0601215788327. New condition. CD. Sister Hazel was fortunate that their debut album arrived precisely at the right time just when radio was cooling to Hootie & the Blowfish but still needed journeymen bar bands that turned out sturdy mainstream rock & roll the kind of music that was the 90s version of heartland rock. They scored a major hit and toured the hell out of the record building a respectable success. Still when their second album Fortress appeared in the summer of 2000 they still had something to prove. Like a lot of their peers -- such post-ironic post-Hootie artists as Matchbox Twenty Tonic Cowboy Mouth and Edwin McCain -- they had to prove that they could deliver another solid record that would retain their audience. The dilemma of the working band as it were. This is a dilemma that was particularly difficult in the late 90s/early 2000s since working bands were considerably less than hip and didn t have album rock as an outlet the way working bands did in the 70s. Sister Hazel realizes this and they even give a shout-out to their working-band comrades in their special thanks. It s likely that they connect so strongly with the working band because they are the definition of one for their era. They are a solid band turning out sturdy albums that may have a couple of stumbles yet it s always satisfyingly straightforward. With Fortress Sister Hazel does take a couple of tentative steps to distinguish themselves from the pack -- a neo-psychedelic arrangement there Beatlesque horns here ambitious song structures every few tracks -- but they remain a working band at their core. That means that they re hardly cool in 2000 but they do deliver a follow-up that delivers on the sound of their hit even if it never quite successfully expands that signature sound. And that s a trademark of a working band too. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine Rovi