Search - Staind :: It's Been Awhile

It's Been Awhile Import

Laren Cox | MO | 08/03/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With the tracks 1.IBAW clean edit 2.IBAW acoustic 3. Suffocate it is a very good single. But I think the single should have had some live tracks or something rare. Suffocate is on Dysfunction and the acoustic version is a hidden track on Break The Cycle. If you are a huge Staind fan like me buy it. But I think the other people would be better off to just buy the whole album. It comes in a slimline case and the cover looks like the promo single."

Great single, could have more content though

Laren Cox | 07/26/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Those who blew Staind off as another generic rock band in the latest slew of Limp Bizkit clones were quickly silenced with the release of Staind's third (second largely pressed) album, "Break The Cycle". The fact is, most of the hype about the new album came from this song, "It's Been Awhile", which followed the live version of "Outside", dominating rock radio airwaves across the country.Arguably one of Staind's best and emotional pieces of work, "It's Been Awhile" was destined to be the great single that it is, combining all the original traits that a fan of the band would look for and even putting in an added touch. With the band's hard-hitting guitars and drums complimenting the chorus, singer Aaron Lewis's picking up the acoustic guitar really adds a touch to this song that wasn't included on the band's first two albums. The song is full of hopeless (or maybe hopeful?) and softly sung lyrics reflecting the life of singer Aaron Lewis, but he manages to get in his emotional cries of pain during the chorus, only adding to the impact.Unfortunately, only two cuts for the song were included on this version of the single, neither of which was the unedited version. While Staind is NOT a band that thrives on expletives, the cut-out words do add some depth and emotion to the song, and one can't help but feel cheated with the edited version on this album. Nonetheless, the acoustic version (which is supposedly live, which is unconfirmed), makes up for most of this, being a lot calmer, yet still packing empathy and feeling. Hopefully a version with the unedited cut of the song will be released.For some reason the band, or the record label, also decided to include "Suffocate", a hard, rather loud and intense song from the band's album "Dysfunction". Needless to say, it's a great track as well (after all, it's Staind), but I still question the randomness of that specific song.So if you think that only these three songs are really worth it, or are an avid collector of Staind merchandise, grab this. Otherwise just do yourself a favor and go buy the whole album, "Break The Cycle". It will truly open your eyes."