Customer Reviews

The Dave Matthews Band: Music for the People

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

Being someone who picks up everything that is Dave Matthews Band, I purchased "Music for the People," hoping that it would be what "Step Into the Light" strived for but didn't quite reach. Unfortunately, I was even more disappointed with this read than I was with the band's first book. Nevin Martell's writing is the main downfall of "Music for the People," as his authoring is plain and seems amateur-ish. I was also appalled by the number of errors found in this book -- I'm sure most people would buy this book to learn about the band, so it scares me that this text has probably over two dozen mistakes involving song titles, dates and other somewhat-useful trivia about Dave Matthews Band. Although hands down I would recommend "Step Into the Light" over "Music for the People," this book does beat its predecessor in several aspects. First and simple, the book contains updated info about the band through Spring 1999 ("Step Into the Light" left off sometime around late '97, prior to the release of the "Before These Crowded Streets" album). "Music for the People" also contains several appendices, which include a "DMB gigography," discography, complete listing of almost every DMB concert in the band's history, and more (this is the book's strong point, but not solely worth the purchase price). Finally, this book is thankfully missing the "essay" format found in "Step Into the Light."

Fans looking for a lone book about Dave Matthews Band will fare better with "Step Into the Light," but a diehard fan who craves for DMB would most likely not regret buying "Music for the People."

I found this book on the most part, informative, but the writing sytles of Nevin Martell caused the book's information to be scatter and poorly organized. Thus making the book extremely less worthwhile than it could of been. The best part of the book was the setlists, complete cover song list, and the favorite bootlegs of the author. These reasons alone are not enough to purchase the book, as the setlists can be found on the DMB webpage, and bootleg favorites are best left up to the individual, and their personal taste.

The book was well-organized, bringing the reader along on the journey with the band. I liked the humanization of the band members and got an appreciation for what they were trying to accomplish as musicians as well as entertainers. The author's respect for this band was evident throughout the book. After reading this book, I would like to experience a live concert. Until then, I have borrowed my daughter's CD's. Thanks to the author, I now know the history behind each song and each album. I will read his next book!

_I_ could have done a better job. This book had several mistakes (One particularly obvious one, if you trouble to glance at a picture of Dave. Blue eyes? Brown hair? Please.), the style wasn't altogether engaging and how many people actually care about the cover band? The lead singer of which, by the way, does NOT resemble Dave Matthews. I cannot believe he put a picture of them in there. Speaking of which, at least the pictures could have been of better quality. Plus, the layout wasn't exactly balanced. It's so maddening to see this kind of thing! Such simple little stuff in presentation and obvious errors in description. Songs that were mentioned in the book left off of the lists in the back to boot. Come on. Ever hear of proof-reading? Honestly, I do think I should try my luck at this. God knows it could not be any worse.

I am a huge DMB fan. I am from Hampton, Va. which is about two and one-half hours from Charlottesville, Va. where this all started, and I think people around here are starting to get an idea of what a great band this is! This book covered everything about the band. The interviews that were included in the writing were very nicely added by Mr. Martell and they flowed with the rest of the story that he was telling. I found out things about Dave and the rest of the band that I probably wouldn't have anywhere else. From the background of all the members of the band, to explaining the meanings of the songs, and what Dave and the band had in their minds when writing them. To all of the web sites mentioned and the list of all the CDs with all the songs listed too. If you are a huge DMB fan like myself and you want to get more inside info on the band I strongly recommend this book! I also strongly recommend seeing DMB in concert! It is well worth it because it is the best show around from the best entertainers around! Enjoy! I did and still do!

I was looking forward to this book because I thought it would help to update the established book on the band--Morgan Delancey's Step into the Light. Although the information is more current, I found a lot of mistakes here, and the story just is not as solid as Delancey's. All of this aside, the picture are old and really don't compare to some of the original photos that can be found in Step into the Light. This seemed like a quicky job, rather than a labor of love. The result is a book that seems hurried, haphazard, and lacking in factual accuracy. If you have to buy one book on DMB (and I'm not the kind of person who usually reads books on bands) make it Step into the Light. There is still room for another book on DMB--maybe several books--but I don't think this one really breaks much new ground.

This book was a good start for someone who would like to gain knowledge of the band. It tells of their beginings and how they got where they are today. This book was an easy and interesting read. It also has a complete listing of their shows and other neat info for fans. I reccomend this book to anyone who enjoys this bands music.

An exciting look into the DMB, this book seems to be almost a Cliffs Notes version of another recently released book, "Dave Matthews Band: Step Into The Light". While having a few unique facts here and there that make the book a keeper, the majority of it is a look at where the band came from, very in-depth looks at their albums, and has a nice set of DMB pictures.

All of you who bashed this book should be ashamed of yourselves! This book is great! I believe I read it in one setting! I liked that it was easy to read and didn't contain a lot of musical jargon (that some of us know nothing about!) I thought that Nevin did a great job without doing an interview himself. I, personally don't feel like getting on the internet to look up every interview, so I found it very convienent. I am also glad that there is another piece of literature out there about my favorite band! Thanks for writing it!

This book is simply a rehash of every interview Dave Matthews has ever done. No new quotes or information. The author simply visited the plethora of DMB web sites and condenses the information. Boo.