Dave Matthews Band - The Lillywhite Sessions (2000)

In September 1994, Dave Matthews Band released their debut studio album 'Under The Table And Dreaming', and with the singles released from it - 'What Would You Say', 'Satellite', and 'Ants Marching' - being commercial hits, the group started a long and successful career. The album brought the band worldwide fame and it was eventually certified six times platinum, and paved the way for its follow-up 'Crash', which brought the band a Grammy Award and four additional Grammy nominations, plus three more hit singles. By 1997, the band had reached unparalleled levels of popularity across the United States and, to some degree, the world, and so in October they released their first full-length live album, 'Live At Red Rocks 8.15.95', which was recorded at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, and featured songs from the band's first three albums. In late 1997, the band returned to the studio with producer Steve Lillywhite and an array of guest collaborators, including Tim Reynolds, banjoist Béla Fleck, vocalist Alanis Morissette, future touring band member Butch Taylor, Chapman Stick player Greg Howard, and the Kronos Quartet. They composed and recorded their third album for RCA, and 'Before These Crowded Streets' was released on 28 April 1998, with the record representing a great change in direction for the band, as they no longer relied on upbeat hit singles to carry the album. 'Stay (Wasting Time)' was an uplifting gospel number, and 'Crush' was a love ballad, and together with lead single 'Don't Drink The Water' they proved extremely popular with band's fanbase, generating two Grammy nominations. 

The band took part in the Woodstock '99 concert during the summer, and later that year they released their third live album 'Listener Supported', which was also issued as their first live DVD. In 2000, he band set up their own recording studio at a large countryside home outside Charlottesville, and with longtime producer Lillywhite at the helm, they began work on their fourth studio album. The songs were heavily influenced by personal conflicts, notably the death of Matthews's uncle from alcoholism, but the album was scrapped by the band themselves after falling out with Lillywhite. In October 2000 Matthews began writing with Glen Ballard, and with the rest of the band joining them in the Los Angeles, they recorded the replacement album 'Everyday' in ten days. While this album gave the band a fresh start, Ballard's production, which featured a pop-rock music sound and no songs over 4:43, was very different from the acoustic sound and long jams that the albums produced by Steve Lillywhite featured, and although 'Everyday' was a huge commercial success, hardcore fans were unhappy with this change of style, and the scrapped album was leaked by a fan in March 2001. Once the fans heard the abandoned album they were much happier with the usual DMB sound appearing on the album, and it was also praised by critics, leading to the band actually including some of the songs in their live sets. After critical comparison of the two simultaneous albums, fans who were less than pleased with 'Everyday' were even more frustrated with the band's decision to scrap the earlier work in exchange for 'Everyday'. Many of the songs from The Lillywhite Sessions would, however, eventually be officially released. In response to overwhelming fan support, coupled with a popular and widely publicized online campaign known as the Release Lillywhite Recordings Campaign, the band returned to the studio in 2002 to record 'Busted Stuff', which was produced by Lillywhite's recording engineer Stephen Harris, and which included new treatments of much of the 'Lillywhite Sessions' material, along with newly written songs 'You Never Know' and the single 'Where Are You Going'. However, if you're a fan of the band then you're going to want to hear these legendary recordings, and so here is the full album as recorded by Steve Lillywhite and subsequently scrapped by the band. 

Track listing

01 Busted Stuff
02 Grey Street
03 Digging A Ditch
04 Sweet Up And Down
05 JTR
06 Big Eyed Fish
07 Grace Is Gone
08 Captain
09 Bartender
10 Monkey Man
11 Kit Kat Jam
12 Raven