Cracked Rear View | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 5, 1994[1][2] | |||
Recorded | November 1993 − March 1994 | |||
Studio | NRG Recording Studios, North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California[3] | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 46:36 | |||
Label | Atlantic | |||
Producer | Don Gehman[3] | |||
Hootie & the Blowfish chronology | ||||
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Singles from Cracked Rear View | ||||
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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]
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.[5] It cost US$200,000 to make.[6]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Christgau's Consumer Guide | B[7] |
Consequence | B[8] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [9] |
Kerrang! | [10] |
MusicHound Rock | [11] |
Rolling Stone | [12] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [13] |
Cracked Rear View is Hootie & the Blowfish's most successful album. Cracked Rear View reached number one on the Billboard 200 five times over the course of 1995. It was the best-selling album of 1995 in the United States, selling 7 million copies.[14] In April 1996, Time reported that the album had generated over US$100 million in gross revenues for Atlantic Records.[6] It has sold 10.2 million copies in the United States per Nielsen SoundScan as of 2012.[15] An additional three million copies were sold through CD clubs, which are not included in SoundScan's total.[16] The album has been certified 21x platinum (double diamond) as of 2018.[17] It is the joint 19th-best-selling album of all time in the United States.[18] The album also reached number one in Canada[19] and New Zealand.[20]
Critical reviews of Cracked Rear View were mostly positive. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine crowned the album as "the success story of 1994/1995." He also stated "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]
All songs written by Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, Darius Rucker and Jim "Soni" Sonefeld, except where noted.
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
Disc 3: Live at Nick's Fat City, Pittsburgh, PA, February 3, 1995
DVD
Hi-Res 24/96 Bonus Tracks
Music videos:
Hootie & the Blowfish
Additional musicians
Production
Weekly charts[edit]
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Year-end charts[edit]
Decade-end charts[edit]
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Australia (ARIA)[34] | 2× Platinum | 140,000^ |
Canada (Music Canada)[35] | Diamond | 1,000,000^ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[36] | Gold | 10,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[37] | Gold | 100,000^ |
United States (RIAA)[38] | 21× Platinum | 21,000,000‡ |
Summaries | ||
Worldwide | — | 20,000,000[39] |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Year | Winner | Category |
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1996 | "Let Her Cry" | Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals |