Sound Advice: CD Reviews - Hootie & the Blowfish (Cracked Rear View)

CD Review:
Hootie & the Blowfish were all the rage with this their debut album. Selling millions of CDs with the help of three hit singles: "Let Her Cry," "Hold My Hand" and "Only Want to Be with You," Hootie rose to pop stardom. Their fall happened just as quick. Their second release Fairweather Johnson didn't do as well and everyone moved on leaving only a core of dedicated fans still buying their albums.

Hootie & the Blowfish were formed on the campus of the University of South Carolina. Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber and Jim Sonefeld began playing the folksy blues that made Atlantic take notice. Atlantic signed the band and Cracked Rear View was released in '94.

The popularity of this album was due to its sound. The music, a pop form of roots blues, wasn't heard much at all back in '94-'95 when grunge and hard rock were at its peak. The songs were straight forward feel good songs about love and gettin' by and it was a breath of fresh air to hear some good slow to mid tempo music. Like Blind Melon's debut self-titled release of '92, Cracked Rear View was an escape back to a less complicated style of music.

Unfortunately, that was mostly what it was, a good escape. The band never realized the same success as their debut. The music was not innovative or original and mostly everyone moved on leaving Hootie behind. So like Blind Melon, you can consider the debut of the band to be their claim to fame. I still listen to both albums regularly from both groups but have not really found the desire to purchase anything further.

Full Spectrum Staff