Dave Matthews has left the band. Okay, perhaps not permanently, but for his newest solo album release he has, to show his talents on his own.

Without a doubt Matthews’ album will be a hit due to his highly devoted following that have a slightly obsessive liking to his music. While Matthews carries the new album Some Devil on his own with a little help from a few friends (Tim Reynolds and Phish’s Trey Anastasio), the possibility remains that it may not be one of his greatest.

“Dodo” and “So Damn Lucky” softly start the album off right with a very “Dave-esque” light guitar strumming. His smooth soft vocals found in many of his slower songs stands out being the most well known Dave found on such songs as his famously beautiful and catchy “Satellite” and “Space Between.” This same soft Dave sound can be found on “Stay or Leave” as well as “Oh” which has more of a catchy beat and almost seems to draw the listener in with each progressive beat.

Dave’s performance takes a sudden turn on the third track, “Gravedigger,” the rough edged new single that Matthews has been playing in concerts for quite some time now. It’s a much edgier performance but despite its harsh tone, Dave’s grainy voice is different from his slower paced songs, but somehow comes out just as beautiful.

“Gravedigger” is a social commentary on death and its affect on different people. With profound lyrics and eerie performance, it is something much deeper found that is no longer the upbeat Dave Matthews that those who are not devoted fans are used to.

The acoustic performance of this song can be found on track 14 which is much more of the typical Dave Matthews and its less edgy, but more down to earth. Other songs with this same sound include “Too High” which is almost as edgy and eerie as “Gravedigger.”

Matthews’ single “Some Devil” is somewhat pushing it, and not in the good way. It has more of a focus on his vocals that surprisingly come out strained and are almost intolerable compared to his many other genius vocal performances.

Matthews shows his famous musical passion and talent with “Save Me” which has a great electric guitar performance and his vocals have the power and strength that those who have experienced seeing him live are used to. And possibly the choir backing him surely doesn’t hurt to create a musically strong track.

Many of those who are not extreme Dave Matthews Band fans know that Matthews is a multi-dimensional musician who creates many different sounds throughout an album that can catch the casual listener, who is used to mainstream Dave Matthews, off-guard. He grows and changes with each album and within each album he grows with each song.

There are different sounds to Matthews and some sounds are much edgier while others are closer to the breezy songs he played in his early days. But no matter what, Matthews has something for everyone and if listeners hate one song on this album, they’re sure love another if they don’t love them all.

He has variety, which is the main reason for his very large and extremely devoted fan base that he has acquired over the past 10 years. While many musicians take the chance on a solo album, Matthews had the hit album in the bag before he started recording. He can pull off a solo album without a hitch, but perhaps Dave Matthews may just be more powerful with the Band than without.