One of the great things about being a music critic is that one gets paid to listen to all sorts of c.d.'s. It's also one of the worst things. Inevitably, the c.d.'s arrive bearing some variation of the "For promotional use only" legend. Everyday, the latest installment of the Dave Matthews Band's seemingly irresistible rise to global pre-eminence, came with a stern black and white warning "Not for Sale." Rarely have truer words been used by a record company to describe its product.

It's not that Everyday is some kind of squealing cacophony. Quite the opposite. Each of the songs on the disc is slickly produced and inoffensive to the point of being glib. Matthews' trademark weird vocal yawl-and-flutter are also present and correct. It's just that the album's songs slide off the mind, leaving little trace of their passing save for a few small oleaginous marks.

Plus, the bass guitar was made from the wood of some very old boat. Like wow, man.