in late 1997, the band returned to the studio with producer steve lillywhite and an array of guest collaborators, including reynolds, banjoist béla fleck, vocalist alanis morissette, future touring band member butch taylor, chapman stick player greg howard, and the kronos quartet. they composed and recorded "before these crowded streets", their third album with rca, which was released on april 28, 1998. the album represented a great change in direction for the band as they did not rely on upbeat hit singles to carry the album. "stay (wasting time)", an uplifting gospel number, and "crush", a love ballad, became very popular tracks along with the lead single, "don't drink the water". dave matthews has commented that the "inspiration" for this song came from the treatment of native americans by the united states government. before these crowded streets was an instant commercial success with over 900,000 albums sold worldwide in the first week. as of 2018, there have been over 21,000,000 copies sold worldwide.