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All Music Guide

What makes Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King the Dave Matthews Band's richest, and quite possibly best, album is the implicit message that all the love and loss can be felt and shared through the music, that the creation of the music itself is the reason why they're here--and that's not just a moving tribute to LeRoi Moore, it's a reason for the band to keep moving on.

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Rolling Stone

Big Whiskey, though, is a lot like a New Orleans funeral parade--mourning and zest balled into big, brawny music.

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Billboard

This eulogy is a celebration, and Big Whiskey is a dense, humid album that, befitting its New Orleans origins, shrewdly cuts its melancholy with exuberance and vice versa.

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Hartford Courant

Matthews finds a skillful balance in his lyrics between off-handed whimsy and deeper reflections, and the others back him with a tighter version of the instrumental interplay that has made them one of the most popular American bands of the past 15 years.

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Los Angeles Times

Producer Rob Cavallo, known for sharpening the teeth of Green Day and Avril Lavigne, among others, encouraged Matthews and his colleagues to turn up the juice and make some sharp turns. The shambolic groove that's long been the band's trademark remains, but it's toughened up by foregrounded electric guitars.

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Entertainment Weekly

Throughout, the spectre of death rarely recedes, but life--embodied by the proto-DMB revelry of 'Why I Am'--still prevails.

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Spin

A fond, funky farewell.

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Paste Magazine

While the band takes some sonic risks and shows continued versatility on songs like 'Alligator Pie (Cockadile),' the album is saddled with some of the same leaden production values that have dogged the latter half of the band’s recorded career.

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Q Magazine

This record will quicken the pulse of no one, but then chin-stroking does require a certain musical mellowness. [Jul 2009, p.127]

Boston Globe

Given the musically versatile, vaunted band behind it, Big Whiskey, for all its stylistic reach and array of textures, is frequently beset with a curious bout of blandness.

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Mojo

Although every other verse here is filled by paradiddles, polyrhythms and wilfully complex time signatures, DMB's ear for a tune at least provides us with some fine choruses. [Jul 2009, p.94]

The Onion (A.V. Club)

As a lyricist, Matthews prospers when he’s being boyish and mischievous, but his earnest bits are mostly unbearable, and Big Whiskey, in keeping with much of the band’s recent output, plays like one big scented candle.

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Slant Magazine

Produced by Rob Cavallo, Big Whiskey is a step back toward the more polished sound DMB explored on 2001's divisive "Everyday"--that is to say, a step away from the 2005's return-to-form "Stand Up."

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Hot Press

Steady as she goes on AOR eighth outing.

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Uncut

Too often they sound like Sting fronting Counting Crows. [Jul 2009, p.93]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.1 (out of 10) based on 47 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Brian C gave it a9:
This was their most musically diverse album to date which touched on various styles ranging from a crash-esque ballad to big band. I was impressed by this album and think that the true musical genius of this band made it's way to the surface despite the loss of a beloved member of the band. Truly great tribute.

Brandon W gave it a0:
I love it when the die hard DMB fans continue to say "best album ever" every time they release a new album. Now if we were to go back in time to the 90's, I would agree that every album that came out during that span was the "best album" (ending its run with BTCS). Lillywhite Sessions was good but of course that material was raw and lacking both lyrically and musically - hence the need for Busted Stuff, which was definitely up to par with the 90's sound and depth the band possessed. But this 'Big Whiskey' album is a load of fluff and mundane mediocrity. This is possibly the worst effort given by Dave when it comes to writing intricate lyrics - instead they come out as repetitive boredom. For example, check out the last track of the album: "The two of us together...yeah...yeah." We he feels he needs to repeat that a 100 times throughout the song is beyond me. Someone on here said it best - the rich, wealthy Dave needs to get back to his roots, as does the rest of the band. Sadly the only band member who was tapped into his roots and wanting to get back the sound that made DMB great is deceased. After 5 years of promising new songs heard live like Idea of You and so forth, we get this garbage? I own every DMB album and I could care less to purchase this one.

Jay S gave it a9:
DMB's last 3 studio albums have all had their high points, but generally speaking, we're disappointing, compared to earlier work. Big Whiskey, with the help of Tim Reynolds, really sets a new standard for the band. The more I listed to it, the more I love it.

John R gave it a10:
This is an incredible album that truly commemorates their fallen band member, LeRoi Moore. I am a huge DMB fan and this album has instantly become one of my favorite albums that I throw up in the tear of Crash, Busted Stuff, and Before These Crowded Streets.

Chris M gave it a10:
This album carries with it an implicit message of love and humanity that makes it the most mature DMB yet.

Brent S gave it a6:
Very bland. Better than Stand up. But the hooks are missing except on three songs. Quite dull thoughout, even with the "difficult" to play time signatures that people keep mentioning. I really wanted to like this, but the album is plain dull.

Matt H-C gave it a7:
While not quite "Big Three" material (the 3 being "Under the Table and Dreaming," "Crash" & "Before These Crowded Streets," Big Whiskey is akin to Busted Stuff...a solid album with a few "wtf" moments (Funny The Way It Is, for example).

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