Dave Matthews Rare Albums. OK While I'd like to say I'm a huge Dave fan, I will admit that unlike some of the people that will buy this CD, I only have been to 6 concerts and own 10-12 CDs including 5 live discs.
To most people that is a lot, but to Dave Matthew addicts that might not. I know that there are some people so obsessed that they probably have all 54 or so albums (90% of them live) that have been released.
That being said I have to say that this album in my opinion is well deserving of a 5 star rating for the following reasons:
a) Sound Quality - 5 stars. The sound quality is perfect. Just enough crowd and the band is captured well. Not to much voice not too much band. Perfect.
b) Song Selection - 5 Stars. A Few old songs a few classics, some Lillywhite stuff, but plenty of newer stuff. I also own the Live Trax Fenway album that has 4 cds. I mean I love Dave, but 4 discs is too many. Dave plays so many songs I realize it's tough to pare down a weekend of concerts into one CD, and that is why this disc gets 5 stars. Perfect paring. And yes there are some new tracks on here as well!
c) Performance - 4.5 stars - Comparing this disc to the Luther College Tim Reynolds disc is tough since that was the standard, but despite Tim not shining as bright as he did on that album he still adds plenty to this disc as would be expected. Also I notice that it seems like everyone kind of brings their A game. Not sure if it's Tims presence or what but it is definitely noticeable. And yes there's a little Dave speak, but overall very good. And did I hear a piano in there...
d) Value - 5 stars - Amazon has this for $11.99 that is great for a new release live disc from DMB that contains a couple new songs, but more importantly new live versions of recent songs. I mean if people are comparing this to Live at Luther College from 7-8 years ago then you know it's worth the $.
Overall this CD is great. My favorite still remains the Red Rocks two disc. For the simple fact that at the time it was awesome. It is still good, despite the fact that having heard all those songs played over and over in so many live versions has made it lose its luster. However as a new release live disc, I don't think there's a two disc release from that Dave to date that was greeted with so much widespread enjoyment as that albums was way back in 1997.
Socialites in the Hamptons paid up to $15,000 for the privilege of seeing this duo in action just a few weeks before the release of Live at Radio City Music Hall. Not that it was any easier to get tickets to the April 22, 2007, concert in New York that produced this recording, available on CD or DVD with high-definition 5.1 surround sound and an additional 46-minute film of backstage footage. The acoustic set features the veteran musicians performing for nearly two-and-a-half hours--and you get the feeling they could have easily kept going. Reynolds gets his solo turn on "Betrayal" and "You Are My Sanity," but it's a chatty Matthews who seems to be relishing the occasion more, stripping down some of his band's most popular songs ("Lie in Our Graves," "Two Step") while giving the fans a sneak peek at a couple of its new ones ("Eh Hee," "Cornbread"). The guy's even thrown in a few covers for kicks, including Neil Young's "Down by the River" and Daniel Lanois' "The Maker." In terms of audio quality and packaging, it marks a vast improvement over the pair's first release, 1999's Live at Luther College. And the best part is that it doesn't cost more than a yacht.
