The Illusion of Progress is the sixth studio album by American rock band Staind. It was released on August 19, 2008. The Illusion of Progress was produced by Johnny K and recorded in lead singer Aaron Lewis's home studio. It debuted at No. 3 in the Billboard 200 with 91,800 units sold.
The lead single "Believe" topped the Alternative Songs chart on September 13, 2008. It accumulated three weeks at number one. The second single was "All I Want", and was released on November 24. The video continued the story of the first single video and was available on Staind's Myspace on December 12. In Europe the second single was "The Way I Am", and its video was available on the official Staind website as of December 24. "This Is It" was later released as the last single off the album. The album has sold over 318,000 units in the United States alone.[8]
Lewis recorded a country version of the album’s ninth track "Tangled Up in You" on his 2011 solo EP Town Line.
Soundedit
Lewis commented, "We went into the studio with the mindset of making our heaviest record yet, but the record that came out has flavors of Pink Floyd and straight-up blues. We didn't use the same rigs that we use onstage; we used all vintage guitars and amps, and I'm pretty psyched about it. The songs are pretty timeless in their texture." The band calls the new project the "most musical CD" they've recorded to date.[9]
Promotionedit
To promote the album, Staind treated their fans to a series of intimate, behind-the-scenes "webisodes" posted on staind.com, documenting their recording process. Staind also premiered the song "Believe" worldwide on U.S. station KYSR in Los Angeles. Staind also released the song, "This Is It", on iTunes early as a single. "This Is It" was released as a downloadable track for the video game Rock Band on July 29 for the Xbox 360 and July 31 for PlayStation 3.[10]
Initial critical response ranged from mixed to average. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 53, based on 8 reviews.[1]
Track listingedit
All lyrics written by Aaron Lewis; all music written and composed by Staind.
"Schizophrenic Conversations" (live at the Hiro Ballroom)
4:46
Note: All other editions with bonus tracks only contain "It's Been A While (Acoustic At The Hiro Ballroom)" and "Schizophrenic Conversations (Acoustic At The Hiro Ballroom)".[12]
Note: The Japanese edition of The Illusion of Progress lists the two bonus tracks "Something Like Me" and "The Truth" as both recorded live at the Hiro Ballroom. This is incorrect. They are actually the studio versions recorded during the Chapter V album sessions.
^ abc"Staind:The Illusion Of Progress (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved March 13, 2009.
^Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. The Illusion of Progress at AllMusic. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
^Graff, Gary. "The Illusion of Progress". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 19, 2008. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
^Morse, Steve (August 19, 2008). "That's no illusion - it's real progress". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
^Appleford, Steve (August 19, 2008). "New CDs: Staind, Amy Macdonald". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
^Rosen, Jody (August 21, 2008). "Staind: The Illusion Of Progress: Music review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 18, 2009. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
^"Review: Staind – 'The Illuison Of Progress'". TuneLab Music. August 12, 2008. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
^"Its Baaaacccck.....SoundScan Sales 2/17/09: India Arie, Bobby V, Ryan Leslie". NikeTalk. February 20, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
^"STAIND /// The Official Site". Archived from the original on June 28, 2008. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
^"DLC Week of July 29th Scars on Broadway, Staind, Testamen , The New No 2 – Rock Band – Forums". Archived from the original on July 28, 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
^"Staind – the Illusion of Progress (2008, CD)". Discogs.
^"Staind – the Illusion of Progress (2008, CD)". Discogs.
^"Staind – the Illusion of Progress (2008, CD)". Discogs.
^"The Illusion of Progress (Deluxe Version) by Staind". August 19, 2008.