Search - Stabbing Westward :: Essential Stabbing Westward

Thank you Columbia/Sony, you've done it again

N. Durham | Philadelphia, PA | 04/15/2003

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I've seen this before. Remember that band called Alice in Chains? That great ill-fated band ended up seeing repackaged greatest hits release after release thanks to their record label; Columbia/Sony. When the one time great industrial band Stabbing Westward committed the cardinal sin of going gold and not platinum with they're "Darkest Days" album, they were subsequently dropped from their label and found a home on Koch Records. Eventually the band broke up after the release of their fourth and final album, and now here is Columbia/Sony looking to milk whatever they can from this once great band. This "essential" collection collects tracks from the band's three albums for the label; "Ungod", "Wither, Blister, Burn, & Peel", and "Darkest Days", and mostly just contains a few fan favorite songs and the ones that radio ate up. Do yourself a favor, if your looking to get into the band check out those three albums and leave this disc as skeet shoot fodder."

Essential? I don't think so..

Barnes and Noble Junkie | Barnes And Noble, Midlothian, Virginia | 08/19/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"The idea of a greatest hits cd, besides making money, is to expose a band to a broader audience by 'introducing' them to the band's best music. It also gives someone who can't afford to buy all of a band's cds the chance to buy 1 cd and get a lot of good music. This compilation falls short on all accounts.





While this is not a bad compilation, it surely could have been better. And while you while never get exactly what you want on a 'Best of' CD, some of the omissions are glaring.



From UNGOD, they included:

1. Lost

2. Control

3. Nothing

4. Lies



'Nothing' is probably the worst song un UNGOD. How many times do you need to hear Chris Hall sing "I don't want it, I don't need it" And how could they leave off 'Throw'? Lost and COntrol belong and Lies is good, but not at the expanse of Ungod or Throw.



From Wither, Blister, Burn and Peel they included:

5. What Do I Have to Do?

6. Shame

7. I Don't Believe

8. Sleep

9. Crushing Me



Hello? What about 'Falls Apart' and 'So Wrong'. The only "Essential ' song on this list is Shame, although 'Crushing Me' isn't bad.



And finally off of Darkest Days:

10. Save Yourself

11. Sometimes It Hurts

12. Haunting Me

13.

14. Torn Apart



No way.... What about How Can I Hold On, You Complete Me, When I'm Dead, On Your Way Down, and Waking Up Beside You? I will take any of these songs over anything on the list except for 'Save Yourself' which really does belong.



So out of 14 songs, they got 4 or 5 right. This is definately NOT the definitive SW collection.



So if you are new to SW, DON'T BUY THIS.. Buy one of the first three albums instead (I would recommend Ungod or Darkest Days), then take out a piece of masking tape, write 'Essential' on it and stick it to the CD cover. You will make yourself a lot happier then buying this.

"

This Band Deserves Better

LostBoy76 | Vancouver, BC Canada | 05/31/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Stabbing Westward is one of my favourite bands of all time. I own all four of their albums and listen to them often. Their dark, industrial rock sound has always been incredible. Lead singer Christopher Hall has one of the most original and awesome voices in the music industry, which is complemented perfectly with his awesome, and frequently beautiful, lyrics; bands like Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit should take notes.Therefore, it is with some curiosity that I looked over this "essential" Stabbing Westward collection. First let me state that Stabbing Westward simply doesn't have any bad songs, so no danger of that here. That being said, this collection is not ideal for a casual or new fan of this band. Sony Music, in their infinite stupidity, decided to drop Stabbing Westward from their label after "Darkest Days" (their third, and best, album), which makes Stabbing Westward's final album off limits for this collection! If Sony really wanted to reward fans, and give this band the respect they deserve, they should have negotiated with Koch Music to use the fourth album for this collection. Instead, what you get is a great, but not perfect, collection of songs from their first three albums, along with "Dawn" and the remix of "Torn Apart", which weren't on any of the four albums.Ideally, the essential Stabbing Westward collection would have been as follows (in my opinion):
1. Nothing
2. Lies
3. Violent Mood Swings
4. Shame
5. What Do I Have To Do?
6. Crushing Me
7. Save Yourself
8. Torn Apart (NOT the remix!!)
9. Sometimes it Hurts
10.The Thing I Hate
11.Waking Up Beside You
12.So Far Away
13.Wasted
14.Television
15.DawnIf you're just getting into this band, you really can't go wrong with this collection, as long as you realize that this is just a sample of the profound musical offerings that Stabbing Westward has to offer."