Hootie & the Blowfish - Hootie & the Blowfish

 Hootie & The Blowfish
My niece was having trouble finding this CD. Amazon always comes through for me. It arrived in a short period of time and in perfect condition. January 9, 2007

 Not the wonderful Hootie I am used to.
I own four other albums and all of them are great. When I pop in a Hootie CD I expect to be relaxed by the soothing voice and the familiar sound that accompany one of my all time favorite bands. I buy CD's and keep those CD's on the premise that the entire CD is worth keeping. I am not buying a CD for one or two songs, but the CD as a whole. I just bought this album the other day. Half of the songs had the familiar feel but the rest could go to waste. I am giving it a 2.5, because half the album is great. July 17, 2006

 Theyre back!
I have been a H&TB fan ever since cracked rear view. I can admit that there have been some sub-par albums put out. I was very excited the day in 2003 when the self titled CD came out, but I was quite dissapointed when I finally got the chance to listen to it. Musical Chairs had some good hits, but I couldnt listen to it cover-to-cover.

Last week when this CD came out I was hoping for the best and this time I think I got what I wanted. This album is definately more along the lines of Cracked Rear View and Fairweather Johnson.

There are only a few tracks I skip--Free to Everyone and Waltz Into Me. The rest is classic H&TB in my opinion. Hope everyone else enjoys it as much as I do!
August 15, 2005

 Decent but not as inspired as some of their others
Don Was was brought in to produce because of "disappointing" sales for the last CD "Musical Chairs". Largely he makes good decisions that take Hootie closest to the sound on their biggest-seller, debut "Cracked Rear View" (major label anyway..I don't want nitpicks from those who have the self-released demo "Kootchypop" and others...).

How great this is to you depends on whether you think "Cracked Rear View" is their best CD or not (I happen to think that honour goes to the sophomore CD "Fairweather Johnson".) The songs are pretty consistently tuneful, but there's not much artistic innovation.

Probably the biggest "stretch" is the reggae-ish tinge on "Little Brother" which works pretty well (despite an ill-advised use of ghetto slang. "flossin'"? C'mon guys..you're too old for that crap..) The rest are trademark Hootie with "Deeper Side", "Innocence" (were Hootie now passe, this would have been the big hit ballad from the disc), crumbing love affair anthem "Space" and the lovely (and modern sounding) "Tears Fall Down", which is probably the other experimental tune because of the loops used on it.

Low points are "The Rain Song", not so much because it's a bad song, but because of the use of backing vocalists Vicki Peterson and Susan Cowsill. I realize it's a cover of a song the pair wrote, but they just don't "mesh" well with Darius' voice. (The songs Darius did with Nancy Griffith worked better..) "Little Darlin'" never finds a compelling hook. Stratchy funk ain't what Hootie does best.."Go and Tell Him (Soup Song)" is another miss.

Bottom Line: It's not their finest work, but it's a good outing. Hootie fans will need it. Those who like melodic pop-rock will probably enjoy it. March 2, 2005

 Definetley Different, But I REALLY like it
I really like this CD and if you liked any other Hootie & the Blowfish CD's you'll like this one. My favorite songs are "Tears Fall Down", "Little Brother", and "Innocence." February 28, 2005

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