Everyday marks the fourth full-length studio release from the Dave Matthews Band, and in 2001 came in with a bang, thanks to the soon-after (or maybe it was leaked before) leaked Lillywhite Sessions, which they had recorded, scrapped, then embraced, then partially released all revamped and the like on Busted Stuff.

But I'm going to stay away from comparing the Lillywhite Sessions from Everyday. Everyday is the most poppy and produced work DMB has done to date, bar none. This marks the first album they cut without produced Steve Lillywhite and with producer Glen Ballard… Hopefully this is the last thing they do with him, too. He doesn't fit their style.

Taking a near-total 180 spin from the sparse, minimalist arrangements of the previous albums, and not focusing as much on the band's brilliant jams, Everyday is Dave's showcase. Every song, his vocals and guitar take front and center, while the drums and bass are not far behind, and Boyd Tinsley's violin and Leroi Moore's flutes, whistles, etc. are unusually pushed to the back, compared to other releases.

"I Did It," the first single and the first song here, is the most non-DMB DMB song ever recorded. Ever. Electric, incessant, and annoying, plus with little space to improve upon in a live setting (which is, of course, where most of DMB's songs flourish), it just creates major problems from the start of the record. And "The Space Between" (the obligatory ballad single), is a soulless cop-out that pales to such masterpieces as "Satellite," "#41," and, hell, "Crash Into Me" despite a lot of fans disliking it for being a "teenybopper" song (whatever).

The only other highlights were mentioning (read: everything else is just… there) are "What You Are," "So Right," "If I Had It All," "Angel" and "Everyday," so, I'm going to comment on them. "What You Are"… how to phrase this… rocks. Eventually becoming a thing of absolute beauty live, the studio version holds up fairly well thanks to Dave's energetic delivery. It's too bad that it fades out at the end. I would've liked to have heard that thing come to an actual conclusion.

"So Right" was better live, too, but is sequenced in a nice spot here anyway. Excellent intro to that one; gotta love that funky little groove. "If I Had It All" is cute… that's all I had to say. And "Everyday" is catchy, and the extended coda makes for a good closer to a decent album. "Angel" isn't bad, either. Anybody ever wonder how many songs have the word "Angel" in the title? It's a lot, I know.

The bottom line is… if you like Dave, you'll probably at least like this. Maybe not love it… And if this is your first glance at the magic that is DMB, well, uh, what else can I say but "I'm Sorry." Buy it if you ever find it on sale… unless it's on sale at FYE or Sam Goody for 15.99, because, let me tell you, that should NOT pass for a "sale," but that's another rant for another time.