Crash (Dave Matthews Band album)

Crash is the second studio album by the American rock band Dave Matthews Band, released on April 30, 1996 by RCA Records.

Crash
Studio album by Dave Matthews Band
Released	April 30, 1996 (1996-04-30)
Recorded	October 1995 – January 1996
Studio	Bearsville (Woodstock, New York)[1]
Genre	Folk rock soft rock alternative rock
Length	68:51
Label	RCA
Producer	Steve Lillywhite
Dave Matthews Band chronology
Under the Table and Dreaming (1994) Crash (1996) Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95 (1997)
Singles from Crash
"Too Much" Released: April 1996 "So Much to Say" Released: August 1996 "Crash into Me" Released: December 1996

By March 16, 2000, the album had sold seven million copies, and was certified septuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.^[2] Crash is currently Dave Matthews Band's best-selling album.

Recording

Recording of the album began in October 1995, and ended in January 1996. There were only four known songs from the Crash sessions that "didn't make it to the final cut." However, none of the titles are known.^[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[5]
Houston Chronicle	[6]
Los Angeles Times	[7]
The Philadelphia Inquirer	[8]
Pitchfork	7.5/10[9]
Q	[10]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[11]
Spin	5/10[12]
USA Today	[13]

Q described Crash as "equal parts originality and willful complication", and stated, "Although the band's determinedly jammy methods do lead them away from their songs at times, almost every track of Crash is at least 'good in parts'".^[10] Entertainment Weekly's Tom Sinclair praised the band's technical abilities, concluding that "one of the nicest things about DMB's music is that its distinctive complexity serves as a virtual assurance against a flood of lame imitator bands."^[5]

Jim DeRogatis of Rolling Stone was less favorable and deemed Matthews' vocals "too much like Sting's at times" and his lyrics "typically banal", while remarking that the album's musical eclecticism "gives Matthews a slight edge over his peers, but that's sort of like saying you prefer vanilla ice cream to vanilla frozen yogurt."^[14] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice evaluated Crash as a "dud".^[15]

Track listing

Crash

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"So Much to Say"	David J. Matthews Boyd Tinsley Peter Griesar	4:06
2.	"Two Step"	Matthews	6:27
3.	"Crash into Me"	Matthews	5:16
4.	"Too Much"	Carter Beauford Stefan Lessard Matthews LeRoi Moore Tinsley	4:22
5.	"#41"	Beauford Lessard Matthews Moore Tinsley	6:39
6.	"Say Goodbye"	Matthews	6:12
7.	"Drive In, Drive Out"	Matthews	5:55
8.	"Let You Down"	Lessard Matthews	4:07
9.	"Lie in Our Graves"	Beauford Lessard Matthews Moore Tinsley	5:42
10.	"Cry Freedom"	Matthews	5:54
11.	"Tripping Billies"	Matthews	5:00
12.	"Proudest Monkey"	Beauford Lessard Matthews Moore Tinsley	9:11
Total length:			68:51

Personnel

Dave Matthews Band

• Carter Beauford – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1, 7, 10, 11, 12)
• Stefan Lessard – bass, tack piano
• Dave Matthews – vocals, acoustic guitar, design assistant
• LeRoi Moore – saxophones, flute, whistles
• Boyd Tinsley – electric and acoustic violins

Additional musicians

• Tim Reynolds – acoustic and electric guitars

Technical personnel

• Steve Lillywhite – production, mixing engineer (3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12)
• John Siket – engineer
• Chris Laidlaw – 1st assistant engineer
• Scott Gormley – 1st assistant engineer
• Paul Higgins – 2nd assistant engineer
• Phil Painson – additional recording assistant
• Tom Lord-Alge – mixing engineer (1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 11)
• Alex Case – mixing assistant (1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 11)
• John Alagía – additional preproduction
• Ted Jensen – mastering engineer
• Thane Kerner – art direction, design, illustrations
• Jane Matthews – design assistant
• C. Taylor Crothers – Band photography

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1996) Peak position Canadian Albums (RPM)[16] 25 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[17] 37 US Billboard 200[18] 2

Year-end charts Chart (1996) Position US Billboard 200[19] 26 Chart (1997) Position US Billboard 200[20] 29 Chart (2002) Position Canadian Alternative Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[21] 100

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[22]	Platinum	100,000^
United States (RIAA)[23]	7× Platinum	7,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Baker, Katie. "The Eyes Have It: A Quarter Century of Watching and Being Watched by Dave Matthews". The Ringer. Spotify AB. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
2. "RIAA- Gold & Platinum Searchable Database (Page 5)". riaa.com. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
3. Dave Matthews Band, p. 33
4. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Crash – Dave Matthews / Dave Matthews Band". AllMusic. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
5. Sinclair, Tom (May 3, 1996). "Crash". Entertainment Weekly. New York. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
6. Welchman, Geoffrey (April 28, 1996). "More of the Same From Dave Matthews". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
7. Scribner, Sara (April 28, 1996). "Dave Matthews Band 'Crash' RCA". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
8. Moon, Tom (May 12, 1996). "The Dave Matthews Band: Crash (RCA)". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
9. Currin, Grayson Haver (October 10, 2021). "Dave Matthews Band: Crash". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
10. "Dave Matthews Band: Crash". Q. No. 119. London. August 1996. p. 114.
11. Puterbaugh, Parke (2004). "Dave Matthews Band". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 519–520. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
12. Salamon, Jeff (May 1996). "Dave Matthews Band: Crash". Spin. Vol. 12, no. 2. New York. pp. 107–108. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
13. Gundersen, Edna (May 7, 1996). "Dave Matthews Band, Crash". USA Today. McLean. Archived from the original on November 4, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
14. DeRogatis, Jim (May 16, 1996). "Dave Matthews Band: Crash". Rolling Stone. No. 734. New York. p. 64. Archived from the original on August 3, 2001. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
15. Christgau, Robert (September 17, 1996). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
16. "Canada Top Albums Peak". Archived from the original on February 17, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
17. "Charts.nz – Dave Matthews Band – Crash". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
18. "Dave Matthews Band Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
19. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1996". Billboard. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
20. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1997". Billboard. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
21. "Canada's Top 200 Alternative albums of 2002". Jam!. Archived from the original on December 4, 2003. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
22. "Canadian album certifications – Dave Matthews Band – Crash". Music Canada. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
23. "American album certifications – Dave Matthews Band – Crash". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 15, 2021.