Stabbing Westward
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| Stabbing Westward | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Origin |  Chicago, Illinois |
|
| Genre(s) | Industrial Metal Alternative Rock |
|
| Years active | 1985 – 2002 | |
| Label(s) | Columbia Records Koch Records Sony Records |
|
| Website | stabbingwestward.com | |
| Members | ||
| Christopher Hall Walter Flakus |
||
Stabbing Westward was an American industrial rock and alternative rock band composed of Christopher Hall, Walter Flakus, Stuart Zechman, Jim Sellers and David Suycott. They formed in 1985 in Chicago, Illinois and began recording in the 1990s. Their major label debut was Ungod. Sales were sluggish but Stabbing Westward built a solid fanbase by relentless touring with the likes of Sponge, KISS and The Sex Pistols. In 1996, their Wither Blister Burn & Peel LP became a moderate success, landing them their first certified gold album, aided by the singles "Shame" and "What Do I Have to Do?"
The follow-up was Darkest Days. It failed to sell as well as its predecessor, and the band was dropped by Columbia Records. Meanwhile they continued to tour with bands like Placebo, The Cult, Monster Magnet, and Depeche Mode, while playing numerous summer festivals. They relocated to Los Angeles and signed to Koch Records, issuing Stabbing Westward in 2001. Before a fifth LP could be recorded, Stabbing Westward formally announced that the band had broken up on February 9, 2002.
Since then, lead singer Hall has formed the L.A. based band The Dreaming.
Contents |
[edit] Members
1992
- Christopher Hall - vocals, guitar
- Walter Flakus - keyboard
- Chris Vrenna - drums
1993-1995
- Christopher Hall - vocals, guitar
- Walter Flakus - keyboard, backing vocals
- Stuart Zechman - guitar
- Jim Sellers - bass
- David Suycott - drums
1995-1996
- Christopher Hall - vocals, guitar
- Walter Flakus - keyboard, guitar, backing vocals
- Jim Sellers - bass
- Andy Kubiszewski - drums, guitar, keyboard, backing vocals
1996-1999
- Christopher Hall - vocals, guitar
- Walter Flakus - keyboard, guitar, backing vocals
- Mark Eliopulos - guitar, backing vocals
- Jim Sellers - bass
- Andy Kubiszewski - drums, guitar, keyboard, backing vocals
1999-2002
- Christopher Hall - vocals, guitar
- Walter Flakus - guitar, keyboard, backing vocals
- Derrek Hawkins- guitar, backing vocals
- Jim Sellers - bass
- Andy Kubiszewski - drums, guitar, keyboard
[edit] Discography
| Year | Title | Label |
| 1992 | Iwo Jimma EP | |
| 1993 | Ungod | Columbia |
| 1996 | Wither Blister Burn & Peel | Columbia |
| 1998 | Darkest Days | Columbia |
| 2001 | Stabbing Westward | Koch |
| 2003 | The Essential Stabbing Westward | Sony |
| 2003 | What Do I Have to Do? | Sony |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Song | US Hot 100 | U.S. Modern Rock | U.S. Main- stream Rock | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | "Lies" | - | - | - | Ungod |
| 1994 | "Nothing" | - | - | - | Ungod |
| 1996 | "What Do I Have To Do?" | - | 11 | 7 | Wither Blister Burn & Peel |
| 1996 | "Shame" | - | 14 | 7 | Wither Blister Burn & Peel |
| 1998 | "Sometimes It Hurts" | - | 39 | 20 | Darkest Days |
| 1998 | "Save Yourself" | - | 20 | 4 | Darkest Days |
| 1999 | "Haunting Me" | - | 34 | 19 | Darkest Days |
| 2001 | "So Far Away" | - | 21 | 23 | Stabbing Westward |
[edit] Trivia
- The first Stabbing Westward song to appear on an album was the 1990 demo version of "Violent Mood Swings." The 1992 album is named Cyberflesh Conspiracy.
- The anime' movie, Tekken: The Motion Picture, an adaptation of the popular video game series, featured the song "Save Yourself" from the Darkest Days album.
- The song "Ungod," from the album of the same name, shares an identical guitar riff with the song "Hey Man, Nice Shot," which is arguably Filter's most widely recognised release. Both bands had utilised the talents of Stuart Zechman, the guitarist who wrote the riff, and agreed to forego any legal actions against each other.
- "The Thing I Hate" was used in the opening sequence of the Sony PlayStation video game, Duke Nukem: Time to Kill.
- Stabbing Westward was one of many bands to be the subject of a Wesley Willis song.
- The name of the band was potentially derived from the Wordsworth poem "Stepping Westward." It may also be related to the band's meeting up at Western Illinois University, as a rebellion to the conservative farming culture of surrounding Macomb, Illinois.
- A remix of the song "Waking Up Beside You" can be heard in various scenes in the movie The Crow: Salvation.
- Frontman Christopher Hall became the band's vocalist based upon a coin toss between himself and Walter Flakus.
- The band's lyrics were written by Christopher Hall and Andy Kubiszewski.
- Walter Flakus is currently an on-air host for XM Satellite Radio (as "StabWalt").
- "Violent Mood Swings," from the album Ungod, was remixed and played in the Kevin Smith movie, Clerks.
- The songs "Lies," "Lost" and "Can't Happen Here," from the Ungod album, were featured in the movie Mortal Kombat. However, because the band did not think the movie would do well in theaters, they opted not to allow the songs on the official soundtrack. A marketing mistake, as the album and movie went on to become quite popular.
- The song "What Do I Have to Do?" was featured in the 1997 movie, Masterminds, as the opening sequence to the film, but was not featured on the soundtrack.
- An acoustic set was recorded on April 3, 1999 at the radio station KNDD 107.7 The End in Seattle, Washington entitled The End Sessions. The set list is as follows (in order):
Waking Up Beside You
Shame
Drowning
Haunting Me
What Do I Have To Do?
- Acoustic versions of "So Far Away" and "Wasted" were also featured on a special bonus disk available with the Stabbing Westward album from Best Buy as a limited release in 2001.
- A live acoustic set, recorded on radio station Q101's "Mancow's Morning Madhouse," included the songs "What Do I Have to Do?" and "Sometimes it Hurts."
- "So Far Away," "Happy," "Perfect," "I Remember" and a cover of The Carpenters song "Top of the World" were all performed live acoustically on Australian radio station Triple M, during "The Andrew Denton Breakfast Show."
- Stabbing Westward's song, "Torn Apart," was also featured on the Spawn soundtrack album, remixed by Josh Wink.
- Stabbing Westward features on the soundtrack to Not Another Teen Movie with the song "Bizarre Love Triangle," originally released by New Order.
- The song "Nothing" appeared in the movies Bad Boys and Johnny Mnemonic.
- The song "Save Yourself" appears in the trailer for the 2006 movie, The Covenant, and in the 1998 film, Urban Legend.
- When they were asked to do a cover of something that "didn't sound like them," Stabbing Westward covered the song "Top of the World" by The Carpenters.
- Stabbing Westward's frontman also recorded an acoustic version of "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" during a sound check of one of his concerts. It is difficult to find, however.
- Stabbing Westward's song "What do I Have to Do?" was featured in the first season finale of the hit WB television series, Smallville, during the opening sequence.
