Hootie & The Blowfish - Scattered Smothered And Covered

Proudly wearing their reputation as the "ultimate bar band," Hootie & the Blowfish have proven decisively that in a pop-music taproom bristling with full-bodied micro-brews and exotic imports, there are plenty who still crave Budweiser--and often Bud Light. It's hardly surprising then that in compiling this rarities collection, the band invited its fan base to choose a third of the album's 15 tracks (and its cover design) by voting at the Web site of a beer company. The result is a de facto tribute to much of the band's own favorite music, from vintage staples such as Roy Orbison's "Dream Baby," "Use Me" by Bill Withers, and Zeppelin's "Hey Hey What Can I Do" (13.98% of the virtual pub poll) through R.E.M.'s "Driver 8," the Reivers' "Araby," and "Almost Home" (14.24%) to seemingly improbable choices such as an unplugged rendition of Tom Waits's "I Hope I Don't Fall in Love with You," Vic Chestnutt's "Gravity of the Situation," and the Smiths' "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" (13.11%). Even on Kim Richey's countrified "Let Me Be Your Man" (the poll topper at 15.47%), Darius Rucker and company display an uncanny ability to unify--and homogenize--seemingly disparate material into their own endlessly bubbly brew. Even if all of it doesn't all taste great, it's definitely less filling. --Jerry McCulley