Take It to the Limit (Hinder album)

Untitled

Take It to the Limit is the second studio album of rock band Hinder. The album has been in the works since January 2008 and was released November 4, 2008. The album was recorded by Jay Van Poederooyen and produced by Brian Howes at Van Howes Studios in Vancouver, BC, Canada. The record was mixed by Chris Lord-Alge at Mix LA in Tarzana, California, USA. It has a much heavier glam metal sound than their last album. The album has been certified Gold by the RIAA US.

Release

The first single "Use Me" was released on radio July 7, 2008, with a digital download release on July 15, 2008. "Heaven Sent" was performed at Hinder concerts dating back to 2007, however the song was originally called "Heaven Lost You" when it was first performed.

The second single, "Without You" was shipped to pop radio on September 23 2008.

The single "Use Me" is also the band's first song available as DLC (Downloadable Content) on the music game Rock Band, released on November 4, 2008.

Hinder was featured on Xbox Live's "Artist of the Month" in November and allowed Gold Members to download a 480p version of the "Use Me" music video for free.

Reception

Critical reception of the album has been largely negative or mediocre. Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone gave a brief review regarding frontman Austin Winkler as "a bad representative for emotional frat dudes." In a worst review, Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gives the album a 1.5/5 rating and describes the band as "eager embrace of every dumb sleaze-rock cliché to emanate from the Sunset Strip in 1988." He also notes how, in demonstrating Hinder's "stultifying lack of imagination," most of the tracks borrow their names from other well-known songs.

Entertainment Weekly gave a less harsh grade of C+ but echoed many of the same sediments regarding lack of originality and contrasting song styles of hard rock and ballads. Chris Willman explained, "If you were ever young and in love, dumb with drink, and had a head swimming with not just Boone's Farm wine but also Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, and AC/DC (to name these guys' most blatant anthemic influences), you may be willing to forgive Hinder's lack of originality and preponderance of madonna/whore issues." He summed up by saying "If only the whiplash they induce resulted from real headbanging, not from trying to follow Hinder's song-to-song indecision about whether to be studs or wimps."

Track listing

1. "Use Me" - 3:49
2. "Loaded and Alone" - 4:06
3. "Last Kiss Goodbye"- 3:48
4. "Up All Night" - 3:33
5. "Without You" - 3:52
6. "Take It To The Limit" (feat. Mick Mars of Mötley Crüe) - 3:11
7. "The Best Is Yet To Come" - 3:22
8. "Heaven Sent" - 3:41
9. "Thing For You" - 3:59
10. "Lost In The Sun" - 3:52
11. "Far From Home" - 4:03

Bonus Tracks

Best Buy will include six exclusive bonus tracks, featuring live and in-studio acoustic versions of these songs.

• "Heaven Sent (Live)" - 3:42
• "Loaded and Alone (Acoustic)" - 3:34
• "Lost in the Sun (Live)" - 3:46
• "The Best is Yet to Come (Acoustic)" - 3:21
• "Without You (Acoustic)" - 3:52
• "Use Me (Live)" - 4:30

Walmart will also release a special edition of the album which will include three bonus tracks and a bonus DVD.

• "Thunderstruck" (AC/DC cover) - 4:52
• "Live For Today" - 2:56
• "Running In The Rain" (Extreme Behavior outtake) - 3:35

iTunes has two bonus tracks.

• "Heartless" - 3:38
• "One Night Stand" - 3:14

Chart positions

Chart (2008)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard 200	4
U.S. Billboard Top Rock Albums	3
U.S. Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums	2
Canadian Albums Chart	11

Personnel

• Austin Winkler: Vocals
• Joe "Blower" Garvey: Guitar
• Mark King: Guitar
• Mike Rodden: Bass
• Cody Hanson: Drums
• Brian Howes: Producer