Comments on: Album Review: Darius Rucker – Learn To Live

By: Etikettendrucker

Etikettendrucker — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:47:14 +0000

Just heard some tracks, great sound.

By: stormy

stormy — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:23:53 +0000

I have one Hootie and the Blowfish album to prove that Hootie has not always wanted to do country badly enough to actually do it.

By: MrsSam

MrsSam — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:50:23 +0000

People! After you finish trashing Mr. Rucker for not having the greatest country album in the universe ever, think about this. It is what it is, love it or hate it – buy it, don’t buy it. Poor guy is swimming upstream enough as a Black man who said “hey, I want to do a country album”. Garten is right. Mr. Rucker is southern and despite what all told him, he always wanted to do country music. This is where his heart is folks, and isn’t that what country music is about – the heart? Let him do what country is to him (or what he was able to do record deal wise) and perhaps he will improve enough for you country experts out there. Mr. Rucker is on to something, leave him be!

By: xtc-templates

xtc-templates — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:51:24 +0000

Not bad overall, hopefully I like it more as I go through it a few more times. Thanks Marco, for this awesome tip about Darius Rucker.

By: Fundgrube

Fundgrube — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:57:14 +0000

hey Marco, thanx for this info, I was just looking for this!

By: Strompreise

Strompreise — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:33:36 +0000

By the way, you can get the lyrics from him on metrolyrics-com ! I just checked it out. Thanks for the review and best regards from Germany, Marco

By: Gummistiefel

Gummistiefel — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 01:05:25 +0000

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.

By: kody

kody — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:12:28 +0000

I dont care what anybody says… darius Rucker is awesome! excellent sound and sweet songs. Naturally country!

By: Garten

Garten — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:22:38 +0000

To say Darius Rucker is new to country would be a slight, he grew up in the South and has cut his share of country tinged material, just take a listen to Scattered, Smothered and Covered to hear Rucker’s excellent baritone in full bloom — the guy can sing. And it is a wonderful thing to know that the material stands up to his earnest delivery.

Rucker approached the material by gathering a gaggle of current country mainstays to lend their talents, Brad Paisley’s paw prints are all over, “All I Want” and that’s a good thing. “Forever Road” carries the same weight of a great chorus (that you can sing along with) and a catchy hook that could get a bite from a fish without bait. But the stomper goes to “Drinkin’ and Dialin’.”

The ballads are the selling point here, Rucker’s voice sells them. Rightfully so, he’s clear in the mix, he sounds sincere on songs such as “History in the Making,” and “Don’t Think I Don’t Know.” A standout track is the contemplative “If I Had Wings,” it could have been too cloying, too schmaltzy, but Rucker’s voice won’t allow it to be, but credit also belongs to Vince Gill and Alison Krauss for their amazing backing vocals.

An excellent pop-country disc that will get its share of radio play, and rightfully so.

By: Noah Eaton

Noah Eaton — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 02:29:30 +0000

That’s wonderful news. That track certainly gets a “Thumbs Up” from me, as it is the closest Rucker gets to tapping into traditional country on “Learn To Live” and his vocals are in top form there, even when the song is nothing groundbreaking on a lyrical level.