Track Listing
1. Darkest days 2. Everything I touch 3. How can I hold on 4. Drugstore 5. You complete me 6. Save yourself 7. Haunting me 8. Torn apart 9. Sometimes it hurts 10. Drowning 11. Desperate now 12. Goodbye 13. When I'm dead 14. The thing I hate 15. On your way down 16. Waking up beside you Year: 1998 Label: Columbia - Official Site |
Stabbing Westward - 'Darkest days' - By C. Impey
The title of this album explains it all. It's a dark, depressing mix songs with a wide range of tempo's. For example "Goodbye" is so unbelievably mellow and relaxing, compare it to the raging screams of Christopher Hall on the intro to "When I'm Dead". If you just heard these two songs you wouldn't think they're by the same artist/band, let alone on the same album! The style of Stabbing Westward is similar to the more mainstream industrial movement that NIN popularized to a great extent. There is one thing that makes this album better than any NIN album though (in my opinion of course), Christopher Hall's vocals are enchanting. He has such an amazing voice, the vocals on the previous two albums seem like a warm up exercise compared to this one. The title track, "Darkest Days", is a good start to an incredible album. This is my favourite album out all the CD's I own (I don't have that many but it's quite an achievement). All 16 songs on this album are brilliant, the quiter songs create a calm atmosphere that builds up to the louder and faster songs, such as "Torn Apart" and "The Thing I Hate". A string of songs stand out as the best on the album, track 6 through to 11, and "Waking Up Beside You" are amazingly good. The rest of the album is almost as equally good, I don't dislike any one song. Sadly this album signalled the final days of the industrial rock sound of Stabbing Westward, their newest album follows a pop/soft rock theme. But if you want a decent buy go for this one, I thoroughly recommend it to fans of this genre, especially to fans of NIN and similar bands. Metal Obsessive Grade: 92% |