Every Man For Himself (Ltd.Ed) [Limited Edition, Enhanced]

One thing you can't say about "Every Man For Himself" after a good, solid listen is that it is "more of the same."

From the opening song, "Born To Lead," it's obvious the band has changed. Like the rest of the album, this song has a familiar Hoobastank mark on it, but yet, sounds nothing like anything they've done in the best. Perhaps this change could be attributed to all Hoobastank have gone through in the past two years. Their last album, 2003's "The Reason" took off when it's title track became the biggest crossover hit of the year, and just about every other single got plenty of room on radio. On the flipside, however, founding bassist Markku Lappalainen left the band last year, which could very well have inspired the title, "Every Man For himself."

Whatever it was that caused Hoobastank to turn on a dime, I'm personally thankful. I loved "The Reason," but I find that a lot of the songs don't have much shelf-life, and that there isn't a whole lot to seperate it from their debut and the hordes of Incubus clones that have popped up in the past five years. "Every Man For Himself" isn't a complete abandonment of the Hoobastank sound, as songs like "Good Enough" and "Without A Fight" fit in with the old stuff, but the bulk of the material here is a bit broader. My personal favorite track so far would have to be "Inside Of You," a funky little number that is a bit reminiscient of their "Basketball Shorts" days, and shows that the band still have the ability to have good fun. The first single "If I Were You," a tale of karma based on Scott Weiland (the Velvet Revolver frontman, whom Hoobastank shared a tour with) sounds like an attempt to capitalize on the band's ballad abilities, as does "If Only." On the flipside, however, songs like "The First Of Me" and "Don't Tell Me" seem like a bit of a backlash to the band's sudden popularity. "More Than A Memory," the album's closer, is probably the best way Hoobastank have ever closed out an album, with a spacey 7 and a half minute song. Truly, this is a different album than it's predecessors.

If you hate bands that experiment or just can't handle something a little different, don't bother with this album. Instead, just safely listen to the old stuff and keep your narrow views to yourself. "Every Man For Himself" requires an open mind. It may not be chock full of hits like it's predecessors, but I think that's the idea. Hoobastank have finally branched out and grown a little, and this results in a sound that has become their own.

Like many people, if you say the name “Hoobastank”, I automatically start humming their huge 2004 hit single “The Reason”. For those in the know, “Every Man for Himself” is in fact the group’s third studio album, following the self-titled album in 2001 and of course “The Reason” two years later.

The track on this album that comes closest to the made-for-radio appeal of the aforementioned hit would be the single “If I Were You”, a ballad with simple lyrics but a lot of emotion:

“If I were you
holding the world right in my hands
the first thing I'd do
is thank the stars for all that I have
if I were you”

For rock fans, the tracks for you are “Born to Lead”, “Inside of You”, “Without a Fight”, and “Look Where We Are”, and if you’re a power ballad lover, you just have to hear “Moving Forward”, “The First of Me”, “Good Enough”, “Don’t Tell Me”, “Say The Same”, “If Only” (great song – hope they make it a single) and “More Than a Memory”.

If you were lucky enough to get the two bonus tracks, “Finally Awake” is a driving rock performance and while “Waiting” is a little softer, it’s also very good.

Almost an hour long, this is another CD worth collecting.

Amanda Richards, May 16, 2006

The only thing different about this edition is the color. No extra videos, or tracks.....but who cares? This album blows 'The Reason' out of the water. They rock hard on this one, folks, and every song is just a pure blast to listen to. You can tell they had fun writing and recording this one. This is the 'Stank's best since they first showed up with "Crawling in the Dark". Like usual, the lyrics are uplifting and well written, and the instrumentation is simpl, yet highly effective. "If I Were You" is a better version of "The Reason", and "Born to Lead" is another great starter track in the vien of "Crawling" and "Same Direction". This is one of So-Cal's best bands, so if you like that scene (I lve it) then you'll eat this stuff up. Enjoy!

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