If you've lived in a dorm in the past four years - or visited one, or walked past one, or even talked on the phone to someone in one - you can probably identify a Dave Matthews Band album without even trying (and this is making the doubtful assumption that you don't already own a handful of the band's albums and a concert T-shirt or three). But few of these adoring fans have the distinction of being the forerunners of the craze. So many people jumped on the bandwagon after 1994's Under the Table and Dreaming and 1996's Crash that the band's remarkable debut, Remember Two Things, often gets ignored.
Mainstream success in modern music means getting the attention of teenaged and college audiences, and the Dave Matthews Band has managed to do exactly that. In general, the adoration of college crowds ensures that high school students will follow suit out of either imitation or inspiration. For the Dave Matthews Band, its popularity "trickled down" to high school students and others outside the college demographic. The band's on-campus presence has been so improbably pervasive that no student now at Tufts has ever been here without the group's music.
The group was nearly unknown in 1993, however, when its self-released debut Remember Two Things arrived. The record showed incredible sales for an independent release, with over 10,000 sales per month despite having no distribution scheme at all.
Such remarkable popularity is understandable upon listening to the album. Remember Two Things may not have the studio sophistication of its successors (eight of the ten tracks were recorded live in concert), nor the intermittent anger and edge that energizes the band's more recent songs, but it highlights the beautiful, charming side of the group and promises such great things to come.
The band's distinctive sound owes so much to each member of the band that it's hard to name any one as the dominant force. Dave Matthews' distinctive accent may make his vocals particularly memorable, but Boyd Tinsley's violin and Leroi Moore's woodwinds contribute just as much to the melodies and to the "voice" of the band - particularly on such songs as "Seek Up" and "Satellite." The rhythm section, consisting of bassist Stefan Lessard and percussionist Carter Beauford, is one of the most capable and versatile such forces in modern music. Lessard and Beauford have to be both creative in temperament and unwavering in concentration to keep up with the complex rhythms and improvisations of such a jam-based band.
It was on Remember Two Things that fan favorites "Ants Marching" and "Satellite" first appeared, but other songs like "Christmas Song" and "Recently" may be known to some fans only from the band's three live albums. There are still unnoticed or oft-forgotten gems, however, including the heartbreaking "I'll Back You Up" and the sweet yet regretful "One Sweet World." While the entire band deserves credit for the tremendous amount of music that gets packed into each track, Matthews himself gets a nod for his excellent matching of lyrics and music.
There's also a noticeable balance between the lighthearted and the serious on Remember Two Things. The whimsical, surrealistic images of "Tripping Billies" and "The Song That Jane Likes" contrast with the more serious import of the pessimistic "Seek Up" and the clear, affecting religious messages in "Christmas Song."
Recording the album almost entirely live was certainly a wise move on the band's part. As a group known for its concerts, Matthews and the rest did well to make sure that the energy, excitement, and authenticity of their performances made it onto the recording. A band this well balanced on stage had little need for the remixing abilities of the studio, especially at the prices this would have implied.
Since its release, Remember Two Things has surpassed the gold sales mark of 500,000 units, an unheard-of accomplishment for an independent release. With the band's new record, Everyday, due out in two and a half weeks, there's sure to be yet another resurgence of interest in all things Dave Matthews. With any luck and justice, even more people will dig a little deeper and appreciate the clean, seemingly uncomplicated beauty of the band's first recorded effort.
