Back with their third album, Hinder brings fans another slice of their grunge, metal rock sound. All American Nightmare brings the realism of life together with a glam metal themed album. The band from Oklahoma has not always experienced great critical successes with their albums, but as they have developed as a band, their albums have evolved into cohesive rock anthologies that chronicle the realities of life with the raunchy side of rock.

The album kicks off with Sides of Me, full of heavy rock and energized guitar. It is declared as not a love song; just a song about sex, raunchy and with no strings attached. Though there are two sides of him, this side wants to party and have a good time, letting that good time lead him to wherever it goes.

All American Nightmare, also heavy on guitars talks about the man you would never take home to meet the parents. He's rebellious, he turns good girls bad and he lives by this. He's proud of this and wants everyone to know. This song is full of energy and hard rock and is very catchy.

A slower and deeper song moves the album along. What Ya Gonna Do brings up the question; if everything you were used to just ended or was somehow taken away, what would you do? Things might be really good right now, but can they stay that way forever? Would you be able to handle it if that moment ever comes. Though the song itself is slower, the guitars build up the chorus, giving it edge and depth.

The album starts to pick up again with Hey Ho. The song seems to be the band's opinion on popular music today compared to rock music. The drums and guitar give the song flow as he sings about how he'd rather listen to rock music instead of most of the music that popular culture has produced today.

The Life keeps the slow, deep sense of the album alive. For most bands, a song like this would be a positive song, but for Hinder, it's more of a song about how life is what it is. It's not like a movie, it's not always wonderful, it's just life. You spend your life looking for what you want and trying to get to where you want to be, but the grass is not always greener.

The fifth track, Waking Up The Devil, reenergizes the album with a mischevious laugh and a very gritty song. The guitars at to the grit and dirtiness of the sing, as the lyrics tell of a lustful meeting at a bar. The girl has evoked the devil inside of him as carnal need takes over. He's not looking for anything permanent, just a dirty one night stand after a night at the bar.

A break from the primal instincts brings us to the next track, Red Tail Lights, a slower song that uses guitar to keep the rock beat. This break up song is about a relationship that cannot be saved; both parts of the couple are unhappy and the relationship proved to be unsatisfying leaving no worth for them to even try to save it.

Striptease seemed like a continuation to Hey Ho; it shares more of an opinion about today's music, especially most of the pop artists that are popular today. It expresses the thought that most of today's pop scene really has no talent; that they are only fun to look at and create drama and publicity. The energy and taunting of this guitar driven song takes an even deeper dig at what the quality of music has come to today in Hinder's opinion.

Though earlier in the album, Hinder expressed being proud to be the American Nightmare, they also express that they might not always be the nightmare in the relationship. Everybody's Wrong tells about a relationship that has ended, but everyone thinks that it is his fault. She walks around all depressed and upset, still putting on the good girl front that she's carried for most of her life. Her friends and family all think they know the real her and that this is the real her, so they feel bad for her. He knows; however, that she was not the girl that everyone thought she was and was also partly to blame for the end of the relationship that she is acting so miserable and empty about. His frustration on being blamed for her sadness is emphasized in the guitar and intensity that runs throughout the song.

The album closes on a feel good song with a great beat, electrified by guitars. Put That Record On emphasizes the awesome feelings that come from listening to songs that bring back memories of good times. This song is a great close to the album, though it was not something that I would have expected from Hinder.


I thought this album was very well put together. I was not sure what to expect from Hinder with this album, but it worked really well and I liked it. This album has a great mix of different types of songs while still keeping Hinder's rock and metal edge. The songs are extremely real to the point that there is no fantasy or extra positivity to them. It's very relatable in the dryest sense that most people hate to admit. The album itself kind of reminded me of something that Motley Crue might have put out in their prime.