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Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King is Platinum
Posted by Jake Vigliotti in Album News on 8/22/09 5:57pm
After the catchy You and Me hits the radio airwaves, there will probably be a bump in sales. Meanwhile, Why I Am and Funny The Way It Is are still doing quite respectable on radio. Not sure how Why I Am isn't doing better, but that's for a different news item to tell people to call their radio stations and play the song that is arguably the best song released by DMB since Grey Street.
Lets not forget that Critics liked the album (as we did). So don't think that just because it didn't surpass sales of past albums in the same time frame that this album isn't doing good. Speaking of good, the tour promotion of Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, off to great reviews by fans so far, continues August 29 in San Francisco.
Big Whiskey Debuts at Number One
Posted by Matt Yette in Album News on 6/10/09 12:56pm
This news represents a milestone for the band, as they have now matched Metallica for the most consecutive chart-topping album debuts of all time. Dave Matthews Band might be best known for their live performances, but their studio albums continue to sell extremely well.
Critics Like Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King
Posted by Jake Vigliotti in Album News on 6/3/09 8:58pm
In the magazine department, Spin with with 3.5 out of 5 stars. Entertainment Weekly and Newsday scored it a B. The biggest shock came from Rolling Stone. The former music magazine has been especially harsh on the band in the past, but they scored it 4 out of 5 stars, shocking to say the least.
Of course, there's the other side of the coin. A few people didn't like it that much, but no one with the venom of Chicago Sun Times "writer" Jim DeRogatis. In his assessment of the album, he managed to take a shot at you, yes you, reading this now, by referring to DMB fans as "lite-beer-swilling fans", and called Dave a "bonehead". It's not something you'd expect from a professional writer, but that's what sort of talent you get when your paper is in bankruptcy protection. Of course, the DMB fan has taken umbrage with Mr. DeRogatis less-than-professional opinions. You can read their remarks under his report and here at antsmarching.org.
But outside a few iffy reviews, and one made by a bitter former drummer, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King is a hit.
Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King: The Review
Posted by Matt Yette in Album News on 5/26/09 10:02pm
Rating:
Since 1998's Before These Crowded Streets, Dave Matthews Band has released three studio albums, each with an increasing crescendo of fanfare and hype. While it isn't difficult finding fans of any of these three projects, apprehension among the fanbase grew with each release, as they were all generally regarded as not up to the quality of the the "Big 3", or 1994's Under the Table and Dreaming, 1996's Crash, and 1998's BTCS. It is understandable then, that Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King represents the band's most important album in the last decade, and due to all the circumstances surrounding it, perhaps the most important album of their career. Expectations - no, demands - for an album have never been so high, and with LeRoi Moore's passing last August, it would be no surprise to anyone that the band was under an immense amount of pressure to put out the best product possible.
Read on for the review here.
Big Whiskey Streaming on Pandora
Posted by Jake Vigliotti in Album News on 5/25/09 9:29am
The two - the April Demo and the Pandora Stream - are actually different. Most songs have slight changes, but the two most noticeable are Why I Am - which removes a Saxophone accompaniment in the beginning of the song, and Seven - which is improved lyrically, and just sounds better overall. How exactly did that happen, you may ponder? Well, it's pretty simple; the first thing to leak wasn't a finished product. The band and producer Rob Cavallo continued to tweak the album up until May. In fact, if you've got your hands on a watermarked disc, or attended a listening party where one was played, you'll notice some more changes. You And Me has percussion on the Pandora stream, and most watermarked copies do not (listen around the chorus of "You and me together..." and you'll heard the dearth of Carter). So... is what's streaming on Pandora the Final product? Last antsmarching.org heard, You and Me was to be a straight-up acoustic track, which seems to mean that the watermarked discs would be the "final". In other words, we don't know if the pandora stream is the "final final" version or not. Regardless, the stream is only 96 kb, and not the greatest of quality, so it'll all sound a lot better once the album arrives on June 2.
European Big Whiskey Disc different
Posted by Jake Vigliotti in Album News on 5/20/09 7:55pm
The blokes over in the United Kingdom will be getting a slightly different Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. According to a press release from Warner, the album continues on from the last US track, You and Me to include Write A Song and Cornbread.
Back on the Crash album, tripping Billies was originally slated for a European-only release, but that was obviously change. Cornbread was one of the songs originally slated for the US bonus disc/EP, according to sources familiar with the process. But that thing's changed so many times, it's not worth even trying to explain.
The Europeans can expect Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King the same day as here in the US - June 2. But with the time change, I guess you get yours first. So you've got that going for you, which is nice.
Shake Me Like a Monkey is Released via iTunes Pass
Posted by Joe M in Album News on 5/19/09 12:20am
CORRECTION: Via Email - "Nearly 1000 diehard Dave Matthews Band fans stayed up on Ants until midnight..." Or stayed till 6am to get that gem :) Best regards from Poland, Tomek (SmoothRider[PL])
- We feel for you. :-)
Contents of Big Whiskey Super-Deluxe Package Revealed (Video)
Posted by Jake Vigliotti in Album News on 5/18/09 4:43pm
The much-hyped Super Deluxe package for Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King made its debut - via video. The unveiling shows the box containing the Dave Matthews Band Super-Deluxe package, and all the contents. As you view this view, take note of the following:
The first book you see is pictures from the studio session. Next is the lyric sheets - with art by Dave Matthews on each page. After holding up the CD and the Bonus Disc, the next item seen is a booklet entitled Roi. It contains candid photographs of the fallen saxophonist. The last item held up is the behind the scenes DVD.
For all you techies out there that love those unboxing videos of the new hotest items, how about a DMB one for a change. Check out the video below (Ants has the special 'with struggling' Audio version.) Friday the 29th is currently the last day to preorder! (Yes that's just about 10 days away.) Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King hits stores June 2. The Super-Deluxe package is still available for order via the official site
Big Whiskey Leaks, sort of
Posted by Jake Vigliotti in Leaks on 5/17/09 12:47pm
In a leak that could only happen in the Dave Matthews Band community, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King leaked. Sort of. And in Puerto Rico. A fan on vacation in Puerto Rico got a chance to hear a portion of the album in a Starbucks of all places. He produced a dicey recording of Lying In The Hands of God that seemingly confirmed that, yes indeed, Starbucks had a copy of the album.
Naturally, every Starbucks in the free world then received phone calls asking if they had a copy of the album. And seemingly no one did. So what exactly happened? Well, it's not unusual for radio stations or stores to receive watermarked copies of albums in some pre-promotion form, and this is probably the case. The good amigos of the Starbucks in Puerto Rico probably jumped the gun playing it - probably innocently enough. But that doesn't mean someone won't receive a boot to the trasero over this one. Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King is slated for release June 2. But now everyone thinks it'll be sooner.
DMB To Play Beacon?
Posted by Jake Vigliotti in Album News on 5/11/09 9:19pm
Rumors have been swirling for a while, and now it seems that someone who should know says it's happening. A listing at RCA Records says that Dave Matthews Band will play the Beacon Theater on June 1. DMB does have an open date on June 1, and RCA should know, being that they're the record label.
The Official Site has yet to announce this performance, so the extent of it - for example if it'll be open to fans, or some sort of limited ticket sale, is unknown.
- UPDATE Guess what got pulled from the RCA site? That's right, this listing. However, if you were to walk up to the Beacon Theater Box Office, they'd tell you that DMB is playing June 1. So until they get the word to hush up, it sure seems that DMB is playing the Beacon on June 1. As an "oh by the way", there is a listing for a May 31 appearance on the CBS Sunday Morning show. Camera crews representing CBS recorded footage from Miller's during the weekend in Charlottesville, and interviewed some fans. So mark your calender for that too.
FUSE adds DMB page
Posted by Jake Vigliotti in TV Appearances on 5/9/09 9:14am
The hype for Dave Matthews Band's Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King continues to grow. FUSE TV has added a DMB page that allows fans to give feedback on shows, and events. Also, they have a number of music videos from the band, and a link to the interview they did with the band earlier this year.
That interview is part of a larger documentary of sorts that Fuse TV is preparing on DMB. That should hit close to Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King's release. In fact, DMB will be everywhere come late May/Early June, hyping the album to an extent rarely seen from this band. You can expect to see DMB on early morning shows (such as CBS Morning News, who recorded some footage from Miller's in Charlottesville, The Today Show, where DMB will perform live in early June, ABC News, who recorded some of the Night 1 concert in Charlottesville and interviewed fans, and periodicals like Parade Magazine, Relix, and Entertainment Weekly.
It's not like the hype isn't justified; it's been a very long time since DMB has had such a positive response from the fan-base. Of the Five new songs debuted on the spring tour, all have been at the least well-received, and even the one that received the lukest of warm responses was given passing grades on its next performance. Fans even responded well to the radio release - Funny The Way It Is - usually a no-no in the E-Cred department. But that's not without reason either; Radio and Records reports that Funny The Way It Is broke records for most weekly plays - 669 for the week of May 8 in the Triple-A charts. In other words, people are digging it.
DMB wraps up the spring tour May 9th in Vegas, and Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King hits stores and mailboxes (for those of you in the pre-order) June 2.
Clip Of Shake Me Like A Monkey Appears
Posted by Jake Vigliotti in Album News on 5/5/09 6:47pm
Big Whiskey Advance Listening Party Contest
Posted by Matt Yette in Album News on 4/29/09 12:18pm
While front row tickets and a meet and greet with Dave Matthews is exciting in itself, the unique part of this contest relates to its integration with Facebook. The first part of the contest, "Party with the King," promises 100 lucky winners; those who can organize and host the most attended Advance Listening Parties, organized through Facebook's Event Page feature. This is where things get interesting: the hosts of the top 100 Event Pages with the most members will win personalized advance watermarked (you didn't think they wouldn't keep an eye on you, did you?) copies of Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King for use at their Advance Listening Party, all of which are to be scheduled for Memorial Day Weekend. The parties will likely give thousands of lucky fans the opportunity to hear the new album in full nearly two weeks before the street date.
The second part of the contest is available to the 100 winners from the "Party with the King" contest. Each host will post a video of their listening party to their Facebook Event Page. The host of the best party - based on number of guests, party decorations, and music presentation - will win the "The GrooGrux Grand Prize," a trip to meet Dave Matthews and see DMB perform live from the front row at Cruzan Amphitheater in West Palm Beach, FL on Saturday, August 15.
Full details and instructions are on the Official Dave Matthews Band Website. You may submit your contest entry up to the end of May 12, so hurry up and organize your Facebook parties!
Pre-Order info for Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King
Posted by Jake Vigliotti in Album News on 4/19/09 10:51pm
The long-awaited Dave Matthews Band album Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King is now available, and there are a few options to choose. The pre-order, from The Official Site, features the regular CD - all 13 tracks from the 1 minute 10 second Grux track that flows into Shake Me Like A Monkey (easily the best opening track on an album since pantala naga pampa into Rapunzel and it may even top that) to the final track Time Bomb a hard-hitting, jaw-dropping, powerful, personal tune; heavy in sound and lyrics. That'll run you a mere $14.99 for the CD, or $9.99 for a digital download.
The CD and a DVD documentary featuring behind the scenes workings of Big Whiskey is $19.99. You can also pick up the Vinyl album (remember those?) for $17.99 - certainly for the collectors out there that are big on the vinyl.
But the big order is Super Deluxe - you get the DVD, photo book, Lithographs featuring artwork by Dave Matthews, and of course the CD with something they're calling "Extra Tracks". And what are these extra tracks, you ask? Antsmarching.org has learned that they will be studio cuts of songs, and one of those songs will be Shotgun. Additionally, if you have heard the Billboard video clip, you surely heard Sister being played. It's not a great leap to put one and one together, and figure that Sister will also make the 'extra tracks'. That will all run you $59.99 (well worth it).
And everyone who participates in the pre-order receives Live Trax 15 from Alpine last year (the disc says both shows, but they only list night one on the official site). The pre-order is available until May 29.
Big Whiskey Album Art Released
Posted by Joe M in Album News on 4/8/09 12:13pm
UPDATE 2: On the third day in a row a new piece of the album art has come out. We can now confirm that it's the album cover art and that there will be 9 pieces. Those of you that are frequent visitors may have seen some additions. We have been asked to keep those quiet in the spirit of the new album, so we pass that along to you guys too. Let's watch what the band has in store for us and let it play out as it should. Keep checking back with us for the next couple days and up to the start of the tour for the full excitement.
UPDATE: Well here we go. Another image as made its round on the internet a day after the first one. This time the image goes by the title 'panel9'. Is this another piece of a bigger image as we theorized yesterday? Or is this just a separate image. We'll leave that for everyone to discuss in the forums. We'll be sure to keep you guys up to date with any other images that make their way out.
Could this be the Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King Album Cover? Well maybe. We aren't really sure. What we can say is this lovely image has found its way onto the Dave Matthews Band website with a title of 'whiskey'. We don’t know much about the artwork for the album, but we do know via Dave that he had been scribbling album art, more specifically cover art. While we'll leave it to the art critics and historians to determine if this is a legitimate Dave Matthews original, it looks promising. It could be the cover, or liner note artwork. The image definitely has the New Orleans, Bourbon St. feel to it. The image also looks to be cropped with more going on in the picture then what we can see (and possibly we aren't supposed to see it by artistic design, or we are just getting teased with a portion.) Jump to the forum and let us know what you think!
Radio Stations: Funny The Way It Is will be First Single
Posted by Jake Vigliotti in Album News on 4/2/09 4:57pm
Numerous radio stations around the country are reporting that Funny The Way It Is will be the first single off Dave Matthews Band's Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King.
That is one of the songs we mentioned previously as a song from the new album. Those who have heard the song in one of the listening parties around the country seem to all agree that is a catchy tune with a good hook. Most went as far as to call it the strongest of the songs they heard (not all songs were played during the listening parties).
The single will hit as early as April 14, according to radio stations.
