Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King
| Dave Matthews Band
Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King
Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King is the seventh studio album by Dave Matthews Band. It is the band's first release since the death of saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Guitarist Tim Reynolds played on the album, marking his first recording with DMB since 1998's Before These Crowded Streets. Rashawn Ross makes his first appearance on a DMB studio album since joining as a regular touring member in 2006 as well as Jeff Coffin, who has taken Moore's role since June 2008. - Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Rolling Stone
Big Whiskey, though, is a lot like a New Orleans funeral parade — mourning and zest balled into big, brawny music.
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Consequence of Sound
Big Whiskey is yet another DMB album that has a few potential Top 40 hits, some tunes to please the jam fans, and a sprinkling of strong songs that deserve to be heard.
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BBC
It will warm the hearts of existing fans but will do nothing to swell their ranks. It's middle of the road.
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Slant Magazine
Dave Matthews Band is still obsessed with death—and, alternately, singing and dancing and generally being merry—on the band’s first album in four years.
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AV Music
It is a grand, bleating homage to late band member LeRoi Moore, whose posthumous saxophone wails open the album. Big Whiskey is arguably the band’s heaviest record to date.
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All Music
What makes this the band's richest, and quite possibly best, album is the implicit message that all the love and loss can be felt and shared through the music.
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Los Angeles Times
The shambolic groove that's long been the band's trademark remains, but it's toughened up by foregrounded electric guitars.
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Spin
GrooGrux is harder edged and more bottom heavy than DMB’s usual fare probably a result of the grief suffered by Moore’s surviving bandmates. A fond, funky farewell.
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Sputnik Music
A step back in the right direction.
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Paste Magazine
Fans will inevitably find catharsis in the group’s mature mourning.
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Entertainment Weekly
Moore’s death is undoubtedly the reason that a group best known for its jammy, freewheeling geniality floats some uncharacteristically heavy vibes here, resulting in several jarring tonal shifts.
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Glide Magazine
This time around the bands produces a more somber but heavier theme – a tribute to saxophonist Leroi Moore who tragically passed away late last summer.
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Antiquiet
The end result of more than three years of staggered studio sessions with multiple producers and band members has yielded the band’s most eclectic, energized and aggressive record to date.
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offBEAT Magazine
Though less dynamic than the DMB’s previous endeavors, Big Whiskey is arguably the band’s most intricate and compelling affair.
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Every View
It’s a much welcomed return from a creative group of musicians who make some pretty impressive music.
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USA Today
Big Whiskey wields a sharper edge than longtime fans have come to expect from the group.
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Carlton Bale
For the first time in 11 years, I think Dave Matthews Band has released a great studio album.
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Don't Burn The Pig
It is dark, yet, optimistic, and has a lot [about] life and death on the record, a lot of reflection and searching in the lyrics.
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