Musical Chairs

Hootie & The Blowfish

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 15, 1998)
• Original Release Date: September 15, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Atlantic / Wea
• ASIN: B00000ADKQ
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #30,941 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Folks tend to speak of populist folk-popsters Hootie & the Blowfish in surface terms. The first album, Cracked Rear View, they'll tell you, sold 15 million copies. Second disc, tsk, tsk--only a measly couple million--a real failure for this supposed supergroup. And now, for entry three, the pressure's on: Will Hootie reclaim the multi-platinum throne? But the lens is horribly out of focus here. The songs on Musical Chairs--rife with chiming Americana hooks, swimming in the rich, woodsy warble of one of modern rock's most definitive voices, Darius Rucker--are every bit as aesthetically sound, warm, and hometown charming as those that catapulted the band to fame. Who--outside of Atlantic Records bean counters--truly cares how much this one sells? From the opening feel-good affirmation "I Will Wait" through the punky pounder "Wishing" and the Calypso-flavored "Las Vegas Nights," to the gospel-jangled familial recollections "Home Again" and "One by One," this is one subtly beautiful effort, the kind that creeps up on you with each listening. The more you play it, in fact, the less you worry about how many of your peers have purchased it already. Put the calculator away. Enjoy great music the way it should be enjoyed--eyes shut and smiling. --Tom Lanham

Entertainment Weekly
[T]he Columbia, S.C., quartet add just a dash of spice to their predictable musical recipe.... If you don't dig 'em, don't bother.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars As good as CRACKED REAR VIEW..., September 9, 2002

By	The Fancy One "blackprincess" (Westchester County, NY) - See all my reviews

Okay, I'll admit it...I was one of those people who doubted if Darius and the crew could recreate the magic of their excellent CRACKED REAR VIEW on the CDs that came out after it. Well, four years after this CD came out in 1998, MUSICAL CHAIRS has become a part of my massive collection mainly because of one song...the gorgeous "Only Lonely". With its beautiful string arrangement in the background, it has simple but heartfelt lyrics about longing for someone you've seen, but don't know. I was actually hanging onto Darius' every word when I first heard it. And the rest of the CD turned out to be a pleasant surprize for me.

MUSICAL CHAIRS is appropriately named. It touches upon several genres of music: rock, blues, folk, bluegrass, country, and even a little R&B...a very nice mixture. From "I Will Wait" to "Closet Full of Fear", the songs are tight, and even if you're not a Hootie fan, you will enjoy most of the songs on the CD. I especially loved "Wishing", "Las Vegas Nights", and the R&B-tinged "What's Going On Here" and "What Do You Want From Me Now". And how could I forget "Bluesy Revolution"?? Oh my God, this song is off the chain. The tunes "Michelle Post" and "Desert Mountain Showdown" were a little too country-fied for me, so I really wasn't feeling them... but other than those two, I really loved this CD.

This is a CD that was unfairly slept on when it came out, because everyone was so down on Hootie at the time, but in all honesty, it's just as good, if not better than CRACKED REAR VIEW. This is fast becoming my favorite Hootie CD. Take a chance on it...I'm sure you won't be disappointed!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, Hootie & The Blowfish have done it again!, November 1, 1998

By A Customer

Having bought their first two CDs, I had been waiting for so long for this third album. I got the first two in the summer of '96, when I was a real Hootie fanatic, but my interest in the band had sort of faded. But this release brought back my fascination as clear as could be! "Musical Chairs" is a masterpiece, a heart-felt work of art. While "Cracked Rear View" was one of the best records of all time, and "Fairweather Johnson" was good, although a bit too much on the bluesy side, this release is a combination of style from both of them, as well as a few things never before seen from this band. I first heard "Desert Mountain Showdown" performed live on MTV, and this is really just a care-free, feel-good song. The opening tracks "I Will Wait" and "Wishing" are two of the very best on the CD, and the guitar on "Bluesy Revolution" is amazing. "Las Vegas Nights" has a distinctive Calypso feel to it, and "Only Lonely" is one of the saddest, most beautiful songs I've heard in a long time. On the whole, this is Hootie & The Blowfish's most mature collection of music, and may very well be their best effort yet.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Their best album, January 27, 2007

By	Jeffrey D. Messer (Asheville, NC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This one is a great album. Why it didn't catch on is a mystery to me. this is the definitive Hootie and the Blowfish album with some of their best songs.
I thought Cracked Rear View was overrated. Fairweather was too hit and miss. This was a perfect album front to back.
Their latest, Looking For Lucky is a close CLOSE second. But this one is the one I will always cherrish.