Master of Styles

Master of Styles is a studio album by alternative rock band The Urge, released in 1998. The album produced three singles (“Jump Right In”, “Straight to Hell”, and “Closer”) and sold 250,000 copies. “Jump Right In” featured guest vocals by Nick Hexum of 311 and hit the #10 position on the Modern Rock list.

Critical reception
The Washington Post wrote that "Urge seems to have a chameleonic talent for adapting to punk, ska, reggae, hip-hop and reggae trends without ever distinguishing itself." MTV wrote that "any group that can throw funk, ska, pop and metal into the old mixmaster (accent on old) without any discernible recipe for making it all work to their commercial benefit is nothing if not adaptable." CMJ New Music Monthly opined that the band "combines sounds from funk to punk to reggae, and it's successful thanks in large part to the one constant: the mellifluous, adaptable voice of Steve Ewing."

Personnel

 * The Urge
 * Steve Ewing - vocals
 * Karl Grable - bass, concept
 * Jerry Jost - guitars
 * John Pessoni - drums, background vocals
 * Bill Reiter - saxophone
 * Matt Kwiatkowski - trombone
 * Todd Painter - trombone, keyboard


 * Additional musicians
 * Nick Hexum - vocals in "Jump Right In"


 * Additional personnel
 * Mike Dillon - percussion
 * Doug Erb - art direction
 * GGGarth - engineer, producer
 * Mr. Colson - engineer
 * Tom Gordon - assistant engineer
 * Steve Hupaylo - unknown contributor
 * Michael Lavine - photography
 * Bob Ludwig - mastering
 * Luke Partridge	- design
 * Joe Gastwirt- Mastering on Jump right in.
 * Randy Staub - mixing
 * Joe Varkey - assistant engineer
 * Gary Winger - mixing assistant