Hootie & The Blowfish - Hootie & The Blowfish

It took Hootie and the Blowfish more than four years to lick their wounds and get back into the studio after sales for 1998's Musical Chairs tanked--at least when measured again their 1994 debut, Cracked Rear View, which sold over 16 million copies. To prevent another commercial misstep, ?ber-producer Don Was was recruited to give their rootsy pop rock a tune-up and, to Was's credit, that's all he did. Was has cleaned up their folksy rock, turned up the guitars, and encouraged singer Darius Rucker to unleash his inner soulfulness. On songs like the simple but engaging "Little Brother," Rucker sounds like a modern-day Brenton Wood as he twists his elastic vocals around lyrics that impart a homespun tale about making one’s own luck. On "Little Darlin'," the band wades into country rock. A cover of the Continental Drifters features Drifters vocalists Vicki Peterson and Susan Cowsill. --Jaan Uhelszki