Hit The Wall

Album: Adrenaline Mob EP (2011)
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Songfacts®:

  • Adrenaline Mob is a band formed by drummer Mike Portnoy after his departure from Dream Theater in early 2011. The other members that make up the quintet are Symphony X frontman Russell Allen, guitarists Rich Ward (Fozzy) and Mike Orlando and bassist Paul DiLeo. Adrenaline Mob's first live performance was on June 24, 2011 at the Hiro Ballroom in New York City and they released a YouTube video of a cover version of Black Sabbath's "The Mob Rules" three days later. This six minute plus epic is from their self-titled and self-produced debut EP, which was released on August 9, 2011.

    Portnoy quit Adrenaline Mob in June 2013 due to "scheduling conflicts" and was replaced by Twisted Sister drummer A.J. Pero.
  • The phrase "hit the wall" was first used in the 1970s to describe the point of extreme fatigue marathon runners experience at which the body's stores of energy are virtually exhausted. The "wall" is therefore the barrier that an athlete in an endurance sport runs into and must be surmounted if the race is to be completed.
  • Orlando told AntiMusic how the song developed from its original demo. He explained: "'Hit The Wall' started off musically as a real slanky dirty groovin track. In pure Adrenaline Mob style it has that powerful energy and flowin' groove to it provided by none other then the master himself Mr. Portnoy. I had previously tracked the song with a drum machine as I always do and Russ and I went to town with melodies and lyrics, Right away Russell just killed me with this Cornell inspired verse that knocked me off my chair in pure laughter & intense excitement. I always wanted the powerful downbeat style fist pumping chorus and this track was just perfect for it."
  • Orlando explained the song's meaning to AntiMusic: "Lyrically Russ and I just tapped into the feeling of being so damn frustrated with certain aspects of life, you just feel like Hitting The Wall. Whether it be someone driving you nuts, or your job, or anything like such. The chorus vocal melody just goes along perfect with that motif and has the sing along chant and scream it out loud feel! The release is my favorite as Russ and I wanted to bring the track into a grinding metal groove where Russ gets all Halford like on it which just sucks you right in, real down and dirty."
  • Orlando's guitar solo is one of his favorites. He explained to AntiMusic that it, "encompasses different techniques which I love to tap into in my solos. I had been jamming on a real nasty Sabbath type riff and Russ just said, that's it brother!! All of sudden the whole end of the song came to life."

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