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More than 30 years after enjoying one of the most successful debut albums of all time, Hootie & The Blowfish will kick off 2025 with a new career-spanning box set on Rhino Records.
The Atlantic Years 1994-2003, available January 25, brings together all four studio albums the quartet recorded for the label in their first decade - the chart-toppers Cracked Rear View (1994) and Fairweather Johnson (1996), Musical Chairs (1998) and their self-titled 2003 effort - plus the 2000 covers collection Scattered, Smothered & Covered. The box will be available as a 5CD set at general retail or a 6LP set at Rhino's official web store; it'll be the first time either Scattered or Hootie & The Blowfish will appear on vinyl.
Formed in South Carolina in the mid-'80s, Hootie & The Blowfish were an unlikely candidate for mainstream success. Their light-touch mix of rock, blues and even country were wildly out of step with the '90s grunge explosion; the band's line-up, unchanged since 1989, confused some programmers for its mixed-race personnel (frontman Darius Rucker is Black, while guitarist Mark Bryan, bassist Dean Felber and drummer Jim "Soni" Sonefeld are all white); and, of course, there was the matter of that name. But Atlantic Records saw potential in their undeniably catchy tunes, and linked them to John Mellencamp and R.E.M. producer Don Gehman for the album that became Cracked Rear View. A constant stream of live appearances and music videos added into a dizzying success: the album logged eight weeks atop the Billboard 200 between May and September 1995 and became that year's best-selling album. (It's since sold more than 20 million copies in America alone.) Three singles became Top 10 hits - "Hold My Hand" (featuring the unmistakable high harmonies of the late David Crosby), "Let Her Cry" and the Bob Dylan-quoting "Only Wanna Be with You" - while a fourth, "Time," peaked in the Top 15. The band ended the Cracked era with two Grammy Awards, including a Best New Artist trophy.
Though it was hard to top the success of Cracked Rear View, its popularity guaranteed a No. 1 debut for follow-up Fairweather Johnson, a reunion with Gehman that, despite a slightly less-straightforward sonic profile, yielded Top 40 hits in "Old Man & Me (When I Get to Heaven)" and "Tucker's Town." A third album, 1998's Musical Chairs - recorded once more with Gehman - became their third album to reach the Top 5 and receive a platinum certification. 2000's stopgap release Scattered, Smothered & Covered gathered 15 studio versions of road-tested covers, most of which were released on CD singles and compilations. Highlights included takes on Led Zeppelin ("Hey Hey What Can I Do"), R.E.M. ("Driver 8") and Canadian band 54-40 ("I Go Blind," a radio hit after the Cracked Rear View era thanks to its release as a promo single for the soundtrack to the smash sitcom Friends, which featured a concert of the band's as a subplot in a second-season episode).
Their 2003 self-titled album, a collaboration with producer Don Was, unfortunately failed to find a larger audience, and not long after the independently released Looking for Lucky (2005), the group went on hiatus. Rucker found an unlikely second wind as a solo country act, earning 11 Top 10 singles on the genre chart (including the No. 1s "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" and "Wagon Wheel," an Old Crow Medicine Show cover featuring an unused chorus by Bob Dylan). Hootie reformed in 2018, releasing Imperfect Circle a year later and still maintaining a consistent touring schedule.
Both formats of The Atlantic Years 1994-2003 hit their respective stores January 25. A full track breakdown and pre-order links are below; as an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
The Atlantic Years 1994-2003 (Atlantic/Rhino, 2025)
5CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
6LP: Rhino.com
CD/LP 1: Cracked Rear View (originally released as Atlantic 82613, 1994)
- Hannah Jane
- Hold My Hand
- Let Her Cry
- Only Wanna Be with You
- Running from an Angel
- I'm Goin' Home
- Drowning
- Time
- Look Away
- Not Even the Trees
- Goodbye
CD/LP 2: Fairweather Johnson (originally released as Atlantic 82886, 1996)
- Be the One
- Sad Caper
- Tucker's Town
- She Crawls Away
- So Strange
- Old Man & Me (When I Get to Heaven)
- Earth Stopped Cold At Dawn
- Fairweather Johnson
- Honeyscrew
- Let It Breathe
- Silly Little Pop Song
- Fool
- Tootie
- When I'm Lonely
CD/LP 3: Musical Chairs (originally released as Atlantic 83136, 1998)
- I Will Wait
- Wishing
- Las Vegas Nights
- Only Lonely
- Answer Man
- Michelle Post
- Bluesy Revolution
- Home Again
- One By One
- Desert Mountain Showdown
- What's Going On Here
- What Do You Want from Me Now
CD 4/LP 4-5: Scattered Smothered & Covered (originally released as Atlantic 83408, 2000)
- Fine Line
- I Go Blind
- Almost Home
- Hey Hey What Can I Do
- Renaissance Eyes
- Before the Heartache Rolls In
- Araby
- I'm Over You
- Gravity of the Situation
- I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love with You
- Dream Baby
- Driver 8
- Let Me Be Your Man
- Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want
- Use Me
Tracks 1 and 3 released on "Let Her Cry" CD single - Atlantic 85594, 1995
Track 2 released on Friends (Original TV Soundtrack) - Reprise 46008, 1995
Track 4 released on Encomium: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin - Atlantic 82731, 1995
Tracks 5 and 8 released on "Sad Caper" U.K. CD single - Atlantic A5467CD, 1996
Track 6 released on "Old Man & Me" CD single - Atlantic 87074, 1996
Track 7 released on "Tucker's Town" CD single - Atlantic 87051, 1996
Track 9 released on Sweet Relief II: The Gravity of the Situation (The Songs of Vic Chesnutt) - Columbia CK 67573, 1996
Track 11 released on White Man's Burden (Music from the Motion Picture) - Tag Recordings/Atlantic 92628, 1995
Track 12 released on "I Will Wait" U.K. CD single - Atlantic AT0048CD, 1998
CD 5/LP 6: Hootie & The Blowfish (originally released as Atlantic 83564, 2003)
- Deeper Side
- Little Brother
- Innocence
- Space
- I'll Come Runnin
- Tears Fall Down
- The Rain Song
- Show Me Your Heart
- When She's Gone
- Little Darlin'
- Woody
- Go and Tell Him (Soup Song)
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The debut is a stone cold classic and still holds up as one if the finest albums of the 90s. Like Matchbox 20 who also released a brilliant debut in the 90s Hootie seemed unable to make progress and I found little to keep my interest on the rest of their albums. I’ve tried numerous times to reacquaint myself with them but I feel little love. But it’s nice to see this set being released as they were undoubtedly an important band of that time.
I hope this sells well and satisfies the Hootie faithful. I still remember the height of sales/trade-ins at used CD stores in the mid to late 90's. It got to the point with overflowing used CD inventory that "Cracked Rear View", R.E.M.'s "Monster" and a few others were on the do not buy list for stores sitting on 15/20/30 copies that didn't sell. I could have picked up hundreds of "Monster" CDs for $.50 to $1.00 and outfitted my entire CD collection with those cool orange colored disc trays.
But why would people buy an album that had several hits each that they undoubtedly already knew prior to buying it, like Cracked Rear View and Monster, then decide en masse later on that they didn't want it in their house? Make no sense; if they were one hit each I could understand.
I’ll do my best to suggest why…in the case of Hootie & The Blowfish it was simply a case of radio play exhaustion/FM radio overplayed this one - many new to R.E.M. fans purchased “Monster” solely based on the first single “ What's the Frequency, Kenneth?” and possibly moved on. Even loyal fans were split on the release.
Have you visited a U.S. thrift store in the past 3 years? These two titles are still very easy to find. I’m not picking on them/just starting what I’ve experienced as a music collector.
Their self titled album isn't very good, but Looking For Lucky might be their best one since Cracked Rear View. Hootie holds up.