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CD Review:
Hoobastank, The Reason
THE REASON
1. Same Direction
2. Out of Control
3. What Happened to Us?
4. Escape
5. Just One
6. Lucky
7. From the Heart
8. The Reason
9. Let It Out
10. Unaffected
11. Never There
12. Disappear
JUICY TIDBITS
When it's time to work on our Year in Review issue, coming up with a list of songs that we deem worthy of summing up a year is no easy task. Especially when you factor in the media's short attention span and the fact that we can't recall anything past three months. Nevertheless, the much overplayed and over-hyped The Reason should be making many critics' lists this year. I'm sure by the time you read this, you'll either want to scream at the radio or shut off your television set when "The Reason"'s first guitar riffs start wafting through the air.
Hoobastank seemingly came out of obscurity to become one of the newest to-watch-for acts of 2004. Seemingly, because they've officially been known as Hoobastank since 1994, when lead singer Doug Robb and guistarist Dan Estrin came together after competing against each other in a high school Battle of the Bands. After recruiting bassist Markku Lappalainen and drummer Chris Hesse, the foursome spent years on the Los Angeles club circuit before landing a deal with Island Records in 2000. Their self-titled debut went platinum in 2001, yielding such hits as "Crawling in the Dark" and "Running Away."
Huh?
Although their first effort was more than commendable, it wasn't until 2003's The Reason that the band became a household name. Riddled with radio-friendly hits, this album should keep Hoobastank out of obscurity for a long time.
If you're a fan of their first single, The Reason, you won't find many other songs like it on here. Which, depending on how you look at it, might be a good move for the band. "The Reason" may stand out as their signature song (and who could resist Robb's crooning vocals and heartfelt apology?) but the band encompasses so much more than that. The band as a whole is capable and accomplished, but most of the songs work on this CD because of Robb's vocal ability to switch effortlessly from angst-fueled screeching to soft, smooth admissions of love. Robb's knack for singing (but not live) is what truly shines in The Reason.
There are three prevalent themes that you'll find after a listen-through: love, displacement and angst, and faith and religion. In fact, there isn't a song on here that won't fit into one of these, although at times it does so in an ambiguous way. What might first appear as a love song turns into one of questioning faith, and what might appear to be a question of individuality slowly turns into a song about not being capable of living without you. It is, perhaps, this ambiguity that keeps the band from alienating their audience while still infusing a message into their lyrics.
The first half of the CD lags a little, with generic love songs like What Happened to Us? and Escape. Out of Control is the rawest single you'll get from Hoobastank, with fast guitar riffs and heavy vocals from Robb. "I don't understand what you want from me, cause I don't know if I can trust you, all the things you've said to me," he sings, before flowing to the screaming chorus. This song may not please the masses, especially since it brings to Iight the band's lack of belief in religion, but it's a valiant effort on the band's part. By mid-CD, and after listening to Just One and Lucky, all the songs start to sound alike. Although "Lucky" is a love song along the same vein as "The Reason," the track is more intense and Robb almost sounds as if he is shouting at whichever girl inspired the lyrics, giving the song a displaced feel. From the Heart (another love song, in case you didn't catch it from the title), is guitar heavy but awkward in phrasing, making the lyrics sound about one beat behind the bass. It's probably the weakest song in this compilation.
It's only after "The Reason," their first single but the eighth track on the album, that things get better. After Robb croons about not being a perfect person, we jump into Let It Out, an angry but catchy song. In Unaffected, Robb sings, "So what should I do, just lay next to you as though I'm unaffected / And who should I be, when they're judging me, as though I'm unaffected." This is true angst, in a grown up sort of way, and the band slows it down although the mood is far from that.
The last few tracks, Never There and Disappear, stray from the ambiguity to drive the point home. Both songs have the usual sing-along, easy-to-remember hooks, but lack something. "There's a pain that sleeps inside…though I try to look away, the pain still remains, only leaving when you're next to me," "Disappear" goes. Over and over again. We. Get. It.
For the most part, The Reason is an enjoyable CD worth a listen. But for the part that isn't the most, it lags in some places that might have benefited from a gutsy boost à la "Out of Control." Although Hoobastank is easily capable of pumping out radio-friendly hits, it's the edgier songs that garner you the points in the end. ¤ C.Ho.
THE REASON:
