The Illusion of Progress is the sixth studio album by Staind, released on August 19, 2008, through Flip Records, Atlantic and Roadrunner. 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.
Lewis recorded a country version of the album’s ninth track “Tangled Up in You” on his 2011 solo EP Town Line. The single “This Is It” was also featured on the soundtrack for the 2009 film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
Tracklist:
- This Is It
- The Way I Am
- Believe
- Save Me
- All I Want
- Pardon Me
- Lost Along the Way
- Break Away
- Tangled Up in You
- Raining Again
- Rainy Day Parade
- The Corner
- Nothing Left to Say
Staind
Aaron Lewis: lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Mike Mushok: lead guitar
Johnny April: bass, backing vocals
Jon Wysocki: drums
Additional musicians
John Pirruccello: pedal steel guitar (tracks 9 and 12)
Johnny K: piano (track 4), Hammond organ (tracks 9 and 12)
Rick Barnes: slide guitar (track 9)
Stevie Blacke: orchestration (track 9)
Vernard Burton, Emoni Wilkins, Sharlisa Brooks, Zita Smith, Lajuanese Robertson, and Carya Holmes-Brown: additional vocals (track 12)
Production
Johnny K: producer and engineer
Tony “Tadpole” Mysliwiec: digital editing
Justin Wilk: additional editing
Jeff Gilmer: assistant engineer
Ryan Williams: mixing
Ted Jensen: mastering
