For those of you who have never heard of Hoobastank, they are made up of Doug Robb on vocals, Dan Estrin on guitars and Chris Hesse on drums.  They formed in 1994 in California at a High School “Battle of the Bands” competition, and have gone from strength to strength since then.  They have been called “post grunge ear candy” and have been nominated for 3 Grammys. 

This is their 3^rd album, following on from the self titled album released in 2001 and The Reason released in 2003, from which they had a hit single “The Reason”.  With this release they have changed their style slightly from previous releases, it still has the familiar Hoobastank touch, but with subtle differences. Some may say it is because founding bassist, Markku Lappalainen left the group last year, others think that it is just the natural progression of the band as they mature and “grow up” in the musical word  

They play a very “listenable” type of rock, which has some leanings towards the likes of Nickleback, portions of Alien Ant Farm, smidgens of Incubus and even some self confessed Pink Floyd influences (as can be heard with the flutes, chimes, accordion and trumpet on the 7 minute plus “More Than A Memory”).  By using those comparisons I am in no way saying that they “sound like….”, what they have done is picked up on various styles and fused them together with what some over the pond call “Californian groove”.  I call it making music that is experimental, enjoyable and accessible to all. 

For the Rockers, there are “Born to Lead” (cracking Drill Sgt intro – took me back to my squaddie days), “Inside of You”, “Without a Fight”, and “Look Where We Are”.  Lovers of Power Ballads need go no further than “Moving Forward”, “The First of Me”, “Good Enough”, “If I Were You” and “Don’t Tell Me”. However, the best thing to do is to just listen to the whole album because it is almost an hours worth of enjoyable, lighter rock that will not fail to please.  Definitely a CD worth having in your collection.

Let us know your views on 'Every Man For Himself'

Track List

Rules
Born To Lead
Moving Forward
Inside Of You
First Of Me
Good Enough
If I Were You
Without A Fight
Don't Tell Me
Look Where We Are
Say The Same
If Only
More Than A Memory
If I Were You
Born To Lead

Line Up

Doug Robb - Vocals
Dan Estrin - Guitars
Chris Hesse - Drums