VARIOUS ARTISTS
Breathe Volume 2:
A Bluegrass Tribute to the Dave Mathews Band (CMH)
Reviewed by Erick Mertz

---

Deciding whether a tribute CD is worthy is often a shake of the dice - most come out as indulgent duds, and a few turn up boxcars. Few and far between are tribute CD's that genuinely attempt to bring something fresh to a catalog familiar.

Entirely retooling the original is one way to accomplish this freshness - hell, a slow funk version of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" might make Cyndi Lauper re-think her original idea. With bluegrass and old-time as popular as ever, CMH records has chosen to transform some luminary pop stars into down home dandies to mixed achievement.

For all of the earthen musical elements that exist in the Dave Matthews Band sound, transitions from original to bluegrass renderings are hit and miss. Where there is an upbeat tempo the jams are quite delightful as in "Typical Situation" and "Too Much." If the creators of Breathe were happy sticking with these, then their tribute would be a rousing success. The sensual hymns, songs like "Space Between" and "Crash Into Me" are a wash however, losing much of the swoon that makes them so great. The latter becomes a knee-slapper, an adjective I thought I'd never use for its moody sweetness.

For hardened devotees, Breathe is an ambitious essential; for the casual fan, it largely depends on which Dave is preferred.

© 2003 - Erick Mertz