Dave Matthews Band
Big Whiskey And The Groogrux King

A NICE WHISKEY AND THE COOL KING. Incredible. Dave "syncopated" Matthews has made another great album. It has been since the last century, namely since "Crash" (1996), that we were waiting for an album like this. Besides the countless live albums, not even "Everyday" and "Stand Up" (the latest) were comparable to the beauty of the early works.

"Big Whiskey" comes out a year after the death of Le Roi (hence the King) Holloway Moore, the band's saxophonist, who passed away prematurely following complications from an accident while driving a quad - and it is rightfully dedicated to him, starting with the intro "Grux," a very nice sax solo that paves the way for the typical 100% DMB FUNK of "Shake Me Like A Monkey," immediately exciting.

In this great album, we find a Dave Matthews with an always extraordinary voice (at times, it reminds me of Sting's), which becomes hoarse or falsetto when necessary, within the same song, or from one track to another, from the almost "Plant-like" tone of "Time Bomb" to the nearly boundary-pushing tones of "tearjerker" ballads that are never cheesy like "You & Me" and "Lying In The Hands Of God."

Dave "nice guy face" Matthews is incredibly inspired, writing a bunch of beautiful songs. There is not a misstep in this album, but what's new? Absolutely nothing, except perhaps a bit more rock presence, but the mix is that explosive and complex one from the glorious '90s, which incorporates extraordinarily perfect doses of rock, fusion, plenty of funk, deadly grooves, and jazz elegance, yet remaining absolutely POP, miracles possible only for a few masters, grant me a name, Bruce Hornsby, among others.

As usual, it's an album that won't sell in Italy because it has a completely out-of-the-box and trend-defying sound; it's too American and having high musical quality is destined for those who love to keep their ears open, for those who like to analyze and decompose sounds and textures.

So, folks, little smoke and lots of substance. Oh, I forgot: either you like it immediately, A LOT, or not at all, and well...!