Dave Matthews Bows at No. 1
With its new album, Away From The World (RCA Records), bowing at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, Dave Matthews Band reaches a new milestone, becoming the first group in chart history to have six straight studio albums debut atop the chart. Away From The World, the band's eighth studio album, sold 266,000 units in its first week of release. It is the follow-up to 2009's Platinum-certified Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, which was nominated for two GRAMMY® awards.
Dave Matthews Band celebrated the release of Away From The World with a show at the historic Hollywood Bowl last Wednesday. "'Mercy' [is] full of potential to become as captivating a pace-changer as 'The Space Between' was last night, when Matthews played a beautiful, stripped down version of the 2001 song solo under one spotlight," observed Entertainment Weekly. The Hollywood Reporter praised the band's renditions of new songs such as "the soft, melodic 'Gaucho'; 'Snow Outside'; 'Mercy,' which featured an effectively slow buildup; and 'The Riff,' a compelling standout ...after more than two decades on the road, there isn't a stage built yet he [Matthews] can't make feel like home."
Fans can check out Dave Matthews Band performing two tracks from the new album on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" at:
"Mercy"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VodrFABps5Q&list=UUa6vGFO9ty8v5KZJXQxdhaw&index=1&feature=plcp
"The Riff"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zrmefTh0TA&list=UUa6vGFO9ty8v5KZJXQxdhaw&index=2&feature=plcp
"Mercy," which the band also performed on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," quickly climbed to No. 1 on the Triple A radio charts over the summer. Today "Mercy" goes to Hot AC radio while "If Only," the album's second single, is serviced to the Triple A format. You can view Dave Matthews Band's exclusive performance of "If Only" for EllenTV.com at:
http://www.ellentv.com/2012/09/12/dave-matthews-performs-if-only
"Away From The Worldnods toward both DMB's past and its future," said USA Today. "The band reunites with Steve Lillywhite, who produced its first three albums; at the same time, the horn section of trumpeter Rashawn Ross and saxophonist Jeff Coffin is evolving into the role once filled by LeRoi Moore, who died in 2008. The band achieves balance in the midst of transformation."
Rolling Stone hailed Away From The World as "their strongest album in years" while The New York Times' Jon Pareles noted: "The songs have grown-up concerns, from lifelong love to the entire sweep of human history, in settings that range from sparse intimacy to intricate folk-and-funk excursions."
Dave Matthews Band - comprising Carter Beauford (drums), Stefan Lessard (bass), Dave Matthews (vocals, guitar) and Boyd Tinsley (violin) - was the biggest ticket seller worldwide of the past decade and has sold over 18 million tickets since its inception. The group has sold a collective 37 million CDs and DVDs combined.
