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1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 *gag reflex* Mar 27, 2008
Let's review the word "Essential"- 1. of or constituting the intrinsic nature of something. 2. absolute, complete, perfect. 3. absolutely necessary; indispensable; requisite.
Now, let's review this Essential Collection. Ok- does it constitute the intrinsic nature of Stabbing Westward? No, not really. It might graze the surface, but the core rage- the defining aspect of SW music is barely touched. Is it absolute, complete or perfect- no, in fact, it fails all three in so many ways. necessary? maybe Dawn and Torn Apart (Wink Mix) if you do not have them from soundtracks/imports. Indispensable? only if you are a fanatic collector- and even then... And finally, requisite. Which i take to mean, if you met up with a group of SW fans, could you hold your own? do you have the groundwork to build on. the answer is clearly NO! My suggestion, just repackage it and call it the Erratic Stabbing Westward, then Put the entire Darkest Days album with a few other songs from Ungod and WBB&P (remember, legal wont allow the Self-Titled) and then you have the ESSENTIAL. Oh, and pop Hopeless, Bizarre Love Triangle and Wasted (Acoustic) on there as well.
0 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Jeff's review Dec 13, 2007
Ilike this band , to bad they split , anyways , the only real problem I have with this CD is thier is to many songs that suck and not enough good ones.
I wish more songs from Darkest Days were on here, but this is a great CD.
2 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 Poor best of for an excellent band Jun 23, 2006
I am a big Stabbing Westward fan, and the two middle albums (Wither Blister Burn + Peel and Darkest Days) are among the best I own. That being said, this collection is basically an attempt by SW's *former* label to cash in on their minor success in 2002 on a new label. It's not the first and won't be the last. Needless to say, I doubt the band had much if any input into the selection of tracks, so this would be my selection (coming in at a little over 77 minutes), noting the first letter of the album in brackets:
(U) Ungod (edit)
(W) What Do I Have To Do
(W) Why
(D) Desperate Now
(W) Crushing Me
(U) Nothing
(W) So Wrong
(D) Torn Apart (album version)
(D) You Complete Me
(D) Save Yourself
(D) Haunting Me
(D) How Can I Hold On
(X) So Far Away (acoustic version)
(D) On Your Way Down
(W) Shame
(D) Waking Up Beside You
(S) Television
17 of 19 found the following review helpful:
Essential? I don't think so.. Aug 19, 2005
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.
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 it's alright Apr 01, 2005
i love stabbing westward and this is a nice collection and all...but it looks like this was an attempt to sucker fans out of money with the words "remastered" (coal chamber anyone?). i don't know they'd have to remaster "darkest days" tracks when they still sound fantastic now.
also, the liner notes are not that great. it's a few quotes and a small backstory of the band which any fan already knows. when i think of liner notes...i'm thinking someting that someone in the band wrote that gave a bit more insight into the songs even though not knowing is it's own answer.
i also question why "torn apart" from the spawn soundtrack was included on this when it's been said that stabbing hated that song when it was released in '97. i'm thinking maybe they could've included some other track, but i am at a lost for what. it is nice that did include "dawn" from the "escape from l.a." soundtrack, but the inclusion of it here might make fans just passover that soundtrack (which is fantastic too by the way) since they already own it here.
i'm just wondering why someone couldn't have put together a b-sides & rarities collection coz god knows stabbing has been on a million and one soundtracks and tracking down those discs (which by any indication of the "clerks" soundtrack might make the buyer wary) might be a problem. also it would've been great to own a better quality version of their "iwo jimma" demos.
but alas...
it may never be...
and that is sad.
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