Something to Be [DualDisc] by Rob Thomas (Matchbox Twenty) (CD, Apr-2005, Atlantic)

Album Features
UPC:	075678372322
Artist:	Rob Thomas (Matchbox Twenty)
Format:	CD
Release Year:	2005
Record Label:	Atlantic
Genre:	Music (General), Musical & Performing Arts, Pop Music, Pop/Rock, Rock & Pop

Track Listing
1. This Is How a Heart Breaks
2. Lonely No More
3. Ever the Same
4. I Am an Illusion
5. When the Heartache Ends
6. Something to Be
7. All That I Am
8. Problem Girl
9. Fallin' to Pieces
10. My, My, My
11. Streetcorner Symphony
12. Now Comes the Night

Details
Contributing Artists:	John Mayer
Producer:	Matt Serletic
Distributor:	WEA (Distributor)
Recording Type:	Studio
Recording Mode:	Stereo
SPAR Code:	n/a

Album Notes
Personnel: Rob Thomas (vocals, piano); Heitor Teixeira Pereira, Jeff Trott, John Mayer , Mike Campbell , Wendy Melvoin, Kevin Kadish (guitar); Hasan Isakkut (kanun); Dan Willis (duduk); Frank London (shofar); Brandon Fields (saxophone); Gary Grant (trumpet); Reginald Young (trombone); Matt Serletic (keyboards); Mike Elizondo (bass guitar); Gerald Heyward (drums); Greater Anointing, Anika Ellis, Cassidy (background vocals).When Matchbox Twenty's first album became a hit, some critics lumped the band in with flash-in-the-pan rock acts of the day. What these early naysayers missed, of course, is that in vocalist Rob Thomas, Matchbox Twenty had one of the finest mainstream pop/rock songwriters in the business. Not only did Thomas rack up a string of hits with the Florida group, but he also co-penned "Smooth" from Santana's Grammy-winning 1999 comeback album, SUPERNATURAL.With SOMETHING TO BE, his solo debut, Thomas pulls out all the stylistic stops, revealing that Matchbox Twenty's alternative-rock format provided a somewhat limited forum for his considerable talents. "Lonely No More" mixes an insistent dance beat with an insanely catchy chorus that sounds straight out of the boy-band textbook. The title track is a sly lyrical dig at poseurs of all stripes, backed by an 1980s electro-funk groove, while the burbling synths and Eastern percussion of "All That I Am" recall the world fusion experiments of Peter Gabriel and David Byrne. An ambitious effort by a guy who knows his way around a hit single, SOMETHING TO BE is the sound of an artist breaking out.

Rob Thomas' multi-platinum rock band Matchbox 20 defied all predictions of one-hit wonderdom in the late 1990s, becoming a staple of modern rock with 1996's YOURSELF OR SOMEONE LIKE YOU, which remained in heavy rotation for the next four years. Thomas managed to help shape the sound of the era with the band's melding of arena rock and early-90s grunge, and his songwriting has proven to be nearly infallible. A 1996 collaboration with Carlos Santana won three Grammy Awards for Thomas, giving intimations of his solo potential. Tracks include "This is How a Heart Breaks," "Ever the Same," "When the Heartache Ends," and "Problem Girl."

Editorial Reviews
3 stars out of 5 - [T]he fare here is significantly spicier, with Latin and even funk undertones.
Rolling Stone