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Cracked Rear View
Studio album by Hootie & the Blowfish
Released	July 5, 1994 (1994-07-05)[1][2]
Recorded	November 1993 − March 1994
Studio	NRG Recording Studios, North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US[3]
Genre	Alternative rock heartland rock roots rock
Length	46:36
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Don Gehman
Hootie & the Blowfish chronology
Kootchypop (1993) Cracked Rear View (1994) Fairweather Johnson (1996)
Singles from Cracked Rear View
"Hold My Hand" Released: July 18, 1994 "Let Her Cry" Released: December 17, 1994 "Only Wanna Be with You" Released: July 17, 1995 "Time" Released: October 24, 1995 "Drowning" Released: November 1995

Cracked Rear View is the debut studio album by Hootie & the Blowfish, released on July 5, 1994, by Atlantic Records.^[2] Released to positive critical reviews, it eventually became one of the highest-selling albums in the United States, and also one of the best-selling albums worldwide, with over 20 million units.^[4]

Recording

Hootie and the Blowfish were established in 1986 and while they had recorded some self-released promos, such as 1993's Kootchypop EP, this was their first full-length release.^[5] Don Gehman was chosen by A&R man Tim Sommer as a producer because of his previous work with John Mellencamp and R.E.M.^[6] Gehman's career had been in commercial decline for several years after having had successes in the 1980s, so he pivoted to accepting lower-profile artists, smaller budgets, and being more efficient in the studio.^[7][8] It cost US$200,000 to make^[9] and the label invested a relatively moderate $75,000 to Gehman for producing (equivalent to $411,136 in 2023 and $154,176, respectively).^[10] The recording and mixing process took 28 days, made up of 20 days of recording and 8 mixing; he kept costs down by mixing the album himself and providing his own equipment for the band to use.^[10][7] In 1996, Gehman reflected on the expectations of the release, stating that no one at Atlantic Records expected it to be a blockbuster, but possibly selling a few hundred thousand copies to establish the band an audience building on their existing South Carolina fan base; as sales took off, the label became more invested and the promotion caused sales to continue to grow.^[7] Gehman later produced and mixed Fairweather Johnson (1996), Musical Chairs (1998), and Looking for Lucky (2005) by the band.

Reception

Commercial reception

Cracked Rear View is Hootie & the Blowfish's most successful album. While initial sales were modest and it debuted at 127 on the Billboard 200,^[11] it topped that chart five times over the course of 1995 and was the best-selling album of 1995 in the United States, selling 7 million copies.^[12] In April 1996, Time reported that the album had generated over US$100 million in gross revenues for Atlantic Records (equivalent to $194,271,165 in 2023).^[9] It had sold 10.2 million copies in the United States per Nielsen SoundScan by 2012,^[13] with an additional three million copies sold through CD clubs, which are not included in SoundScan's total.^[14] The album has been certified 22× platinum (double diamond) by 2018.^{[15][16][17][18]} It is the joint 19th-best-selling album of all time in the United States^[19] and also reached number one in Canada,^[20] where it was also the best-selling album of the year^[21] and New Zealand.^[22] This won the 1995 Billboard Music Award for Top Billboard 200 Album.^[23][24]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	B[25]
Consequence	B[26]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[27]
Kerrang!	[28]
MusicHound Rock	[29]
Rolling Stone	[30]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[31]

Critical reviews of Cracked Rear View were mostly positive. Editors at AllMusic rated this album 4.5 out of 5 stars, with critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine writing that the album as "the success story of 1994/1995" and continued, "although Hootie & the Blowfish aren't innovative, they deliver the goods, turning out an album of solid, rootsy folk-rock songs that have simple, powerful hooks".^[2] A revie for retailers by Billboard compared the music to Counting Crows and John Mellencamp and spotlighted "Hold My Hand" as particularly accessible.^[32] Robert Christgau rated the album a B and praised Darius Rucker's "gruff grit [which] adds an extra layer of substance" to the simple songwriting and musicianship and noted the importance of mainstream white audiences hearing about black issues from a black singer.^[25]

The band won for Grammy Award for Best New Artist and "Let Her Cry" won Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 38th Annual Grammy Awards.^[33]

Track listing

All songs written by Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, Darius Rucker and Jim "Soni" Sonefeld, except where noted.

1. "Hannah Jane" – 3:33
2. "Hold My Hand" – 4:15
3. "Let Her Cry" – 5:08
4. "Only Wanna Be with You" – 3:46
5. "Running from an Angel" – 3:37
6. "I'm Goin' Home" – 4:10
7. "Drowning" – 5:01
8. "Time" – 4:53
9. "Look Away" – 2:38
10. "Not Even the Trees" – 4:37
11. "Goodbye" – 4:05

Includes hidden track "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" (Traditional) – 0:53

In 2001, the album was re-released on DVD-Audio with the disc featuring a discography, photo gallery, and video of a live performance of "Drowning".

The 25th anniversary edition from 2019 includes the following bonus discs:

Disc 2: B-sides, Outtakes, Pre-LP Independent Recordings

1. "All That I Believe" – 3:29
2. "I Go Blind" (Neil Osborne, Phil Comparelli, Brad Merritt, Darryl Neudorf) – 3:13
3. "Almost Home" – 4:02
4. "Fine Line" – 3:33
5. "Where Were You" – 3:55
6. "Hey, Hey What Can I Do" (John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant) – 3:56
7. "The Old Man and Me" – Kootchypop Version – 4:29
8. "Hold My Hand" – Kootchypop Version – 5:07
9. "If You're Going My Way" – Kootchypop Version – 3:29
10. "Sorry's Not Enough" – Kootchypop Version – 4:04
11. "Only Wanna Be with You" – Kootchypop Version – 3:41
12. "Running from an Angel" – 1991 Version – 3:57
13. "Time" – 1991 Version – 4:28
14. "Let Her Cry" – 1991 Version – 5:02
15. "Drowning" – 1991 Version – 5:50
16. "I Don't Understand" – 5:50
17. "Little Girl" – 2:50
18. "Look Away" – 1990 Version – 2:58
19. "Let My People Go" – 2:37
20. "Hold My Hand" – 1990 Version – 4:40

Disc 3: Live at Nick's Fat City, Pittsburgh, PA, February 3, 1995

1. "Hannah Jane" – 3:36
2. "I Go Blind" – 3:04
3. "Not Even the Trees" – 4:40
4. "If You're Going My Way" – 3:31
5. "Look Away" – 2:36
6. "Fine Line" – 3:23
7. "Let Her Cry" – 5:15
8. "Motherless Child" – 0:54
9. "I'm Goin' Home" – 4:37
10. "Use Me" – 5:00
11. "Running from an Angel" – 4:06
12. "Sorry's Not Enough" – 4:17
13. "Drowning" – 6:12
14. "The Old Man and Me" – 4:20
15. "Only Wanna Be with You" – 3:53
16. "Time" – 5:12
17. "Goodbye" – 3:54
18. "The Ballad of John and Yoko" (Lennon-McCartney) – 2:55
19. "Hold My Hand" – 5:31
20. "Love the One You're With" (Stephen Stills) – 2:50

DVD

• 5.1 Surround Sound mix of the original album

Hi-Res 24/96 Bonus Tracks

• "All That I Believe"
• "I Go Blind"
• "Almost Home"
• "Fine Line"
• "Where Were You"

Music videos:

• "Hold My Hand"
• "Let Her Cry"
• "Only Wanna Be with You"
• "Time"
• "Drowning" – Live

Personnel

Hootie & the Blowfish

• Mark Bryan – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocal percussion, mandolin on "Only Wanna Be with You", piano on "Not Even the Trees",
• Dean Felber – bass guitar, clavinet, vocals, piano on "Only Wanna Be with You"
• Darius Rucker – vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion
• Jim "Soni" Sonefeld – drums, percussion, vocals, piano on "Look Away" and "Goodbye", glasses on "Not Even the Trees"

Additional musicians

• David Crosby – background vocals on "Hold My Hand"
• Lili Haydn – violin on "Look Away" and "Running from an Angel"
• John Nau – piano on "I'm Goin' Home", Hammond organ

Production

• Jean Cronin – art direction
• Don Gehman – production, engineering, mixing
• Michael McLaughlin – photography
• Wade Norton – assistant engineering
• Gena Rankin – production coordination
• Eddy Schreyer – mastering
• Tim Sommer – artists and repertoire
• Liz Sroka – assistant mixing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales

See also

• List of best-selling albums in the United States

References

External links

• Official website
• Cracked Rear ViewatDiscogs (list of releases)
• Cracked Rear ViewatMusicBrainz (list of releases)