10 Perfect Soft Rock Albums Of The '90s

Part of the appeal behind alternative rock in the first place was how different it was from everything else coming out at the time. By the time that the Seattle movement kicked off everything, all of the hair metal bands that dominated the '80s were starting to look pretty fake by comparison. There was nothing wrong with being real anymore, and Hootie and the Blowfish practically felt like the buddies that you hung out with on the weekend.

Despite not really having a gimmick, Cracked Rearview was one of the best selling records of the decade, being carried by their knack for hooks and Darius Rucker's soulful vocals. Though there was no real flash behind Hootie's image, that's what made them so relatable. You don't need to necessarily know what's going on in Darius's life to understand the pain behind a song like Let Her Cry, as he lays everything out bare and describes what happens when a relationship reaches its final end stage.

Beyond just the songs, the instrumentation had a little something for everyone, bringing in distortion for the rock fans, pop-centric melodies for the mainstream crowd, and even roping in a fair bit of the country crowd for just how rootsy they sounded by adding mandolins on a handful of songs. While they may have been on top of the world, this wasn't meant to last, with Hootie quickly fading and Darius eventually turning to the world of country music to scratch that rootsy itch. For a brief moment though, Hootie were the band for the Everyman that we were more than happy to sing along with.