Yeah, I mean we are basically the same age. But I just relistened to it this morning, it is wildly different than say Nevermind or Core, which are two albums that really crystalize the '91 to '94 years, where everything really changed big time. If you put them on back to back, it's pretty stark. Jar of Flies, which followed, has a similar vibe as it was tracked in the same place and they used a lot of ambient room in the mix as well.
It's funny you should bring up the rhythm section, I think Glenn Graham and Brad Smith were second to only Moon and Entwistle in their uncanny ability to be going to apeshit the entire time and its always right on time. It's pretty wild to listen to.
I credit Blues Traveler a lot with changing the sound of the era as well. They are a little hippy dippy for me, all that mindless jamming shit is definitely not my thing, but they have some solid tunes. I actually think Straight on Till Morning was a significantly better album than Four.
110% homie.