I should first prior to giving praise or slinging mud state that I have an extreme bias when reviewing this album. First and most importantly, my step father has served as the band's tour bus driver in the past and I myself have reaped the benefits of this relationship by being showered with merchandise, tickets, and photo opps. That said, here's my thoughts on Extreme Behavior Hinder's Debut release...

Hinder delivers a sonic mesh of all the things forgotten within the Rock genre… grit, sex, drugs, and more importantly youth. During the track, "Better Than Me" I was actually shocked to hear lead singer Austin Winkler deliver lyrics with reference "that time at the mall". Bubble Gum aside, this is no Tiffany performance as the track continues to describe a sexual encounter in a dressing room that Hinder's front man doesn't want to forget. Outside of the obvious sexual overtones and references to consuming large volumes of alcohol (and other controlled substances) on most of the albums tracks, each offering includes an obvious soul and real life spill over that clearly bleed through with catchy hooks and  sing-along appeal.

From the opening its clear that Extreme Behavior is brilliantly produced as every track has the unique “Hindery” sound which no doubt pushed this band into the bright lights. All of the tracks are genuine  "Rock-N-Roll" which in the modern age of crossover and genre blending this is a nice surprise. The guitar work on the album from start to finish is absolutely top shelf and bares strong influences from AC-DC to the Goo Goo Dolls. The highest points of the album come in the form of an angst vocal opening and heavy balls based riffing on “How Long” which can be dangerous while driving as the potential for high rates of speed and a citation are realistic. The second highlight the melody and catch factor on “Should” which looking into a crystal ball would seem the direction of future Hinder music.

Incidentally, I must include that one of my mother’s (a devout country fan) favorite tracks on Extreme Behavior is “Room 21”. In a nutshell, the ode details a one night stand in a motel with a nameless vixen in velvet boots. Yes, I agree…gross, thanks for the visual.

The good – Hinder is a great American Rock-N-Roll band! Their image and sound will prove to be a very influential position for years to come. The highly polished 3 or 4 chord songs prove that song writing doesn’t have to be complicated when balanced with “Extreme” talent.

The bad – Hinder is a very young band (although you can’t hear it musically), my fear is that success and the pressures to perform better than their last position may push them down the road of Pearl Jam; great first album and a dark downward spiral leading to mediocrity.

The bottom line – If you claim to be a Rock-N-Roll fan and you don’t own this album or don’t plan on purchasing it you’ve probably never seen Star Wars and should be deported.