Song of the Day 4/29: Dave Matthews Band, “Ants Marching”

Seems this was the year the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bit the bullet and opened its doors to bands that were popular but critically scorned. Foreigner was finally honored after a 22-year wait, of course, but the Hall also admitted the Dave Matthews Band.

Granted, they’ve only been eligible for five years, but it was kind of a snub to make them wait even that long. DMB had seven consecutive LPs debut at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart, and that doesn’t even include their first two, which sold 6 and 7 million copies respectively. They’ve been even more popular on the concert circuit – 25 million tickets sold and counting – but that’s a big part of why critics are unimpressed: DMB is part of the maligned jam band scene.

Matthews certainly isn’t to everyone’s taste. His vocals put off a lot of people, and his songwriting is short on melody and lyrical depth. On the other hand, the band’s unusual instrumentation – the classic lineup fleshed out Matthews’ guitar with LeRoi Moore’s woodwinds and Boyd Tinsley’s violin – lent itself to jam-fueling improvisation. This song, from the band’s major-label debut, 1994’s “Under the Table and Dreaming,” is a good example. It made several of the Billboard airplay charts.