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Remarkably, these songs not only retain their emotional core even after they've been cleaned up, but they perhaps even gain more resonance in this setting.
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Busted Stuff does strip away some of the Lillywhite mystique, dropping the exaggerated façade of "lost classic" status, but it further illustrates that Matthews' discards are often more compelling than his hits.
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A masterwork filled with heavy violins, silky woodwinds, a driving soprano sax, a haunting bass guitar, and expert melding of jazz and rock, with Latin beats and bluesy overtones.
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As cohesive and potent as Everyday or anything else in the DMB's catalog
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These are just good tunes, no matter what the window dressing is.
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The band still tends to overplay: Its fussiness undercuts the strongest of the new tracks, "You Never Know," even as the singer reaches for some falsetto salvation.
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Busted Stuff is marked by luxuriously long tracks that maximize the skills of the band.
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SpinThe best album of Dave Matthews' career--the most coherent and graceful, the least wanky and aw-shucks messianic. [Aug 2002, p.107]
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This is such a fascinatingly different take on (mostly) the same material that it almost whets your appetite for a third rendering.
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BlenderThe Lillywhite songs are mostly improved here. [#8, p.119]
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Q MagazineThough this is a return to Matthews's more meandering ways, some lessons about conciseness have plainly been learned. [Nov 2002, p.108]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 27 out of 32
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Mixed: 2 out of 32
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Negative: 3 out of 32
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May 23, 2023This is definitely my favorite dave matthews band album, and it doesn't get the love it deserves.
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JohnDAug 31, 2009For dave fans it's minor. better than everyday worse than the first three.
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CurtWMar 6, 2006I love the music of dave matthews and his band. this cd in my opinion is one of his best non-live cds he has.