the '90s, certainly. Ever? Rofl.

In my opinion, I would agree with Before These Crowded Streets. While it certainly won't rank as one of the best on some Rolling Stone poll it is way up there on my list for sure (not that my opinion matters HAHA). That album is just immaculate from beginning to end. The production is fantastic (the best Carter's drums ever sounded on an album), the songwriting is creative, insightful and inspiring, and the overall placement of the songs mixed with the musical snippets in between make for a great listen. On top of that, all of these songs translated into some of their best live tunes. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the band ignores the best tunes off this album other than The Stone and Rapunzel.

[dmbbearcat]

I think BTCS is DMB's third best album, behind UTTAD and Crash. I love it to death, but I don't think it's the flawless piece of art that many here make it out to be. I think Dave's writing was superior in his even earlier work. That being said, I love BTCS. But IMO I don't think "one of the greatest albums of all time" is accurate.

[warehouseguy]

I honestly think we'll never see a Big 4 at this point, especially the way the band has evolved over the past several years --- they're spending less time together when off of the road, Dave is largely songwriting on his own and dropping band parts in later, etc. I'm not implying that that's right or wrong, it's just different from the earlier days. I also think it's harder to draw from the song well creatively after pulling out song after song for more than two decades; further, on us, I think we've elevated the Big 3 to almost mythical status, reliving the nostalgia of our younger days, that it's harder get the same reaction to the band's music that we had years ago: see "Neural Nostalgia: Why do we love the music we heard as teenagers?" http://www.slate.com/articles/health...rence_and.html.

I think Away From The World was the band's best shot at Big 4 status since the "Lillywhite Sessions" (Busted Stuff, I love, but it sounded a little sterile compared to those earlier scrapped sessions). Just consider Snow Outside -> Drunken Soldier and Broken Things. However, it's hard to give that album Big 4 status when 2 of the songs are effectively solo songs, Sweet and Belly Full. I also think If Only is kind of weak, even if fun occasionally to listen to.

All of that said, if they really did a nice job with some unreleased material, working with someone like Lillywhite who can properly layer their sounds, then I think you have an album that could achieve Big 4 status. Specifically:

Sweet Up And Down
The Idea Of You
Sugar Will -> Water Into Wine
Kill The King
Monkey Man
#40
Crazy Easy
Break For It
Good Good Time
Shotgun ->
Loving Wings

[Joy Ride has been released; JTR has basically been released; Can't Stop, Break Free are weak songs; Sister is effectively a solo song; Blue Water is great, but probably empty-sounding in the studio; A Dream So Real never really went anywhere; Granny would be a contender, but it's been around for so long now, I don't know, would be the next one worthy of inclusion..]

[trippingant]

Originally Posted by KevinTH5

I disagree with this, and this is simply my opinion versus yours. While this album was a shock to the DMB Fanbase system initially, I think the songs have stood the test of time. Fans HATED this album when it first came out, but now it appears the years have worked in it's favor. The songs are well written, but just written in a different way. To me there's nothing wrong with a band shaking it up after a while.

While the songs don't explore much in the studio, given the song lengths, I would argue that they at least have sax and violin solos and have definitely been taken to new heights in the live setting. My question now is, where do they explore any "jams" in Big Whiskey? Other than a violin solo in "Funny the Way It Is" the only other solos on the album are short guitar solos in FTWII, Dive In and Seven. So nowhere on the album do you even have the main solo instruments of the band brought to the forefront. On top of that the songs have not really gone anywhere in the live setting. Don't get me wrong, I love Big Whiskey and appreciate what it is as an album, but for the sake of argument, Everyday captures more of the old DMB spirit that was present in the first 3 albums. You could even argue the same for Stand Up in a sense. That album has a bunch of solos from both Boyd and Roi and have also grown in the live setting.

For those reasons alone I give Everyday the edge over Big Whiskey. While the bands sound changed in 2001 they still managed to keep a lot of the sound that made them what they were to begin with. I dig what they're doing now and that they aren't just repeating themselves over and over, but I prefer the less fast paced rock sound of the newer years.

What songs are you referring to that have "stood the test of time?" Other than WYA, So Right and Everyday. I Did It? STD Her? FTT? I'll pass. WTWE and IIHIA are decent songs, but nothing super special. DOOF, Angel and Mother Father aren't even played. TSB is ok in its current format but was awful in the early years.

Solos/jams are only part of a larger point I was making about overall musicality. I challenge you to pick a random song from each album and focus on listening to one member at a time, and tell me Carter isn't better on BW, or Fonz, or Boyd, or the horns. Compare the keyboards on ED to Tim's guitar work on BW and there's no comparison. Look at a song like LITHOG, a song that's extremely underrated in the studio IMO. The interplay between the drums, sax and guitar is something you won't find anywhere on ED.

I agree that live, the BW songs are nothing to write home about, but neither are the ED songs outside of about three. Heck I'll take SU songs live as a whole over ED.

I understand if you like the older sound over the new, believe me. I happen to like both. I don't mind Tim on most songs, and as a former trumpet player I love what Rashawn brings to the band, although I wish there was more freedom and less arranged parts. You made some good points, but I just can't bring myself to put Everyday as a studio album on the same level musically as anything else.

[chadizzy1]

Anytime I see negativity about Big Whiskey it always makes me think of the same reason I'm not the biggest fan of it - because they played the ever loving shit out of it during it's 4 year promotional tour.

[KevinTH]

Originally Posted by trippingant

What songs are you referring to that have "stood the test of time?" Other than WYA, So Right and Everyday. I Did It? STD Her? FTT? I'll pass. WTWE and IIHIA are decent songs, but nothing super special. DOOF, Angel and Mother Father aren't even played. TSB is ok in its current format but was awful in the early years.

Solos/jams are only part of a larger point I was making about overall musicality. I challenge you to pick a random song from each album and focus on listening to one member at a time, and tell me Carter isn't better on BW, or Fonz, or Boyd, or the horns. Compare the keyboards on ED to Tim's guitar work on BW and there's no comparison. Look at a song like LITHOG, a song that's extremely underrated in the studio IMO. The interplay between the drums, sax and guitar is something you won't find anywhere on ED.

I agree that live, the BW songs are nothing to write home about, but neither are the ED songs outside of about three. Heck I'll take SU songs live as a whole over ED.

I understand if you like the older sound over the new, believe me. I happen to like both. I don't mind Tim on most songs, and as a former trumpet player I love what Rashawn brings to the band, although I wish there was more freedom and less arranged parts. You made some good points, but I just can't bring myself to put Everyday as a studio album on the same level musically as anything else.

To be honest I was mostly playing devil's advocate. I really like Everyday and Big Whiskey about the same. I love all DMB albums for one reason or another and respect some more than others.

[aclark0622]

Originally Posted by chadizzy1

Anytime I see negativity about Big Whiskey it always makes me think of the same reason I'm not the biggest fan of it - because they played the ever loving shit out of it during it's 4 year promotional tour.

So true. Throw on BW after a good couple months off and it hits so hard (up to Seven; I could do without TB, BB, and Y&M). Any of it live though, unless it's Alligator Pie, I just can't get excited about it. Just shoved down our throats.