Dave Matthews Band

This midcareer record marked Dave Matthews' return to a band setting after a successful solo detour, and the reunion is as breezy and comfortable as anything in their catalog. Beginning with the portrait of "Dream Girl" -- top untied and glistening deliciously in the summer sun -- the record is filled with bike rides, puppy love and warm nostalgia. Matthews' languid delivery gives these tunes their relaxed character (and makes the lone political treatise on Iraq, "Everybody Wake Up," an odd duck) and helps D.M.B. slouch past their midband crisis with the casual class of wrinkled linen.

One advantage of actually being able to play your instruments: Midcareer crises are often
less scary. In the four-plus years since Dave Matthews Band last convened to write and
record a new album, its members have toured the country several times over; released
four live albums and the rejiggered leftovers collection Busted Stuff; and taken time out as
the band's frontman recorded a successful, if lightweight, solo debut. The group... More >