Darius Rucker

It's possible, of course, that there is some muse beckoning to Darius Rucker's soul, leaving him with little choice but to create. It's possible too that his solo career is not so much a pursuit as it is an escape: You know who he is. You know exactly who he is. And you want to call him "Hootie." That's not his name. It was never his name. Still, you want to call him "Hootie."

Really, though, there must be some other explanation altogether for Learn To Live, the former Hootie & The Blowfish frontman's solo foray into Nashville's neutered neo-country sound. A muse would imply inspiration. A desire to be called "Darius" would imply some step–if not bold, then at least discernible–outside of the Blowfish comfort zone. Instead, Learn To Live is just the same old Hootie.

That's not entirely a bad thing. There's something about Rucker's laid back vocal delivery that makes it impossible to hate the guy, no matter how bland the music. But make no mistake, Learn To Live tests the limits of that theory. The closest it comes to great country music is when he name-checks Patsy Cline on "Alright."

Otherwise, it has all the standard elements of a forgettable country-pop record: The clever (but not too clever) play-on-words break-up song ("All I want you to leave me is alone," he sings on "All I Want"). The "me and the boys" drinking song ("Drinkin' and Dialin'"). The clumsy and overwrought social commentary song ("If I Had Wings"). And far too many plodding mid-tempo tunes in which those stylistic markers of country – a violin solo here, a flourish of lap steel or mandolin there – seem more like a calculated afterthought than a necessary element. All that and Hootie, too. It might not be a classic…but it sounds like a hit.

—Mike Magnuson
10.03.08

Darius Rucker's leap into country music is not a move without precedent for the Hootie & the Blowfish lead singer, as his band was loosely rooted in country-ish roots rock. Nevertheless, a more important antecedent for Learn to Live is a 2005 Burger King commercial where Rucker was decked out in a Nudie suit while singing a spin on "Big Rock Candy Mountain." It was the unveiling of Rucker the country singer, and caused enough of a sensation to make a country album seem like a feasible move. As slight as the commercial was, it provided a stronger musical foundation than the urban R&B behind his 2002 solo debut Back to Then did, as Rucker showed no inclination toward modern soul in Hootie, whereas Learn to Live appeals directly to the frat boys and sports fanatics that made Cracked Rear View perhaps the most inexplicable multi-platinum hit of the '90s. Like those songs, the tunes on Learn to Live are big and simple, powered by obvious hooks delivered plainly -- and truth be told, apart from the 2-step shuffle of "All I Want," the loping modern country of "Alright," and the slow pace of the clever barroom crawl "Drinkin' and Dialin'," they don't feel especially country, either. They may not be made for honky tonks, but they do feel rootsy, much like Cracked Rear View did, and as they're written with Rucker in mind, not a jam band, they're more pop in form and feel than anything he's done since. Which, of course, also makes them ingratiating: these songs aren't knockouts, but they're friendly and comfortable, the kind of sturdy roots-pop that seems like it'd be easy to pull off but must not be, as this delicate balance of conversational melody and guy-next-door appeal has proven elusive to Rucker for over a decade now. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide