Underestimate Thomas At Your Own Peril

[Asher]

So yesterday, one of the best albums I've heard in years was released: Rob Thomas' (of matchbox twenty) ...something to be. It's just awesome. And it's not like MB20, it's more ecclectic. Don't really know how to explain it.



Rolling Stone magazine's review:

Matchbox Twenty guy makes groove-oriented disc, dares you not to like him after Santana's "Smooth," even the most skeptical critics had to acknowledge that Rob Thomas was an exceedingly crafty singer-songwriter. The evidence continues to mount on . . . Something to Be, Thomas' impressive and at times surprising solo debut. He hasn't simply cooked up a meat-and-potatoes Matchbox Twenty album on his own -- the fare here is significantly spicier, with Latin and even funk undertones. Backed by a varied group of players including Robert Randolph, Heartbreaker Mike Campbell and Dr. Dre bassist Mike Elizondo, Thomas hits to all fields. "Lonely No More," the first single, and "Something to Be" are riffy wonders that show him making a separate peace with the hip-hop universe. "Problem Girl" is gorgeous folk rock. Even Matchbox-ish numbers like "Ever the Same" sound fresh in this new context. Underestimate Thomas at your own peril.

The disc is a "DualDisc". One side is a CD, the other is a DVD. The CD side is a normal...CD. The DVD side has a DVD-audio version of the album, which is a digital 5.1 channel mix, 24-bit @ 96KHz. It also has a documentary, bonus song (New York Christmas), photos, lyrics, etc.

buy buy buy! (or otherwise acquire...)

Discuss!

[Agathon]

Total crap. Should be banned on grounds of taste.

[Asher]

You've heard the album already?

[St Leo]

MetaCritic: 62%

[Agathon]

Do I need to?

One doesn't need to be omniscient to know that all of Britney Spears's albums are crap: Britney Spears just means crap.

Same with this tuneless wonder. I hope my ears are never assaulted by it.

Crap crap crapitty crappity crap....

[Agathon]

The critics:

Entertainment Weekly:

Alas, the nuance that infuses a good chunk of Something to Be eventually gives way to the hammy, overemotive gestures we've come to expect from Thomas. [22 Apr 2005, p.61]

E! Online

Tracks like "Lonely No More" might strike a chord because people will think it's a funky new Maroon 5 song. However, Backstreet Boys-esque ballads like "Ever the Same" and "When the Heartache Ends" are just way too much to handle.

Blender:

The momentum collapses with ballads that would suit not only his band but even the Backstreet Boys. [May 2005, 124]

ergo it's aural poo.

[Drake Tungsten]

Aggie, you missed the best part of the EW review!

(Entertainment Weekly) -- Rob Thomas: adept craftsman or musical agent of Satan? Sometimes it's hard to tell.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/04/20/ew.mus.thomas/index.html

[Verto]

Not bad. Something I'd download, but I wouldn't pay for it. Of course, there are very few albums I'd pay for.

[Drake Tungsten]

Or what about...

He's become his generation's Phil Collins

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
Aggie, you missed the best part of the EW review!

(Entertainment Weekly) -- Rob Thomas: adept craftsman or musical agent of Satan? Sometimes it's hard to tell.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/04/20/ew.mus.thomas/index.html

I was too lazy: that quote was from St Leo's link

Anyway

(Entertainment Weekly) -- Rob Thomas: adept craftsman or musical agent of Satan? Sometimes it's hard to tell.

With Thomas' reedy whine at center stage, matchbox twenty embodied rock's drift into joyless, store-brand monotony by the late '90s. Every so often, though, Thomas thinks outside the matchbox and makes up for his transgressions.

''Smooth,'' his 1999 hot-tamale matchup with Santana, was one such moment of revelation, and ''Lonely No More,'' the irresistible initial single from Thomas' wide-ranging first solo outing, "Something to Be," is another.

Encircled by DJ beats, warp-speed bass lines, and a ''whoa-oh!'' refrain, Thomas sounds less like his usual tortured self and more like a boy-band veteran who still knows a thing or two about a grabby hook. Who knew he could be so pop, so rhythmic, so tolerable?

"Something to Be" doesn't always snap and crackle the way that single does, but it's not for lack of trying. Matchbox often strove to prove they had more to offer, but everything -- even their cracks at gospel and country -- sounded pretty identical. On his own, Thomas works hard to avoid that trap. (He's become his generation's Phil Collins -- an industry-savvy schmoozer eager to collaborate with others and lighten way up.)

Who would have thought he could concoct a taut, driven track like ''This Is How a Heart Breaks'' or graceful, near-Byrdsian gems like ''When the Heartache Ends'' and ''Problem Girl''? If matchbox twenty make the musical equivalent of supersize blockbuster movies, the best parts of "Something to Be" are akin to a more intimate indie film. Even Thomas' lyrics -- typically angsty and needy and delivered, as usual, with a suggestion of deep-seated resentment -- are less intrusive. What a difference better accompaniment makes.

Alas, the nuance that infuses a good chunk of "Something to Be" eventually gives way to the hammy, overemotive gestures we've come to expect from Thomas. The strained funk of ''I Am an Illusion'' is painful, as is the football-chant bombast of the look-how-dark-I-can-be title song (in which he lacerates himself for appearing ''a little too boy next door'' and feeling he should ''try to find a downtown whore'').

The nadir is ''Streetcorner Symphony,'' an embarrassing foray into '70s FM rock in which he slurps about going ''down to the corner'' with ''my sisters and my brothers of every different color.'' The song feels like the world's greatest Black Crowes parody -- until you realize Thomas is completely serious.

''Sometimes I'm people I never hoped that I would be,'' he sings in ''I Am an Illusion.'' Luckily, Thomas also manages, just enough, to be someone a pure-pop fan always hoped he would be, too.

[Asher]

E!, EW, and Blender -- clearly the leading authority on taste.

Consider yourself self-pwn3d...

[Imran Siddiqui]

From RollingStone.com:

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/7264515/robthomas?pageid=rs.Artistcage&pageregion=triple3

The other tracks on the album range from the funk pop of "Fallin' to Pieces" to the John Mellencamp-does-soul tune "Streetcorner Symphony" -- but little of it could be considered rock. For Thomas, though, that's not much of a change. "Matchbox Twenty stopped rocking a long time ago," Thomas says of his on-hiatus band.

He also talks about why can't this be his pop phase.

[Provost Harrison]

Next we will have to endure the return of Maroon 5. C**ts...

[Asher]

What's wrong with saying it's not rock? It's not rock, and it's good music.

I think all of you should at least acquire it (PM me ) before passing judgement. It's crafted well, even if cultural bastions of good taste like Entertainment Weekly or E! Online don't understand it.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison


Next we will have to endure the return of Maroon 5. C**ts...

And how was that post relevant?