DMB stands out with ”Stand Up”

Dave Matthews Band

“Stand Up” (RCA) •••

Regarded more as a touring force than a radio phenomenon, the DMB has been unfairly tossed onto the jam bandwagon with the neo-hippie noodlers and snoozers who assumed the Grateful Dead mantle.

The quintet may be guilty of some indulgent soloing live, but “Stand Up,” its first studio album since 2002’s “Busted Stuff,” finds the band busting loose from the droning herd.

Producer Mark Batson, whose resume boasts collaborations with Seal and India Arie as well as Eminem and 50 Cent, manages to tap into the band’s clockwork synchronization as well as showcase individual talents, resulting in a cohesive collection of sturdy arrangements, impressive diversity and rich musicianship.

The funk-plied “Louisiana Bayou,” soulful “Smooth Rider” and salacious “Dreamgirl” activate the hips and stir the heart. Quieter tunes, especially gloriously unadorned love song “Steady as We Go,” are just as satisfying.

Bouncing from sexy to spiritual and sweet to savage, “Stand Up” is a standout.

Edna Gundersen, USA Today

Ryan Adams & the Cardinals

“Cold Roses” (Lost Highway) •••

Forget the Joneses. In the realm of 21st century singer-songwriters, it’s all about keeping up with the Obersts.

Ryan Adams’ place as the new millennium’s critical darling has been usurped of late by Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst. But on this new band outing, Adams answers Oberst’s recent one-two punch – a pair of lauded, simultaneously released albums – with a powerful double CD of his own.

Following several solo ventures, the former Whiskeytown frontman is working with a new, country-rock-leaning quartet that helps him zero in on the nexus of the Gram Parsons-era Flying Burrito Brothers, Grateful Dead and the Band. They lay down a moody, often melancholy yet stately foundation for Adams’ most focused offering in a long time.

Tracking the ups (few) and downs (many) of love, these 18 songs create a near-existential rumination on the struggle for happiness. Several open up into Dead-like jams, though most clock in under six minutes.

It all leads toward a hard-won realization in the penultimate song, “Life Is Beautiful,” that pain and pleasure are but two sides of the same coin.

Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Times

Robert Plant

“Mighty Rearranger” (Sanctuary) •••

“Mighty Rearranger” carries more than a few sonic traces of Plant’s old band, Led Zeppelin. But it’s definitely no self-parody and in fact is a pretty smart and adventurous work.

Plant, now 56, conjures up a few tricks along the way on his first solo release of all new songs in a dozen years. Most arresting are the North African melodies and instrumentation on “Somebody Knocking,” “Another Tribe” and “The Enchanter,” which include the use of Moroccan bendir drums and the tehardant (lute) and quickly bring to mind “Kashmir” off “Physical Graffiti.”

“Mighty Rearranger” proves that a classic rocker can grow older and not only avoid embarrassment but actually produce good work. What a concept.

Martin Bandyke, Detroit Free Press