Disco de Hootie & The Blowfish: “Hootie & The Blowfish”

After a four year hiatus, and shaking off the relative disappointment of "Musical Chairs," Hootie re-collected themselves, dusted off their writing skills and have returned with what should be the album of the summer.

And maybe it isn't "cool" to be a Hootie fan anymore, but I maintain that if you keep making great music, your real fans will stick around. And I think it's true that Hootie is the best bar band in the world.

There's not a weak track on this terrific collection of songs; if I have anything negative to say about this album, it does lean toward ballads and slower-tempo tunes, but with songs of this quality, ("I'll Come Running," "Show Me Your Heart," "Woody") this is certainly a minor offense.

That's not to say the band ignores good ol' rock and roll. The free-spirited "Space," and especially "Go and Tell Him (Soup Song)" and the funky "Little Brother" are instant sing-alongs. The rock-a-billy "Little Darlin'" intentionally dances around Ricky Nelson's "Hello Mary Lou" and sounds like it was a blast to record. It is this kind of variety that makes this band, and this album, so enjoyable.

By the way, don't forget to keep listening after track 12--the hidden track, (I guess it's called "Alright") is one of the best on the album. This would have been a great opener for the album!

The first single "Innocence" is one of the best songs written by the band, and I dare say it is worth the price of purchase alone. The song reflects intelligent, heartfelt lyrics, terrific vocals (Darius Rucker continues to prove why he has so many imitators) and an undeniably infectious chorus, but I've yet to see the video for "Innocence" played once on VH1, VH1 Megahits, MTV or MTV Hits. Did they even make a video for it?

It is a shame that we are in an age where an artist's success relies so heavily on television. You are dead in the water if you are viewed as yesterday's news by program directors. This is a travesty to music.

But true fans of music can make themselves very happy by picking up a copy of this fantastic release.

As other reviewers have suggested, this IS the perfect album to roll down the car windows and blast this summer. It's Hootie at their best. And that's not bad. Not bad at all...

I hadn't been into Hootie in awhile, but recently went to see them live. Let me just say, they were incredible. At the time, I didn't have the new CD , but after hearing them do several songs from it live, I made sure I got it soon after. It's rare that when you hear new songs that you are unfamiliar with by any band live in concert, that they grab ahold of you, but this was an exception. After they performed each new song from their new CD, I was thinking, "Wow, that was a killer song!!". Anyway, I went and got the CD, and was blown away. The songwriting is amazing. What a great album. It is easily their best since their debut. If you were into Hootie, even in the least little bit at all, in your life, you will LOVE this CD.

For the 15 million individuals (you know who you are) that abandoned Hootie and the Blowfish after the mammoth sales of 1994's Cracked Rear View, this record marks a return to the sound that made the band a household name in 1995 and a national punchline only a year later. After 1996's Fairweather Johnson went for a slightly darker, less-polished sound and 1998's Musical Chairs covered every genre, Hootie and the Blowfish is a good old fashioned rock n roll record, and probably the best you'll hear this year. From the up-tempo opener "Deeper Side" to the get-out-of-your-seat rocking of "Go and Tell Him (Soup Song)," this record bursts out of the speakers. On the song "Space," Hootie reach a new musical peak, crafting one of the finest songs ever to be recorded (if you think I am over-exaggerating, just give it a listen.) Even the ballads are great, especially the solemn "Tears Fall Down," but they are overshadowed by Hootie's fantastic rock songs. "I'll Come Runnin'" and "The Rain Song" are destined to be stuck in your head for weeks, as well as the power-ballad first single, "Innocence." So, for anyone who jumped on the bandwagon 8 years ago, I would encourage you to jump back on. I've never heard a bandwagon that sounds this good.

A lot of people bailed out on Hootie & the Blowfish after their huge success with the debut album Cracked Rear View. Well, those bandwagon jumpers need to hop back on!! This album is full of incredible and unique music. Upbeat rockers like Deeper Side are just perfect to blare out of your car with the windows down. Innocence takes the power ballad to another level, I guarantee it'll send you fishing in your pocket for a lighter. I'll Come Runnin and When She's Gone slow things down too, but everyone will still be singing along! And when Hootie rocks on with Space and Go And Tell Him (the Soup Song), you'll forget why you ever left this band in the first place. And if you (like me) are someone who's stuck with Hootie through it all, this album is all the reward you need.

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!