On the heels of 2002's enormous hit "Wasting My Time,"
Default took another shot at platinum by releasing
Elocation. "Who Followed Who?" finds the group nicking the powerful drive of
the Bangles' "Hazy Shade of Winter" and gluing it to a
Nickelback tune. Speaking of the latter,
Chad Kroeger helped put
Default on the map and naturally is back to help out, co-penning "Throw It All Away," which aside from its title is a track worth salvaging. Lead singer
Dallas Smith sounds like a mixture of the aforementioned
Kroeger,
the Offspring's
Dexter Holland, and
Creed's
Scott Stapp. Sure, the band plays as astutely as, um,
Creed or
Nickelback under the watchful eye of producers
Rick Parashar (
Pearl Jam,
Rhythm Corps),
Butch Walker (
Sevendust,
SR-71), and
Kroeger. Although
Default's bastardized cover of the
Jeff Buckley classic "Cruel" is brave, the simple devotional "Without You" is the most memorable tune on
Elocation. ~ John D. Luerssen, All Music Guide