The Taking (album)

Background and production

In July 2009, singer and guitarist Duff McKagan announced, during Loaded's tour, that the band were writing new material for their next album. He said that they have some "great ideas and riffs" that the band wrote during their tour. Loaded parted ways with record label Century Media in February 2010 with the band continuing the work on new material. Prior to the beginning of recording, producer Terry Date approached the band and offered to produce the new album, with recording beginning, at Studio X, in August 2010, and completed by the beginning of September. On October 28, it was announced that the band had signed a deal with Eagle Rock Entertainment for the release of their album. In November, Blabbermouth.net announced the album's title, The Soundtrack, with a release date scheduled for March 22, 2011. It was later revealed in interviews with guitarist Mike Squires and filmmaker Jamie Burton Chamberlin that the album title was changed to The Taking, and the release date was change from March 22, to April 19, 2011.

Promotion

A new song by Loaded from the album entitled "We Win" is being used by ESPN and Major League Baseball for their coverage of the American League Championship Series, National League Championship Series, and the World Series while a second song entitled "Fight On" was confirmed for the album. Loaded performed the two new songs at the Seattle Seahawks Veterans Day half time show on November 7.

Film

Loaded began collaborating with filmmaker and documentarian Jamie Burton Chamberlin on a film based on the album in October 2010. Chamberlin stated that the film would be more "about designing a fictitious story line which will be a part of the larger project, and will be a contemporary version of, say, Hard Days Night meets (Led Zeppelin's) Song Remains the Same, with aspects of documentary, music video, and live performance, all interconnected by an underlying motivation" and that the "album will serve as the soundtrack." The film is to feature a number of cameos from various musicians, including John Roderick of The Long Winters, Chris Ballew of The Presidents of the United States of America, Soundgarden members Ben Shepherd and Kim Thayil as well as Lemmy of Motörhead. Shooting locations for the film include Seattle, with the band planning to perform unannounced acoustic shows for filming, and Los Angeles. Chamberlin hopes to premier the film at the 2011 SXSW while a trailer for the film was released in January 2011.

Critical reception

The Taking received generally positive reviews, scoring a 65 out of 100 ("generally favorable reviews") on Metacritic based on five reviews. Allmusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album three out of five stars stating that McKagan "turns in his hardest record in recent memory" and that the album "does make a brute impression [...] playing with a vitality that almost compensates for how they fetishize the past." Kerrang! magazine stated that with the album, "Loaded sound like a proper band now." Revolver magazine's Kory Grow complimented it's "big hooks and driving riffs" while noting punk influences on the album. Joseph Viney, reviewing for Sputnikmusic, gave the album a three-and-a-half out of five stars, noting a darker tone throughout the album, with songs such as “Lords Of Abbadon,” “Executioner’s Song” and “She’s An Anchor” earning comparisons to Down and Alice in Chains. Ultimate Guitar Archive commented that the album's music has "a bit of GN’R influence injected into it all, but [that] there’s just as much a heavy helping of punk and even 70’s glam" while they also complimented the lyrics stating they have "some fantastic moments." David Jón Fuller of the Winnipeg Free Press stated "it's clear McKagan hasn't lost any of his musical swagger" and while "his vocals are little more than shouting [...] the sound is powerful and bottom-heavy."

Tracks

All tracks written by Loaded.

Personnel