Welcome back to Rewind and React. I'm Adam Eltarhoni. And I'm Rob Fine. Today we have another one-shot episode for you. For today's one-shot episode, we actually have a special episode with a two-parter video for the band Hoobastank. And we're going to look at "The Reason" and the sequel video, "Same Direction."
Yes, the music video for "The Reason" is a little bit deceptive at first. It opens up with a woman walking down the street who was suddenly struck by a car driven by singer Doug Robb, as bystanders rushed to her aid. So too does an old man with white hair from his thrift shop, right in front of where the accident happened. Guitarist Dan Estrin watches from the sidewalk until the white-haired man leaves the store, then quickly sneaks in and locks the storefront door. Dan snips the wires to the alarm and greets drummer Chris Jesse out. Back in the alleyway, they remove a cloth covering a large safe and Chris begins cracking the safe. After quietly watching over the victim of the car crash, singer Doug then returns to his car and speeds off. Dan and Chris make their way inside the safe and locate a large red diamond hidden within its compartments, and the car crash victim stands up, unfazed by her injuries, and leaves the scene on a moped with bassist Marcus LaPaglia. And then throughout the video, we see clips of the band planning the heist together, and at the end, the white-haired man connects the dots and realizes he's been set up. We end with the band celebrating together with their loot as police sirens sound.
So this is a cool heist music video. How did you like it? Oh, I love this one. So the song and the video really sharply contrast one another. The song's very low key. It's not something you would think, oh, let's do a heist music video for this. But you know the song's lyrics itself, we're talking about, like, regret and redemption, you know, trying to, like, become a better person. And it kind of works perfectly to put the viewer in a state of believing the car crash victim is actually hurt. And then this, like, disconnect creates like an almost like a sense of irony that the song is talking about becoming a better person, but the visuals are portraying like a criminal behavior. So yeah, I think it's so fun. You sit down, you've got this song and you're like, here's what we're going to do with it. It's a total 180 from what I would have thought. So I think the video is brilliant in that respect.
I'm glad you said that because I thought it was singing about the jam. And the reason, "The Reason" is you and he's talking about that. Jimmy really wanted to hear you make, you make a good point. There it is. Funny. I'll step back for a second for Hoobastank. So they started and they kind of were around in that like rock nu-metal era. And so this song is such a different song from, I would, I assume at least the rest of the hits they released. Yeah. And it became like their biggest hit, right? Yeah. Like Sugar Ray was like, like a hard rock band, and then "Fly" came out and everybody loved it, and it just completely pivoted and changed the direction of the band. But that's nothing like what they were. Their sound was before that. It also reminds me of Maroon 5, because "Harder to Breathe" was their first single, and that was such a rocky, fast-paced song. And now everything's not like that at all. It's mirrors. Their melodies. Yeah, I agree, I do think it's at their best.
Fine. So funny story related to what you're saying. I went to this concert and some guy there was talking to me for a while, and he was very inebriated. He's like hanging on me at one point and he gets like, real somber. And he's like, you know, the world is divided into two people. Those who know Hoobastank for "Crawling in the Dark" and those who know them for "The Reason." That it was not a Hoobastank concert, you know? Yeah, he's just, like, pulled this out of nowhere and I was like, yeah, all right. And I'm, you know, I'm really just trying to get away from this guy at this point. But oddly, that has lived in my head rent free for like the last two years. But I just keep thinking about what he said there. And I was like, he's right. I would probably say most people at this point, if you ask them about Hoobastank, they would immediately think of "The Reason." But it's nothing like the rest of their songs.
Yeah, you know, it's funny you say that. So I think when people say things like that, it's something that's been boiling and probably this person forever. And he's like, you've never had a chance to say because it never comes up naturally in conversation. But we've all had those thoughts where like, man, I really have this like very specific opinion. It's not relevant to anything in the world. But I just, I really want someone to know and I never get a chance to. So this is probably one of those moments where he's like, well, I'm drunk, we're at a concert. I just really want to talk about Hoobastank. Probably does like them before "The Reason" or, you know, the songs that are not like "The Reason," and he just really wanted to let that out. So that's funny.
Yeah, I'm glad he got to get that off his chest. And now he's like, pass that burden on to me. You can spread the word. So "Crawling in the Dark" clearly their first big song, they actually had an album before the one that was on when they were known as Hoobustank. The A was a you and they kind of had more of a scar sound back then. But then. Yeah, "Crawling in the Dark," "Running Away," "Out of Control," all the other songs that came out were more, yeah, like you said, that nu-metal era, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Incubus kind of era. I wonder what the band thinks that, like, they have this song that's so different from the rest of their music that became the biggest hit for them. Like, what does that say about your art form? I guess that's unfortunate. Yeah, I don't know. That's a good quote. I mean, I don't know, you're getting paid, so I have sympathy, but I don't have as much as like a struggling artist who would love to get like a song that would just be annoyingly played all the time. So yeah. It's tough.
Back to the video though. So this is one of the videos I will say that I love it. I hate, but I will say it's, it's a really well done video still. And what I really like is the fake. Really. Right. You start the video and someone gets hit by a car and you're like, okay, this is weird. And then you realize it's all kind of a setup. And as time goes on, things are working out and I like the guitar going into the back and like opening up the safe and clearing out the cache. And then he pulls out the secret door and the camera, like, opens up on that. I like. Seems like that. So weird that the ruby just sits there by itself. But of course for the scene it makes sense. It has a lot of like cool shots and it seems very well set up. What kind of was annoying, though, is when the girl gets hit, there's no injuries on her, and I know that's maybe part of how she's planning to get like hit, like it's kind of staged and a little bit like that. But even the way she lays down everything seems so staged and it's fine, but like, no one's even checking on her or seeing if she's okay or like. And I don't know what to do in those situations. Like someone get hit by a car, do you go and check up on them? But I feel like everyone just standing there and then the lead singer gets out of the car, walks up, and no one's talking to him. Everything's very like, well, slo-mo choreographed. And he's sitting there. Also the angle of like, how he hits her and then she's like way in the back on the side. I'm like, what angle did this happen anyway? Again, I'm overthinking probably that video, but I'm just like. She opens her eyes at one point when she's like laying on the ground to let the audience know that she's okay. But if I'm a bystander in watching that, I'm like, oh, her eyes are open, what's wrong with her? And then they just let him leave and then he goes off. You know, they get the cops after him, like when he leaves. Yeah. That's fair. And then the cops do show up, and then the paramedics show up and they check on her, and then she opens her eyes and she's okay. And then she just gets up and leaves and I'm like, are they not completely going to let her leave? Yeah. Everything. So everything around that I found annoying. Yeah. It's necessary. And this part of the video and it's fine, but it's such a cool concept and I like the heist aspect of it, and I like getting the owner out of the this store so that guy can literally walk in, locked the door, unlock the back. Even in the scene when they watch the car get, when he hear the accident and you see the van, the getaway van going across right beforehand. And then going around the back, all that's really cool. And I really think that part works out just the way the accident in this film they're choreographed to maybe everyone's in on it seemed a little too staged.
I think you're, you're right. Yeah. If somebody got hit by a car like that, they probably would have a few more injuries. But it is staged to their credit. Poorly. Say, it's. I guess. You're right. Like, I know, I know. And that's the funny thing, because when you watch it the first time, you're like, this girl is definitely acting. She's not really hurt. And then, you know, it is staged and maybe there's like, maybe there's like a MythBusters that can tell you, how do you roll when a car get to you? Or maybe stunt doubles can tell you how to do it, because maybe she just knew how to do the perfect roll and that's fine. But I just everything else, the passerbys reaction and things like that just seemed a little convenient. I do know you're not supposed to move them because you could like, injure like their spine and stuff like that, but yeah, they should at least be like, hey, are you okay? You know, talk to her. Yeah. Yeah. There's a lot left to chance. Like, what are the chances that these, that store shop owner is going to come out and like check on it, right. Yeah. We later find out that that's not being left to chance. That's actually planned all along or the plan. Yeah. Yeah. We'll talk about that. Yeah. In a second here.
And I'm wondering, you know, Ocean's Eleven came out in like 2001, 2002 that that inspired this video like it was heist movies kind of getting back into the forefront. A big reason that they decided to go this route. Because you're right, it is so different from the song. Yeah, I'd actually written down, yeah, Usual Suspects and Ocean's Eleven probably definitely gave us a lot of inspiration here. I think there's certainly gave inspiration to this video. And I couldn't find any behind the scenes or makings of on YouTube or on the internet. So maybe there was like kind of a reason everything you look up is the reason that "The Reason" was made as a song, not the video. So I guess everyone's more interested in the song. Makes sense, but I would like to know why they did this. And maybe Brett Simon, who is the director, had the idea, but I couldn't really find any details on it. Yeah, he would probably be the guy to go to a quick search though. There doesn't appear to be anything there as well. Unfortunate. Yeah. For anyone who loves locations, you can go here in real life. It's on the corner of East Fifth and Main Street in LA. You can see the Roslyn Hotel, which still exists in the background of one of the scenes, and the owner is played by David Perry. He's kind of a minor actor, but he is in Beverly Hills Cop 3, and he was in Full Metal Jacket. All right, there you go. If you do, go visit this. Be careful crossing the street. Exactly. Yeah.
Anything else about this one? No, just that the storyline of "The Reason" continues in the video for the song "Same Direction," also by Hoobastank, creating a little mini narrative universe, and we see more of the aftermath and planning behind the heist nation. But I'm not ever gonna say that from right up, because we're all going in the same direction, no matter which way. "Same Direction" picks up immediately after the events of the band's prior music video, "The Reason." That video ends with the band successfully stealing a rare gem in an elaborately staged distraction involving a fake car accident. In "Same Direction," we rewind and we revisit the heist, but now we see how it was planned and executed. The video includes interrogation scenes, with each band member being questioned by the police, flashbacks revealing the band looking for a singer, and we cycled through a few popular artists at the time. And then in a twist ending, it's not really an ending, I guess. In a twist. Yeah, that's revealed that one of the new members auditioning for the band was an undercover cop who betrayed the group. The video closes with the band being caught and learning that singer Doug Robb was a mole the entire time.
So I will say this one on first watch was really confusing. More watches. I learned that it's not only a sequel, but a prequel to "The Reason" video with flashbacks and flash forward, you know, flash at the time and then flashbacks to before what happened. And "The Reason?" It's like a late season of Lost, exact. Yeah, exactly. Very confusing. How did you like this one though? So I love this too, because, you know, it's same universe as that other one. But whereas it was like a twist in the other one, that this car accident was just a distraction for the heist. We got a twist in this one that one of the members of the band was part of the cops. The entire time. It did make me think, isn't this like the definition of entrapment? The only way I can, like, wrap my head around it, though, is that existing band members must have been pulling off these kind of crimes, kind of in like a Point Break style thing. And so they plugged a Keanu Reeves member in there to infiltrate and be their man on the inside. I still, still kind of feels like entrapment, but I'm not sure. I'm not sure how it all works.
Yeah, I will say there's a lot of questions for both of these videos and the, the logistics of and the legality of it all. I actually think I like this one better than "The Reason," because it is a little more coherent in the sense that if you kind of break it up into the prequel. So Doug works for the police, he's looking to get in and the police are trying to look into get into this criminal organization. And so he auditions, he becomes the lead singer, and then he helps them complete the heist. And then at the end is actually the one that helps break them down. And in the very last scene or one of the last scenes, actually, it's a scene I like where both, I guess, the drummer or someone, they're about to jump a fence and run it, jump over a fence to the leap, and he reaches his hand down to grab Rob to help him up, and Rob throws a cuff on him. Yeah, and pulls him down and custom. I thought that was a really cool scene because that was like a cool twist that you don't know when the video is happening. You don't know. I feel like that's why it was confusing at first, because I feel like, what are all these flash forwards happening? And then that's kind of the big reveal when you're like, oh, at least I realized Rob's in on this and he works for the cops. So the kind of show it early in the video that he is a member of the police like the he's working with the guy with white hair. But as they were running away, I did think that like Doug, Rob had like turned he was like helping the other guys. That's, you know, first watch I'm like, oh, wow. Like, you know, he's part of the family now, like a Fast and Furious kind of thing. But yeah, then at the end, you know, he does. Yeah. Arrest him. I love that shot of the, the wrist. That was super cool. Like you said. Yeah.
So this video I like. But it definitely makes the first video seem pointless and like it makes less sense. Right. And I think it's just because the shop owner was a cop all day long. So was he a plant to pick up these people and catch him in the act? But if he was trying to catch him in the act, why didn't he just wait till they got inside and like, sealed off the shop? Like it's just it's just like the video's kind of retconning. Oh. So yes, clueless shop owner who was deceived in the first one is actually really the smart one that deceiving them. And you're just like, all right, this seems like fancy. That's trying to be too smart for its own good. I guess you didn't have them all together originally. So as they're robbing it, there's still the bass player who picks up the girl on the moped. I guess the singer's on your side anyway. So, yeah, you had two of them in there. In the shop? Yeah, I get what you're saying. Like there's holes. Yeah, and that's fine if the music video doesn't have to be like, work of art here in the sense that they have to make a logical sense. But I do feel like it diminishes the value of the first video, which is kind of why I like this one better, too, because it has more of a storyline in that sense.
So in the first one, we had song lyrics that were like, in sharp contrast to what's happening in the video. In this one, they're like absolutely aligned. You know, the song is talking about trust and betrayal. And one thing, you know, we were just talking about how I, I kind of thought originally that the singer was now working with the criminals like he swap sides, and the name of the song is "Same Direction." You know, they're they're literally running in the same direction and they're, but you know, obviously we see what happens at the end of that. But I thought it was cool how the music video kind of externalizes the tension between like, trust and betrayal and stuff like that. And with this whole undercover cop plotline, I thought that was like, really clever. Yeah. First of all, we had sharp contrast this when we have sharp comparison, it's cool. And now that you mentioned that, that might be why I like it more too, because I think I like the fast-paced part of the song and the fast-paced part of the music video. I'm like, how it is moving at a good clip. That makes it much more enjoyable for me. Yeah, I mean, the song is better for sure. I love the song.
Let's talk about our cool cameos. Yes, and in the video we get auditions and we get three famous people. So do we want to talk about these cool auditions? Yeah, we have rising star at the time turned psychopath Kanye West. We have Chester Bennington of Linkin Park who. Yeah. At this point they would have like just come out with. No, no they've been out for a few years okay. We're back. Yeah. Yeah. Although because he's got the sunglasses and the way his hair is I definitely thought he was the singer from Avenged Sevenfold. That's a yeah. Yeah. Because it kind of looks like an but. Yeah. And Joel Madden from Good Charlotte. I think it's cool because Chester was obviously the biggest star at the time. Kanye West's first album just came out earlier that year. So he was like a rising star. He was really nice and he's like doing this video and there's a behind the scenes where they go through all the people and you can really see him get into the multiple takes they do for the scenes for him. Obviously now he's gone crazy, but it's still a cool throwback to see, like early Kanye there and then Chester, you know, of course he passed away years ago. But again, it was kind of like two big people at the time that now are way different this day and age. Yeah. And then of course, the Good Charlotte guy, Joel. Yes. They didn't make the cut though. Doug. Rob beat them out.
That's what I was. So I was going to ask you who would you pick as like if this was like, oh I have a band. Who's my lead singer? It would be hard not to pick Chester, you know, just given their all of their discographies at this point, you it would be difficult. Yeah. So it's funny, there's a behind the scenes video like I mentioned and it's about 30 minutes long, so it's super long. It covers this video on another video and I'll talk about that in a moment. But it's kind of cool because they do the takes with Chester. And while he's doing his like run through he's like performing. And then he stops and he goes over to the guitar player and he takes the guitar. Follow me like, no, you want to play like this? And then it gives it back to him and he's performing again and he goes to the drummer. He's like, no, you want to do it like this and tap, tap, tap, tap. And then he goes back to sing, and then he goes to the other guy and he's like, so he's like kind of managing or coaching the band while he's singing, which I think was like kind of cool, like B-roll footage. Yeah, yeah. And but it makes sense why they would be like, definitely not this guy. Yeah, that's a good point. The behind the scenes also has someone called Billy Clarke, and I think he's like a music manager or a music attorney, not attorney, but someone in the music industry. And he was doing some of this too, obviously didn't make the cut. And Joel Madden was the one in it, but Joel Madden wasn't in the behind the scenes video. So I'm wondering if that was like a light switch or an addition.
So I'm going to talk about this other video. Have you heard about this one? No, there's another video for "Same Direction." Yes. So from what I understand, there was like and the beginning of this behind the scenes talks about it, but I guess there was like either a Mastercard contest or a Mastercard, something related to Mastercard. And you had to, like, fill out an essay and submit to the contest, and you got if you won, you got to pick who was. Thanks. Next video and it's called "It's the Mad World" version if you're looking that up. But "Same Direction" Mad World video. And it's a concept where this guy is like he's a little kid and he I guess he plays triangle in the band. And the other little kids back in 1980, something like, oh, you know, triangles are rock enough. You're not going to be in our band. And there's like kid versions of the band members of Who is thinking. And so this guy makes dioramas, and in the dioramas, Hoobastank is in it. So like, you zoom into the diorama of this like little bed with made with like matchsticks and matchbooks and like, it's real people in the band. And then there's a backyard scene with a pool. It's really cool. Video like this. The way they did that when the guys bustin up chalk to make it all smoky, the band members get all foggy and stuff like that, and it's just like a really cool play on this reality and fantasy world that bounces between this guy's mind.
I just looked it up as you describe it, and I do vaguely, vaguely remember this version. Yeah, with the drummer, like using matchsticks, the drum and everything. Yeah. Super cool. Great. The two-part music video, you don't see a lot of that. And I thought, it's so fun. You know, I, I love when a band does continuous storylines across videos. Usually it's a series on the whole album, like Fall Out Boy has done that and a few other bands, but just to do two that were like, you know, both big hits and they work so seamlessly together. The lyrics blend or contrast like perfectly to make us feel something. I love it, that's great. There's always been like a cool concert to me that they did this, and I'm I'm glad we got to. Talk about it. Yeah, definitely. And I'll mention this because we talked about in My Chemical Romance. I guess the only downside of multi-part videos is if they don't get to finish the story like they did with The Danger Days. Yeah, yeah, it's always the risky run. You know? I guess Green Day did it with "Holiday" and it's not really a story though. Not like this. This one had a true story to it. So yeah, this one makes a lot more sense. Yeah.
Well, you know, Rob, it's time for another trivia game. Oh, let's do it. All right, so this one is, two West Coast bands that were around the same time, actually them and Linkin Park kind of were playing at the same cafes back in the day. But we're going to ask Hoobastank or Incubus, two bands that apparently get compared to a lot. So when I ask them questions and you're gonna have to determine which band it is. I just love the concept of Linkin Park performing in like, a Starbucks and. Like I'm about to break it. It's like full volume. Yeah. Yes, it would be fun to see them perform at a Starbucks. So this band formed in 1994, in Agoura Hills, California, after its founding members met at a high school. Battle of the bands. I'm going to say Incubus. That is Super Stick. They Agoura Hills just sounded like an Incubus kind of place. It does, doesn't it? Yeah. Okay. This one hopefully helps. Their 2001 album Morning View marked a departure from the nu-metal scene, embracing a more melodic and experimental sound. You said Morning View. Oh, that's an Incubus right? Yeah, very, very popular album. I think they had driven a few other big ones on it. Yeah, you probably should keep the album name out of that one. What I wanted to give you a layup. You have to give kind of weight. Going back to the previous one, do you say Hoobastank met at a battle of the bands? Yeah, that's kind of fun because like, it kind of ties into the "Same Direction." Like fire that they had and everything. Like the looking for the lead singer and everything. Yeah. All right. They collaborated with Skrillex under a 2017 album. I Won't name the album so you don't get a hint. They're blending electronic elements to their rock sound, man. So Incubus already had a deejay in the group. I'm going to, I'm going to say Hoobastank for this one. Thank you. I mean. They already had a they already had that. Well, I figured my last comment about Morning View switching away from nu-metal into more of that, like other sound, would have been the hint that they probably didn't have the DJ as much anymore. Use them as much anymore. Yeah, well, now they did though, because you think about, like the Outer Space song, "Meet Me in Outer Space" and like, you still DJ in there and everything. Yeah. That's true. That's a good point. Okay, how about this? They covered the Ghostbusters theme song for Halloween in 2009. Hoobastank. Oh, you knew this one. Wow. Yeah, this is on our TV every October. Is it a fun video? It's a, it's. Yeah. I mean, it's clearly something they just threw together, you know, but they're doing like. Like now the Ghostbuster walked, like, a little shimmy or whatever, and they, like, recreate some of the scenes from the movie. All right. We'll give you a couple more here. And they released a song titled "We Are 1" in 2010 as a part of a compilation supporting the Haiti earthquake crisis. Oh man. I'm definitely more familiar with Hoobastank than Incubus, and I've never heard this song, so I'm going to say Incubus. Hoobastank. Oh is it I never. Again, according to the, according to my research. So I could be wrong. Their song "Wish You Were Here" became one of their most popular tracks. Yeah. Incubus. You got it. Okay. Their song "Megalomanic" was released in 2003 and featured a politically charged music video. That's, Incubus. On a roll. All right, let's give one more. Their album, Fungus Among Us, was released in 1995 and showcased a blend of funk and metal influences. That's Incubus. Nuh So you're the bigger Incubus fan than you thought? Yeah, well, you give me the album names, it's a lot easier. Yeah, it's hard to do the trivia without, like, saying, like, there's this. But a lot of the album names are known and songs are now. And so it's like, you gotta find some of those deep cuts that hopefully trick you. And I do realize I, I often listen to Hoobastank albums as a whole, so If "We Are One" wasn't on one of the albums, I probably never would have. Yeah, it was on a compilation thing, right? So I never heard of that one. Well, yeah. Have you seen them in concert? I've not. No. That'd be fun to go to. Like, "Man Out of Control" and "Crawling in the Dark." It would be like, amazing in a pit. Yeah, yeah. We'll have to see if they're touring because it'd be fun to see them.
Everyone, thank you for joining this episode of Rewind and React. I want to Hooba. Thank you for listening and feel free to like and subscribe and we'll talk soon. Yeah thanks guys.
