Track Listing

1. Feel
2. Disease
3. Bright Lights
4. Unwell
5. Cold
6. All I Need
7. Hand Me Down
8. Could I Be You
9. Downfall
10. Soul
11. You're So Real
12. Difference
13. Disease (video)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33163 in Music
• Released on: 2003-02-24
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Florida's mega platinum Matchbox Twenty prove with their third album, More than You Think You Are, to be far more versatile than expected, comfortably outlasting the predictions of naysayers. Reuniting with producer Matt Serletic, the quintet takes credible swings at gospel ("Downfall" features a choir), Traveling Wilburys-type twang ("All I Need"), and big-arena rock with "Disease", cowritten by singer Rob Thomas and Mick Jagger and winkingly recalling Thomas's star turn with Carlos Santana on "Smooth". Pedal-steel great Greg Leisz spruces up several tracks, notably the tearjerker "Hand Me Down", while producer and keyboardist Serletic and percussionist Paul Doucette sprinkle instrumental pixie dust. More than You Think You Are isn't likely to appease critics, who have consistently accused Matchbox Twenty of yelling when a whisper would do, but fans of the group are certain to dig these panoramic songs, each drawn in broad, vivid strokes. --Kim Hughes

CD Description
'More Than You Think You Are' is the third album from AOR band Matchbox Twenty and the follow up to their 2001 release 'Mad Season'. Singer-songwriter Rob Thomas has returned to the band following his collaborations with Carlos Santana andWillie Nelson, to deliver an album which fuses 70's arena rock with 90's mainstream American rock. Similar in style to Tom Petty, The Dave Matthews Band and Third Eye Blind.

Customer Reviews

It only takes one match to burn 1,000 trees...
For the uninitiated (stumbled across this band / album by happy chance, maybe?) Matchbox Twenty is perhaps the best kept secret of US music as far as the UK is concerned, although some Brits may remember Rob Thomas, the band's lead singer, accompanying Santana on 1999's 'Smooth'. The band's sound could be described as Counting Crows meets Stereophonics meets itself in a dark alley... Not that the music's too dark - although some of Thomas' lyrical twists make classic just-been-dumped listening - fans of the band's previous two albums ('Yourself or Someone Like You' (1998) and 'Mad Season' (2001)) will already have motored down the M20 with some of m20's dashboard-thumping anthems blaring at their grinning mugs (or at least thought of it...).

So what about m20's latest offering? First impressions were that this was capital-"R" Rock that was in danger of sounding overly commercial, but somehow managed to polish up rougher. All the sophistication you'd hope for from a band's third album is there, and more - it will grab you on first listening, but put a bit more effort in and you will be rewarded by being gripped even tighter.

From the off, first track 'Feel' kicks the listener in the back with Brian Yale's Rottweiler-style bass, and the fact that the next track, 'Disease' was co-written by Mick Jagger might lead one to believe that the stall has been set out firmly in Rockville. However, what follows, in the form of 'Bright Lights', is a complex, building ode to the loss of a loved one to ambition and star-strike, with a strong piano presence, and this rich complexity is continued throughout the album, yet somehow managing to avoid feeling schizophrenic.

Picking notable tracks from a whole album of gems seems unjust, but 'Hand Me Down' stands out as a by-now-trademark ballad of simple, dark beauty, and 'Soul' just has it all - 'nough said.

The band as a whole seems more confident in its ability to part ways together, and return as one at the crucial moment, in the style of the best blues oufits. The sleeve notes testify to Paul Doucette's mastery of more than just drums, and indeed there is more breadth of instrumentation than the brass-dominated 'Mad Season' and the raw guitar of 'Yourself or...'. Kyle Cook is, as ever, in virtuoso control of his 6-stringed beast, with the luxury of being able to depend heavily on the solid platform of Adam Gaynor's rhythm guitar (not to mention the noticeably improved backing vocals of this pair). And then there's Rob Thomas, he of the polished gravel voice - fans will have no complaints, although newcomers may remark on his similarity to Adam Duritz of Counting Crows, or even, on 'Soul' in particular, Jon Bon Jovi.

In conclusion, then, a storm of an album which deserves to set the music scene alight, but in the face of lamentable UK marketing, will probably just start a few Stateside bushfires. Prove me wrong - buy the album, if you've enjoyed any of the offerings from Coldplay, Stereophonics, Counting Crows, Barenaked Ladies or the innumerable new bands with "The..." in their names - I can virtually guarantee that you will end up wondering, like me, why Matchbox Twenty are so unheard of in the UK.

I'll leave the last words to Rob and the boys: "It hits you so much harder than you ever thought it would, but don't you worry, cuz you've got soul..."

Better and better
The long-awaited new album from the masters of intelligent rock is even better than I expected.
A heady hybrid of the first two fabulous albums "More than you think you are" is everything I thought it would be and so much more. The sound has evolved and matured so much that they cannot be accused of sticking to a winning formula or resting on their laurels.
Rob's lyrics continue to evoke memories of every heartbreak but here and there the anger and bitterness we all feel from time to time boils over. These songs, such as the dramatic opener "Bright Lights" are rockier than previous material and contribute to a mood which ebbs and flows throughout this musical journey. Rob's wit still shines through, for instance with a wonderful play on Police lyrics, and he continues to portray the painful truth in a fresh and vibrant way.
Rob's voice has matured and his range his broadened to include the raunchy and the heartfelt croon - even sexier than all the prolific praise heaped on him thus far gives him credit for.
This is undoubtedly their best yet and I hope it's the one to finally give them the break they deserve in the UK.
I can't classify them or liken them to anyone else, they are truly unique and talented artists as individuals and even more so as a group.
Just rush to buy it NOW!!!

Get. It. NOW.
Mention Matchbox20 to most people and they'll stare at you as if you just asked them to describe Einstein's Theory of Relativity,but mention them to a select few and you will notice a distinctly different reaction - eyes lighting up, a smile spreading across their face - and when you hear the band's previous albums, you'll understand why.

For me, they are the greatest band the UK will ever hear about for a long time yet, and their latest album is the best one they have produced so far.

Taking a radical change of direction from the softer tones of "Yourself or Someone Like You" and "Mad Season", "More Than You Think You Are" settles for a more rock-orientated sound, although they do put in some very nice ballads such as "Unwell", quite possibly the first song i know about being crazy, and the rather emotional "The Difference", but whether you listen to the ballads or the harder tracks - of which "Disease" and "Feel" are but two - you will notice the band's usual unstoppable energy, and the penchant for build-ups they've had since "Mad Season".

This album, like its predecessors, manages to display a wide range of emotion in each song - there's joy, love, hate, pain, and in the case of "You're So Real" - the album's most energetic track - pure lunacy.

So, to sum it up - this album has emotion, it has ballads, it has rock, but more than that it has the great sound that makes it unmistakeably Matchbox20, and the raw energy that suffuses everything they do.
If you liked the previous two albums, you need this like you need air. Get it, and get it now.