Dave Matthews rarely has time to get away from his regular band’s touring schedule as the Dave Matthews Band has been one of the top touring acts for quite a few years now. This album is his personal brief departure, which finds Dave traveling down a different songwriting path with much darker fare than his normally peppy material. Dave shows off some impressive songwriting skills as all his lyrics are extremely first-rate; however this disc loses steam quickly with its dreary mood.

Boyd and the boys may be absent, but Dave enlists quite a few talented musicians to fill in and complete his setting. All do a superb job in their own rights, but many songs just come off flat in the end. Good buddy, Tim Reynolds plays on most cuts. Dirty Dozen Brass Band makes an appearance in the first track. Seattlemusic Group, a 45 member orchestra made up of strings and horns add exquisite touches in all of their songs. And Trey Anastasio of Phish finds time to lend his craft to four tunes. Oddly enough, those same four tunes are four of the top five from this set.

Starting with ‘Dodo’, the set starts out on an exceptionally optimistic vibe. The best song from this album finds Trey, Tim and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band getting off on the right foot with this quality track. ‘So Damn Lucky’ and ‘Gravedigger’ are next with Trey, Tim and the orchestra doing more fine work and rounding out a nice top three from the opening of this album. The title track is next and shows off Dave performing true solo style in this quiet, mellow piece. From this point, the album sort of fades away with many tracks that range from just average to very boring, uninteresting and ultimately, easily forgettable. By the time Trey comes back for ‘Up and Away’ to help save this album, it’s really too late as the listener has been lulled to monotony. Still, this track along with the closing ‘Too High’ put a decent finish to the album. The bonus track at the end is an acoustic version of ‘Gravedigger’ which is a breathtaking arrangement with the Strings blending in so beautifully to make this, along with ‘Dodo’ the best off the album.

So we are basically presented with a collection that starts admirably, fades for a while, and finishes effectively. The tunes that make up this dull middle section are nothing awful (except for maybe ‘An Another Thing’), but they just seem to lose the interest with their lackluster nature. There isn’t much here that you’ll find yourself yearning to go back to for more listens.

Initial copies of this release included a second bonus disc of five live songs from Dave and Tim’s Spring ’03 tour totaling another half hour of music. If you are on the fence about buying ‘Some Devil’, I would say go for it if you can find it with this bonus disc still included. Otherwise, take your chance with this faded effort. Teetering between a 1.5 to 2 planet verdict, ‘Dodo’ and the acoustic ‘Gravedigger’ boost this collection up to a more respectable 2.5 Planets.

Track Listing:
1. Dodo
2. So Damn Lucky
3. Gravedigger
4. Some Devil
5. Grey Blue Eyes
6. Trouble
7. Save Me
8. Stay Or Leave
9. An’ Another Thing
10. Oh
11. Baby
12. Up And Away
13. Too High
14. Gravedigger (acoustic)

Shamples Rating:  2.5 out of 5 Planets


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