[1] Taking its title from a line in "The Dreaming Tree", the album marked a shift in the band's sound, having darker themes and textures and more complex arrangements.

Lyrically, the album tackles both personal and socio-political themes, such as war in "The Last Stop" and the slaughter of Native Americans in "Don't Drink the Water".

[5] They speculate that "MacHead" developed into "Bartender", which debuted in January 1999 at a Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds concert just months after the April '98 release of Before These Crowded Streets.

In November 2009, Jake Vigliotti claims to have heard 6 different demo takes of "Machead" from an early 1997 recording session for the album,[7] effectively confirming its existence to the fan community.

[10] Mark Weingarten, writing for the Los Angeles Times, highlighted the tracks "Rapunzel" and "The Stone" in particular for their "vertiginous polyrhythms and serpentine riffs that dart around Matthew's clenched vocals, yet always manage to lock into an enjoyable groove.

"[2] Another retrospective review came from Pitchfork's Jason P. Woodbury, who wrote that it "remains DMB's most experimental album, a crossroads in the band's history" and stated that it "explores the uneasy zone between celebratory anthems and grim lamentations".