I quattro album ad oggi rilasciati sotto il nome Stabbing Westward meritano senza alcuna ombra di dubbio un ascolto.
La band naque dall'incontro del ragazzo gotico in fissa per il post punk Christopher Hall con il tastierista Walter Flakus. I due crearono il moniker come una sorta di ricorrente insulto nei confronti della loro Western Illinois University e della cittadina retrograda di Macomb.
Ebbero la fortuna/sfortuna di essere continuamente accostati ai Nine Inch Nails durante la loro carriera, e non soltanto per lo stile da loro proposto, ma anche per alcuni intrecci tra i due progetti.
Il loro debutto Ungod del 1994 e questo secondo album del 1996, vennero prodotti entrambi dal celebre John Fryer (This Mortal Coil, Cocteau Twins, primi Depeche Mode, primi NIN e tanti tanti altri). Ebbero tra i vari batteristi Chris Vrenna -per un breve periodo- ed Andy Kubiszewski (che figura in The Downward Spiral di Trent nella traccia omonima).
Uno dei motivi per cui reputo questo album il loro migliore è soprattutto la riuscita lineup che si venne a formare.
In pezzi come Shame, il drumming del già citato Kubiszewski fa la sua porca figura. Il singolo venne accompagnato da un videoclip mezzo thriller che ebbe anche un discreto airplay nella MTV di allora.
Le chitarre sono affidate a Mark Eliopulos ed il basso a Jim Sellers. Flakus ci piazza la base subdola, e Christopher Hall? Un'estensione vocale niente male ed un'incazzatura adatta alla tipologia di testi. Potenziale adepto di Ozzy Osbourne anche nell'aspetto, se non erede mancato.
What Do I Have To Do, è il singolo più celebre degli Stabbing Westward; meno heavy ma più possente delle altre, forse più incentrata sul concetto di ballad, ma ricolma dello spleen che le tracce di Wither Blister Burn + Peel emanano.
Gli episodi nel disco Why e Inside You risentono -a mio avviso positivamente- della passione per i Depeche Mode (gli Stabbing aprirono alcune date del loro Exotic Tour in supporto di Songs Of Faith And Devotion).
Come già accennato si tratta di un album figlio degli anni novanta, un concentrato di timori e di relazioni che vanno alla deriva. Un'ossessione trasportata con cura all'inferno nel traghetto dell'Industrial non troppo Industrial (a tratti new wave). Ma una band che non è la brutta copia di nessuno.
Elenco tracce testi e video
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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