Some Devil - Dave Matthews

Advantages: Melodic, lyrical, thought provoking
Disadvantages: Brilliant, interesting lyrics omitted from sleeve insert

The mellow, understated sound of this album has kept it in my top twenty most played CDs for two years now. I have quite eclectic taste in music but having grown up listening to the likes of Donald Fagen, I've always expected my soft rock to make sense and engage my mind and this remains as important as the musical hook in my assessment of the merits of an album. At first, I dismissed Dave Matthews as overly pretentious and thought the songs were ...
...the second time my sister played the album in the car I was already noticing the nuances, the thought provoking word play and was struck by the sheer pathos of 'Gravedigger'. "Gravedigger, when you dig my grave Can you make it shallow so I can feel the rain?" The depth of longing in this song is exceptional and justifies its inclusion on the album in both an acoustic and studio version. There are twelve other songs on the album. My favourites include ... Read review

Advantages: One or two fantastic songs remind you of earlier albums
Disadvantages: The rest of the album...

...Dave Matthews' 2003 album 'Some Devil' has long been one of my all time favourite mellow, chill-out albums. It's slow melodies, heart-felt lyrics and understated longing for some other time, place or feeling has kept it in my top twenty. So I was excited to see this new outing with his band. However, this album is not quite what I expected. Some songs 'Dreamgirl', 'Stolen Away on 55th & 3rd' and 'American Baby' are at least in continuity with previous albums retaining the feel and mood of earlier songs. The lyrics are intelligent and thought provoking (if occasionally more laboured and cliched than before). 'Out of my hands' is included as a home recording - this is a precious, fluid song. I don't know if a studio version exists on another album but it would be worth digging out to compare it - this has an uncut charm... Read review

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