Prior to starting Assemblage 23, Shear experimented with music under the name "Man on a Stage", beginning in the early 1980s. Most of Shear's music at this point was instrumental, as he lacked the confidence to sing; the quality of the music itself was highly questionable by his own admission. Shear eventually began to add vocals to his music; at the same time, Shear was also playing bass in a punk band called the "Advocates".
Assemblage 23 got its start in 1988, when at a "Depeche Mode" concert, founder Tom Shear heard the opening DJ spinning industrial dance music. Prior to hearing this type of music, Shear had been creating primarily synthpop and post-punk type music.
Hearing industrial music for the first time proved to be something of an epiphany for Shear, as he had finally found a form of music that combined the electronic sounds he loved from his synth-pop background with the heavier, darker aggression punk represented. Even so, the project was more of a hobby for Shear at this point; it took until 1998 for Assemblage 23 to gather enough positive acclaim to attract the attention of record labels.
Shear signed a deal in 1999 with the Canadian label Gashed! for a full-length album, "Contempt" (released in November 1999). A second album, "Failure", followed in March 2001 and was released by Gashed! in North America and Accession Records in Europe. A single from "Failure", "Disappoint", was released on Accession in October 2001. The song dealt with Shear's sense of loss after his father's suicide on October 28, 1999.
After falling out with Gashed Records following "Failure", Shear signed with US label Metropolis Records later in 2001; Metropolis re-released "Contempt" and "Failure" that November. A remix release, "Addendum", was also released in November only on Accession. By this point, Assemblage 23 had become fairly popular within the ebm genre.
The third studio album, "Defiance", was released in October 2002 on Metropolis and Accession, preceded by the single "Document" in September. October 2004 saw the release of a fourth album, "Storm"; two singles were taken from the album, "Let the Wind Erase Me" in August and "Ground" in November.
Almost three years later, in March 2007, Assemblage 23 returned with a new single, "Binary", which debuted at #21 on the Billboard US singles chart. This was followed by the album "Meta" in April.
In September of that year Shear released "Early, Rare, & Unreleased [1988-1998]", which is a limited edition collection of A23 tracks taken from the years 1988 - 1998, on his own label 23db records. This was followed in February of 2009 by a second collection "Early, Rare, & Unreleased: Volume Two", which was also limited to 1000 copies.
Late 2009 saw the release of "Compass". Both regular and deluxe limited 2CD editions were released in October 2009, preceeded in September by the single "Spark".
The latest album "Bruise" was released on June 12, 2012. It is also available in both regular and 2CD versions.
Shear also has a side-project, "nerve filter", which has been running alongside Assemblage 23 since 1995. However, no more albums will be released since the project is now open for remixes only.
Official website: www.assemblage23.com
Disappoint
Assemblage 23 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For the sake of sanity
Tell me why
Explain the gravity
That drove you to this
That brought you to this place
That pushed you down
Into the soil's embrace
Give me the chance
I was denied
To sit and talk with you
For one last time
CHORUS
Did I disappoint you?
Did I let you down?
Did I stand on the shore
And watch you as you drowned?
Can you forgive me?
I never knew
The pain you carried
Deep inside of you.
I can't forget
Having to see
The words that knocked the wind
Right out of me
It's not enough
I've come undone
Trying to find sense
Where there is none
Just give me peace
You owe me that
To help ward off the fears
I must combat
(CH)
And so I ask
For one more chance
To understand
This senseless circumstance
Help me to see
This through your eyes
The reasons I've been trying
To surmise
Though you are gone
I am still your son
And while your pain is over
Mine has just begun
(CH)
In Assemblage 23's song Disappoint, the singer is pleading for understanding from someone who is no longer there, having passed away. The song opens with the singer asking for an explanation that would help him understand the gravity of what had brought the person to this place, down into the soil's embrace, a euphemism for death. He is asking for an opportunity that was denied to him, to just sit and talk with the person for one last time. In the chorus, Assemblage 23's singer Tom Shear starts to ask the person if he disappointed or let him down, but he tries to rework his own questions. He instead asks for forgiveness and acknowledges that he didn't know about the pain that the person had been carrying deep inside him.
The second verse conveys the singer's frustration in his inability to forget the words he saw that knocked the wind right out of him. He has been trying to make sense of the situation, but he is unable to achieve a state of understanding. In the third verse, he begs the person to give him peace as he has been struggling to combat his fears. He asks for another chance to comprehend the senseless circumstance and wants to see things through the person's eyes. The singer then closes the song saying that the person might be gone, but he's still his son, and while his pain is over, the singer's has just begun.
Line by Line Meaning
Just one more time
I need to have this conversation with you once more
For the sake of sanity
I need to do this to feel peace
Tell me why
Explain to me what happened
Explain the gravity
Detail the seriousness and weight of the situation
That drove you to this
What motivated your actions
That brought you to this place
How you ended up where you are
That pushed you down
The force that caused you to fall
Into the soil's embrace
The final resting place that embraced you
Give me the chance
Allow me the opportunity
I was denied
I did not get this chance before
To sit and talk with you
To have a conversation with you
For one last time
One final conversation
Did I disappoint you?
Did I fail to meet your expectations?
Did I let you down?
Did I fail to support you?
Did I stand on the shore
Did I watch from a distance
And watch you as you drowned?
As you struggled and suffered
Can you forgive me?
Can you absolve me of my guilt?
I never knew
I was unaware
The pain you carried
The emotional burden you held
Deep inside of you.
Buried within your psyche
I can't forget
I can't erase from my memory
Having to see
Observing with my own eyes
The words that knocked the wind
The statement that left me breathless
Right out of me
Deprived me of my strength
It's not enough
This is insufficient
I've come undone
I am falling apart
Trying to find sense
Attempting to comprehend
Where there is none
In a situation that lacks logic
Just give me peace
Allow me to be at peace
You owe me that
You owe me this favor
To help ward off the fears
To assist in my struggle against my anxieties
I must combat
I must fight
And so I ask
I request
For one more chance
Another opportunity
To understand
To comprehend
This senseless circumstance
This irrational and inexplicable situation
Help me to see
Aid me in seeing
This through your eyes
From your point of view
The reasons I've been trying
The causes I have been attempting to identify
To surmise
To speculate
Though you are gone
Despite your absence
I am still your son
I remain your offspring
And while your pain is over
Your anguish has concluded
Mine has just begun
But mine has just started
Contributed by Elijah S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.