Someone tell Lady Bird McPherson: Dave Matthews Band has announced a long-awaited vinyl reissue of the group’s seminal 1998 album Before These Crowded Streets due out on November 3. It’s the first time the record has been pressed on wax in 25 years.
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The anniversary release of Before These Crowded Streets — which spawned such concert staples as “Crush” and “Don’t Drink the Water” — will arrive on yellow translucent discs as part of a 2-LP set, pressed on 180 gram vinyl. That’s big news for DMB fans who have waited decades for the album to once again be available in that format.
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The new edition will feature liner notes written by Grayson Haver Currin, whose writing (and podcasting) on DMB has been foundational. His words will accompany a new booklet featuring rare photos. As the announcement on DMB social accounts states, the lacquers of the new vinyl were cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering.
Before These Crowded Streets was recorded between 1997 and ’98 on both coasts, at Sausalito’s Record Plant and Electric Lady in New York. It found DMB dipping into progressive musical movements, borderline creepy folk songs, and some all-time cuts — this melange, along with the sheer power of the group at the time, propelled by steady appearances on the live circuit — helped it hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Every subsequent DMB album would also hit No. 1 until 2023’s Walk Around the Moon, which debuted at No. 5
Before These Crowded Streets was produced by Steve Lillywhite, who also helmed the first two DMB records. It was their last full-album collaboration, though they did work on songs that later leaked as The Lillywhite Sessions, a one-time apocryphal release among fans. The support for those demos led to the band re-recording most of them for Busted Stuff in 2022.
The new vinyl release comes at a time when both public and critical opinion of DMB is high, thanks in part to re-evaluations and certainly pop-culture moments like a pivotal scene in Greta Getwig’s 2017 film Lady Bird. Pre-order for the new vinyl is available here.
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Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Songwriters Hall Of Fame
