Hoobastank，一支来自美国加利福尼亚州的后Grunge乐队，成立于1995年，首张同名专辑没有让他们红起来，直到《The Reason》的推出，该专辑发行四个半月后就位居排行榜三甲，他的知名度从此飞速上扬。说真的现在已经很少像这样类型的团体冲到排行榜，毕竟现在已不是摇滚乐流行的年代，普遍充斥的饶舌和R&B占据所有人的视听，那一直不停碎碎念的歌真像魔音穿脑哩！当饶舌摇滚乐如火如荼发酵时，Hoobastank 不为所动的走自己的路，这样的独特差异果然吸引众多乐迷，更轰动整个美国西岸俱乐部。
98年该团自掏腰包发行首张专辑《they sure don't make basketball short like they used to》，不论是在演出后贩卖或当地零售店里都很畅销，透过网络的无国界效应，喜欢他们的乐迷甚至远及英国、以色列、苏联、或巴西，才短短几个月唱片已卖个精光！与主流名厂ISLAND签约推出首张同名专辑《Hoobastank》，由 jim wirt〈incubus/重击合唱团、fiona apple/费欧娜艾波〉制作，jay baumgardner 混音，让已厌倦千篇一律饶舌摇滚乐的人重享美好的旋律共鸣。《摘自：环球音乐》
专辑名称：The Reason
发行时间：2003.12.09
专辑歌手：Hoobastank
官方网站：http://www.hoobastank.com/
Hoobastank - The Reason [MV]
I'm not a perfect person
As many things I wish I didn't do
But I continue learning
I never meant to do those things to you
And so I have to say before I go
That I just want you to know
I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
and the reason is you
I'm sorry that I hurt you
It's something I must live with everyday
And all the pain I put you through
I wish that I could take it all away
And be the one who catches all your tears
Thats why i need you to hear
I've found a resaon for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
and the reason is You [x4]
I'm not a perfect person
I never meant to do those things to you
And so I have to say before I go
That I just want you to know
I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
and the reason is you
I've found a reason to show
A side of me you didn't know
A reason for all that I do
And the reason is you
很多听众是从《The Reason》开始认识 Hoobastank 的，殊不知这已经是他们的第二张专辑了。乐队早在1994年成立于洛杉矶附近的 Agoura Hill 郊区，当时 Douglas Robb 与 Dan Estrin 分别效力于两支不同的乐队，一场比赛把他们紧密地联系在一起，可谓不打不相识，从此两人惺惺相吸尝试合作，随后索性离开原来的乐队另起炉灶。贝斯手 Markku Lappalainen 与鼓手 Chris Hesse 加入后，急速催化了他們闯荡乐坛的伟大构想，从此意味着 Hoobastank 正式上路。
Hoobastank 就像一台永不磨损的创作机器，很多时候会发现他们在路上沉默不语，好象正在思考着些什么，“当我们在某些地方游玩时，喜欢穿着短裤，因为看起来很普通，我喜欢那种轻松的感觉”。丰富的业余生活激发了无穷的创作灵感，他们的作品似乎都经过严密的推敲，这点从《The Reason》里就能够看出来，不仅节奏比较强劲，而且旋律也不错，总之就是相当有韵味。按照主唱Douglas的想法“专辑里的歌该重的就一定重，该温柔的就一定温柔，如果说第一张同名专辑《Hoobastank》的创作初衷比较中庸，那么这张《The Reason》则刚好相反。”
好东西时常让人爱不释手，更何况作为双料季军（全美流行专辑榜及英国摇滚专辑榜）出现的《The Reason》。充满活力的劲爆单曲“Out Of Control”成功地打入了全美现在摇滚榜TOP9，它是此张专辑中最后完成的作品，讲的是人们盲目关注某些事物，最后却落得情感失控一场空的故事，暗示着生命中充满了悲哀与无奈。专辑中还有些曲目跟宗教信仰有关，并对心中埋藏已久的想法提出了种种的疑问。另外吉他轰鸣的“Just One”，极具爆发力的“Same Direction”，及具带有经典摇滚曲风的“Disappear”均十分出色，相信可以满足不同听者的耳朵。其实最值得一提的是同名单曲“The Reason”，歌曲的主要内容关于生活中的爱与混乱，这些事儿你都经历过吗？如果没有的话就在音乐中继续寻找答案吧！
Review (by Johnny Loftus )
For The Reason, those nice suburban Californians in Hoobastank refine and shade in the concentric circles of their self-titled debut, but stay safely within its platinum figure eight. "Crawling in the Dark" was the contoured heart of that album. Its combination of enormous rock chorus and elastic dreamboat vocals made Hoobastank stars and established their sound — not original, but firmly rooted in the rousing voice of Doug Robb and guitarist Dan Estrin's slick post-grunge concoctions.
Despite the usual pressure to produce another "Crawling," the songwriting duo seems to have largely been left alone for The Reason. Naturally, the presence of boffo big producer Howard Benson ensures the album's impeccable sonic accessibility. Robb's voice breaks at just the right time and for maximum emotional resonance, while the music ebbs and flows effortlessly between aggressive rockers and more introspective material. But for the most part, what you hear is what you get. Strings do pop up on a few songs, and here and there the harmonies seem too rich for reality. But these additional elements never overshadow the foursome's work.
The strings punch up "Lucky"'s already uplifting chorus (the acoustic verses are a nice touch, too), while they're a lush bed of down pillows for the somewhat sappy title track. It's not that Robb's words throughout The Reason aren't genuine. Lyrics like "I'm not a perfect person, I never meant to do those things to you," "So what should I do, just lay next to you as though I'm unaffected?," and "There has to be somewhere that we can be safe from the lives we live each day" are delivered with real feeling. However, Hoobastank is still reducing teen angst (over love, escape, or a higher power) to digestible phrases, and writing sandpaper smooth rock symphonies around those couplets.
So it's a formula, and one that remains unchanged from the debut. But Robb, Estrin, bassist Markku Lappalainen, and drummer Chris Hesse are a better band now — endless touring will do that. "Same Direction" and "Just One" are standout anthems, raucous and righteous all at once. Lead single "Out of Control" lets Robb and Estrin shriek and shred with some reckless (yet still melodic and ready for radio) aggression.
Meanwhile, the other, softer side of the band is represented best by "What Happened to Us?" and the drifting departure "Disappear," which both unfold as much more focused versions of Hoobastank's sometimes clunky attempts at nuance (think "To Be With You"). In the end, The Reason is really a better version of Hoobastank, written and played by more mature versions of Hoobastank.
