Hoobastank (album)

Hoobastank is the debut studio album by American rock band Hoobastank, released on November 20, 2001, by Island Records. Three singles were released from the album: "Crawling in the Dark", "Running Away", and "Remember Me". It has since been certified Platinum in the United States.^[8]

Hoobastank
Studio album by Hoobastank
Released	November 20, 2001 (2001-11-20)
Recorded	May–July 2001
Studio	4th Street Recording, Santa Monica, California (Guitars, bass, and vocals) Village Recorder, Los Angeles, California (Drums)
Genre	Alternative rock alternative metal post-grunge nu metal[1]
Length	38:59
Label	Island
Producer	Jim Wirt
Hoobastank chronology
They Sure Don't Make Basketball Shorts Like They Used To (1998) Hoobastank (2001) The Reason (2003)
Singles from Hoobastank
"Crawling in the Dark" Released: October 2, 2001[2] "Running Away" Released: April 1, 2002[3] "Remember Me" Released: September 3, 2002[4]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Entertainment Weekly	C[6]
Rolling Stone	(unfavorable)[7]

Musical style

The album's music and vocals have been compared to the band Incubus, who originated from the same suburban area of Southern California. In a December 2001 MTV interview, guitarist Dan Estrin commented, "we have a lot of people that bash us because they think we sound just like Incubus", adding that "a lot of people don't understand that we're all the same age, we grew up in the same neighborhood and we're influenced by the same bands. Both our singers were heavily influenced by Mike Patton from Faith No More."^[9]

Reception

Despite garnering heavy comparisons to Incubus, it was met with some positive reviews upon release, with AllMusic's Michael Gallucci awarding it four out of five stars.^[5] Joshua T. Cohen of The Pitt News wrote in 2002 that, "their sound and especially their vocals bear a striking similarity to Incubus’ later work", adding that "many categorize Hoobastank as mere 'rip-offs' of Incubus because of these similarities. But for those addicted to the melodic rock sounds of Southern Cali, Hoobastank serves as a great fix."^[10]

In a 2002 review of an Incubus and Hoobastank concert, MTV's Leah Greenblatt labelled the sound of the two bands as "sensitive hunk rock [for] teenage girls", and described Hoobastank as having "crunchy, Faith No More-esque riffage."^[11] In his book The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Colin Larkin categorized the band's sound as "melodic metal", also comparing it to Incubus and Faith No More.^[12] A negative review came from Rolling Stone's Steve Knopper in November 2001. He critiqued their lack of originality, commenting that "we've heard all Dan Estrin's big-metal guitar riffs before [and] singer Doug Robb has the moany high pitch that's going around metal these days."^[7] David Browne of Entertainment Weekly had a similarly mixed review, remarking that the album's lyrical themes "will sound familiar to anyone who’s spent time cranking metal records."^[6]

Louder Sound praised the album in 2021, commenting that the band "had the ability to write high-energy, catchy-as-the-plague bangers."^[13]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Crawling in the Dark"	Daniel Estrin Douglas Robb	2:55
2.	"Remember Me"	Estrin Robb	3:34
3.	"Running Away"	Estrin Robb	2:58
4.	"Pieces"	Estrin Robb Markku Lappalainen	3:15
5.	"Let You Know"	Estrin Robb	3:39
6.	"Better"	Lappalainen Robb	2:53
7.	"Ready for You"	Estrin Robb	3:07
8.	"Up and Gone"	Lappalainen Robb	3:21
9.	"Too Little Too Late"	Estrin Robb	3:15
10.	"Hello Again"	Lappalainen Robb	3:02
11.	"To Be with You"	Lappalainen Robb	4:02
12.	"Give It Back"	Estrin Robb	2:58

Japanese bonus track

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Losing My Grip"	3:55
14.	"The Critic"	4:15

Personnel

Hoobastank

• Doug Robb – lead vocals, rhythm guitar on “Too Little Too Late”
• Dan Estrin – lead guitar
• Markku Lappalainen – bass
• Chris Hesse – drums

Production

• Jim Wirt – producer, engineer
• CJ Eiriksson, Dave Holdredge, Matt Marrin – assistant engineers
• Jay Baumgardner – mixing
• James Murray, Mark Kiczula – mixing assistants

Artwork

• Louis Marino – art direction, design
• Ray Lego – photography
• Rick Patrick – creative director

Management

• Paul Pontius – A&R

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Hoobastank Chart (2001–02) Peak position UK Albums (OCC)[14] 96 UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[15] 8 US Billboard 200[16] 25 US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[17] 1

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Hoobastank Chart (2002) Position Canadian Albums (Billboard)[18] 192 Canadian Alternative Albums (Billboard)[19] 62 Canadian Metal Albums (Billboard)[20] 32 US Billboard 200[21] 75

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[8]	Platinum	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.