Review Summary: Better than their debut, but still far from a decent rock album.
In 2005, Hinder released their debut album,
Extreme Behavior, and they were immediately heralded as one of the worst bands ever. The repetitive subject matter, horrible vocals by Austin Winkler and lack of variation added up to form an abominable record. Three years later, they released their sophomore effort,
Take it to the Limit, which improved on everything that hindered them from decent reviews... slightly.
Luckily, not every song on the album is about love or heartbreak. "Loaded and Alone" tells the tale of a famous and rich star who ends up all by himself, and "The Best is Yet to Come" is a ballad about "seizing the day". Winkler's vocals are cleaner, and frankly, not all of the songs here are terrible. "Lost in the Sun" is a fairly decent mid-tempo rock song that reminisces on a summer wasted on love, and "Last Kiss Goodbye" has Winkler getting cheated on and berating himself for not realizing the signs. "Heaven Sent" boasts a catchy chorus, although the lyrics are pretty cheesy.
However, the album is not without its faults. "Without You", "Thing For You" and "Far From Home" are lame attempts to copy the success of "Lips of an Angel". They're bland, boring and easily forgettable. "Up All Night" rips off dozens of 80s hair metal bands, most prominently Def Leppard and "Pour Some Sugar On Me". "Use Me" sounds just like a faster version of "Get Stoned" from their debut, and "The Best is Yet to Come" is a cheesy "seize the day" ballad, as aforementioned.
In the end, you have to give Hinder some props here. Winkler's vocals are cleaner and less raspy, and their lyrics aren't just about sex, drinking and f*cked up relationships. It's quite easy to find a couple guilty pleasures within the album, with four decent rock songs. The rest might range from mediocre to horrible, but at least there isn't a "Room 21". For a nice surprise, Mick Mars from Motley Crue (one of the bands Hinder rips off) is present in the title track for a nice guitar solo.
With that being said, the album still gets repetitive at times, and the lyrics are not the best. The entire album can basically be summed up with the first five tracks, with proves Hinder's lack of variation. The ballads are still dreadful, and the songs about sex and partying are mediocre as usual.
The album is better than their debut, but still far from a good album. If you're not a fan of Hinder, this will unlikely change your opinion on them. If you like Hinder, you'll like this. The album improves on everything that plagued
Extreme Behavior, but only slightly.
