 The Taking was released on April 18 , 2011 in Europe and April 19 in the US , and charted at number 12 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart , selling over 2 @,@ 300 copies in the first week . They released a video for the song " Dead Skin , " directed by Chamberlin , and the album received positive 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 . " Revolver magazine 's Kory Grow complimented its " big hooks and driving riffs " while noting punk influences on the album . 
