Kicking off their summer tour, one of recent years' biggest concert draws, Dave Matthews Band has released it's fourth studio album, Before These Crowded Streets. It features the current hit, "Don't Drink the Water" which I have to say is probably the best track on it. Other highlights are "Spoon," a duet with Alanis Morissette, "Stay (Wasting Time)" and "The Stone" which is rather reminiscent of their earlier albums.

Even though the musicianship on this album is of the highest caliber (Carter Beauford is arguably the best drummer in any act to surface in recent years) this album is crowded with way too much syncopated rhythm for it's own good. Overall the songs feel choppy not poppy. I saw them live just after the release of their last album which contained a few great radio friendly numbers including the hit "Too Much." It was a fantastic show. With Crowded Streets, I suppose they are doing their best to promote their reputation as a great live jammin' band, as none of the songs are shorter than five minutes. Numerous tracks are seven minutes or more, so that even the best songs seem too long.

The biggest fault I can see in this go round is in the song writing. None of the tracks capture the strong pop/acoustic feel of their past hits. Some of the songs contain instrument arrangements that just don't seem to work. The combination of acoustic guitar, bass, drums, violin and saxophone don't meld as well as they have in DMB's past.

If you're a big fan of DMB by all means don't pass it up, however, if you are annoyed by Dave's voice or that hint of lounge act extraordinaires this is probably not your cup of tea.