Hootie & The Blowfish - Looking for Lucky

Dire as it might have appeared when Darius Rucker appeared strumming a guitar in full cowboy regalia on a fast food commercial, Hootie & the Blowfish have not gone belly up. In fact, the songs the band uncorks on Looking for Lucky are so quintessential Hootie, right in line with 1994's Cracked Rear View and its 1996 follow-up Fairweather Johnson, that the three middling discs sandwiched between them and this offering could justifiably be yanked from their discography. The first single "One Love" lifts its sentiment (and its title) from Bob Marley, rubbing the master's message of peace and love with shiny pop polish. "State Your Peace" reins in its heavy-handed theme by way of straight-up sunny rock (think "Only Wanta Be with You" doused with some substance). "Leaving" loosens genre constrictions with a new-school bluegrass cut-up. Even a waltz is a thrown in - a cool, hum-along kind of waltz that makes you want to hear more. Looking for Lucky should cancel all concerns that Rucker & company have a long future of hamburger-hawking. --Tammy La Gorce Amazon.com

Looking for Lucky - A very nice album

"Hey, get outta my mind. Then ya tell me we got things to say."
The newest release from Hootie and the Blowfish is the best consistent effort from the boys since Fairweather Johnson. No stinkers, a nice collection, very shiny.
"You come around here lookin' so fine. Make it so hard to walk away."
'Very nice' sounds a little underwealming, I know, but it's just that, despite being a solid effort with a number of memorable songs, there don't seem to be any classics here. No 'Let her cry', no 'Hold my hand' or 'Goodbye'. No 'Earth stopped cold at dawn' or 'Tucker's Town'. No 'Fine Line' or 'Desert Mountain Showdown'. It starts off with the standard bluesy sound and then wanders into borderline Bluegrass country on the last few songs.
"Oh, get outta my head. Because that look could leave me dead."
I think the reason I've rated this album 4 stars (quite a good rating from me) instead of 5 stars is that it sounds a bit too polished. Maybe it's just me . . . 'State your peace' and 'Hey Sister Pretty' are good examples of very nice, if overly polished, songs. And I must say that 'Leaving' is a bit too cute for me. On the other hand, 'The Killing Stone', 'Waltz into me' and 'Get out of my mind' are very good with a bit of the old fire to them.
"Then you tell me that you love me."
Yeah, I do like 'Get out of my mind'. Sticks in your head in a good way. All in all, a solid buy. December 12, 2007

It's decent, but too homogenized

Like much of mainstream American music, Hootie & The Blowfish have found their groove and settled in a little too well. The songs all sound nice, but each bleeds into the next much too easily. I would mention standout tracks to try, but when songs barely deviate from their comfortable formula of an easy tempo and the same damn three chords... Close your eyes, point, and try a sample song. If you like the thought of 12 tracks of it, you'll be quite pleased with Looking For Lucky. As for myself, I think I'll look elsewhere. April 23, 2007

Good,but...

not as good as Cracked Rear View. It's a little more country than their previous albums if you can handle that. February 27, 2007

BEST BAND IN THE WORLD

My favourite group of music makers ever..
The album did not dissappoint.. thank you Amazon November 15, 2006

Hootie Does it AGAIN

A solid "comeback" effort! Hey Sister Pretty is by far the best track on this cd. Funny..the kids (who don't particularly LIKE Hootie) were caught singing along to the song on the way to school after a few listens. State Your Peace, Can I See You, Get out Of My mind...I could go on! GET THIS CD!! September 5, 2006

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