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Rating: The four albums released to date under the name Stabbing Westward undoubtedly deserve a listen.
The band was born from the meeting of the gothic boy into post-punk, Christopher Hall, with the keyboardist Walter Flakus. The two created the moniker as a kind of recurring insult towards their Western Illinois University and the backward town of Macomb.
They had the fortune/misfortune of being continually compared to Nine Inch Nails during their career, not only because of their style but also due to some intersections between the two projects.
Their debut Ungod from 1994 and this second album from 1996 were both produced by the famous John Fryer (This Mortal Coil, Cocteau Twins, early Depeche Mode, early NIN, and many, many others). Among their various drummers were Chris Vrenna - for a short period - and Andy Kubiszewski (who appears in The Downward Spiral by Trent in the track of the same name).
One of the reasons I consider this album their best is especially the successful lineup that came together.
In tracks like Shame, the drumming of the already mentioned Kubiszewski stands out. The single was accompanied by a half-thriller music video that also received decent airplay on MTV at the time.
The guitars are entrusted to Mark Eliopulos and the bass to Jim Sellers. Flakus provides the cunning base, and Christopher Hall? A remarkable vocal range and an anger suited to the type of lyrics. A potential disciple of Ozzy Osbourne even in appearance, if not a missed heir.
What Do I Have To Do, is the most famous single by Stabbing Westward; less heavy but more powerful than the others, perhaps more centered on the concept of a ballad, but filled with the spleen that the tracks of Wither Blister Burn + Peel emanate.
The episodes on the album Why and Inside You are influenced - in my opinion, positively - by the passion for Depeche Mode (the Stabbing opened several dates of their Exotic Tour in support of Songs Of Faith And Devotion).
As mentioned earlier, it is an album born from the nineties, a concentrate of fears and relationships that go adrift. An obsession carefully transported to hell on the ferry of Industrial not too Industrial (at times new wave). But a band that is not a poor copy of anyone.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
03 Crushing Me (04:21)
I'm feeling the weight of the world
and it's crushing me
I'm feeling the weight of everyday life
and it's crushing me
how much more
will it take
how much more
until it breaks me
this world
is crushing me
I'm feeling the weight of the world
and it's crushing me
I'm feeling the weight of everyday life
and it's crushing me
how much more
will it take
how much more
until it breaks me
this world
is crushing me
is crushing me
I'm feeling the weight of the world
and it's crushing me
I'm feeling the hate of the world
and it's crushing me
I swallow the hate
betrayal and lies
I swallow it whole
and shove it deep down inside of me
feeling the weight of the world
and it's crushing me
and it's crushing me
and it's crushing me
and it's crushing me
I swallow the hate
betrayal and lies
I swallow it whole
and shove it deep down inside of me
how much more
will it take
how much more
until it breaks me
I'm feeling the weight of the world
feeling the weight of the world
and it's crushing me
05 So Wrong (03:24)
Wasted thoughts of you
Useless prayers to you
Give me back my mind
I'm empty inside
What have I become?
Everything's undone
A candle burns here in your honor
My soul, a shrine I've built for you
I've got nothing left inside me
Nothing left inside but you
Can't seem to pretend
This night has to end
I can't fill this hole
You are all I know
It's so wrong that I need you
It's so wrong that I need abuse
It's so wrong that I need you
So wrong that I'm scared I'll die alone.
07 Inside You (03:44)
I feel your lips
I taste your skin
I need to know
I need to feel you from within
As your blood burns through my skin
I feel complete
I breathe you in
It's where you end and I begin
If only I could stay here...forever
So much to tell you
And So much to give you
So much to confide
Now that I'm inside you
We are flesh
We are one
So why do I feel so much guilt for what I've done?
As your blood burns through my skin
I feel release
I breathe you in
It's where you end and I begin
If I could only stay here...forever
So much to tell you
So much to give you
So much to confide
Now that I'm inside you
08 Everything I Touch (04:25)
The more I feel
The more I die
Nothing to give
Nothing inside
Chorus:
Everything I touch I break (I wanna break you)
Everything I touch I break (I wanna break you)
Everything I touch I break (I wanna break you down)
I scratch and tear
Until it bleeds
I do not want
I only need
I only need
I only need
Chorus
09 Dawn (06:06)
--This one, as far as I know
is their only non-lp song on a soundtrack
This is from the Escape From LA soundtrack --
My angel my reluctant whore
Decided you can take no more
So let's fuck until we fall asleep
Please don't wake me when you leave
Just kiss me before you go
Kiss me before you go
Kiss me before you go
Promise to kiss me before you go
Funeral but nobody's died
Dressed in black and black inside
In the morning you'll be gone
The stranger that I'll never know
So please kiss me before you go
Kiss me before you go
Kiss me before you go
Promise to kiss me before you go
It's too late now too fall asleep
So just lie here and watch you breathe
In the morning you'll be gone
Like everything I've ever loved
So just kiss me before you go
Kiss me before you go
Kiss me before you go
Promise to kiss me before you go
Before you go
Before you go
10 Sleep (05:21)
She's been here so many times before
She can't remember
When she last felt anything at all
But this fear and anger
She stares intently at the door
Listens for his footsteps
She knows exactly what's in store
And the knowing makes it worse
floating high above her bed
staring at her father's head
wishing one of them were dead
So this hell could finally end
When he calls her daddy's little girl
She doesn't hear him
When he crushes her, she can't feel
Her screams are silent
Hides in the corners of her mind
Where she plays contently
She leaves this nightmare far behind
She escapes inside her dreams
11 Why (06:08)
I am not here
I think I've never
been here at all
or ever will
I feel like a place
where no one goes anymore
why can't you see
that everythings broken
and why can't you see
that my lifes turned grey
I can't believe
in anything sacred
when I don't believe
that I am real
I need someone to
break the silence
screaming in my head
and in my soul
it seems so bizarre
but none of this matters
thoughts disappear
and hopes have died
but now I am safe
nothing can hurt me here
why can't you see
my need for forgiveness
the truth and the lies
so confused as one
I can't believe
in anything sacred
when I don't believe
in anything
I need someone to
break the silence
screaming in my head
and in my soul
I am alone
locked in my memories
there's nowhere left
for me to hide
but I am not real
I've made all I am
with lies
why does it seem
that everythings different
and why does it seem
that only you are real
I don't believe
in anything sacred
so why do I feel
so damn alone
I need someone to
break the silence
need someone to
break the silence
I need someone to
break the silence
screaming in my head
and in my soul
12 Shame (04:54)
I only see myself reflected in your eyes
So all that I believe I am essentially are lies
And everything I've hoped to be or ever thought I was
Died with your belief in me so who the hell am I?
I don't know if I'm real without you
What is left of me without you?
I don't know what's real without you
How can I exist without you?
I'm wandering around confused
Wondering why I try
The more that you deny my pain
The more it intensifies...
I pray for someone to ache for me the way I ache for you
If you ignore that I'm alive
I've nothing to cling to
I don't know if I'm real without you
What is left of me without you?
I don't know what's real without you
How can I exist without you?
I stare in this mirror
So tired of this life
If only you would speak to me or care if I'm alive
Once I swore I would die for you
But I never meant like this
I never meant like this
I don't know if I'm real without you
What is left of me without you?
I don't know what's real without you
How can I exist without you?
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