Staind is an alternative metal band formed on November 24, 1995 in Springfi… Read Full Bio ↴Staind is an alternative metal band formed on November 24, 1995 in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. After meeting through friends and covering pop hits of the day in smalltime clubs for a year and a half, Staind self-released their debut album, Tormented, in November 1996, citing influences in brutal latin thrash metal. Until recently, the album was difficult to obtain, as only four thousand copies were originally sold. Since then, the band's official website has released the album to meet the demand from fans.
During this time, Staind played a show with Limp Bizkit. When Fred Durst saw the controversial cover of the group's self produced album; tormented, he tried to have the band kicked off the bill, but when he saw the band's live show, he changed his tone and befriended them. Durst later sang harmonies on the live version of Outside, which was recorded at a Family Values Tour concert in Biloxi, MS, in late October 1999. Durst went on to be one of the executive producers for Dysfunction and Break the Cycle. He also directed a few videos for the band later on, including It's Been Awhile.
Dysfunction
The band's big break came in October 1997 after Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst witnessed the band open up for them at a Hartford, Connecticut show, eventually signed them to his Flip record label, and co-produced their 1999 breakthrough Dysfunction with Terry Date. Although it is supposed that the band owe a lot of success to Durst, Aaron Lewis has expressed in interviews that Durst never had much of a relationship with either the singer or the band, claiming the band 'only worked on four songs with Durst and recorded the rest of the album themselves.' [4] Staind has not been associated with Durst since he directed several videos from their 2001 follow-up. Dysfunction has sold over two million copies in the U.S. alone. The album was given mediocre reviews by critics for being "indicative of the times", but a large number of the band's fans nonetheless regard it as the group's best work. The nine-track LP (with one hidden track, "Excess Baggage") produced three singles, all of which enjoyed radio play. The most well known, "Mudshovel", (which also appeared on Tormented, spelled as "Mudshuvel"), has since become a staple of the band's live shows.
Break the Cycle
Staind toured with Limp Bizkit for the Family Values Tour during the fall of 1999, where Aaron Lewis performed their first mainstream hit "Outside" (a song he was working on at the time but had not yet finished—he finished it on the fly while performing) with Fred Durst to hundreds of waving cigarette lighters, and which set them up for their smash hit 2001 album Break the Cycle, which brought them international success (it went number 1 in both the U.S. and the UK), sold more than 7 million copies, and had first week sales of over 767,000 in the U.S. alone. The album sees the band move away from the nu metal sounds of their previous album and resort to an alternative metal sound [5] which has spawned five hit singles to date, "It's Been Awhile", (which hit the Billboard Top 10) "Fade", (which has been featured on a number of movie soundtracks and television shows), "Outside", "For You", and the acoustic ballad "Epiphany", and included a track called "Waste", devoted to two teenage fans who committed suicide shortly before the album was released. The album also received mixed critical praise; Rolling Stone magazine called them "the grim genre's most song-oriented, downright sensitive band in years" [3] while New Musical Express referred to the album as "14 tracks of parent-friendly grunge-flavoured soft rock that make Creed sound like GG Allin." [4]. 'It's Been Awhile' spent a total of 16 and 14 weeks on top of the modern and mainstream rock charts, respectively, making it one of the highest joint number 1s (30 weeks) of all time.
14 Shades of Grey
In early 2003, Staind embarked on a worldwide tour to promote the release of the follow-up to Break The Cycle, 14 Shades Of Grey, which sold two million albums and debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200. The fourteen-track collection was the band's most mainstream yet[6], and showed Aaron Lewis writing songs about his daughter, as well as moving on with his life and forgetting his past, hence the title representing uncertainty for the future and forgiveness. The album provided two mainstream hits: the lead single "Price to Play", and "So Far Away" (which spent 14 weeks on top of the rock chart); in addition, two other singles failed to crack the Hot 100—"How About You" and "Zoey Jane"— but "How About You" was a fairly popular song on modern rock radio. Their song "Price to Play" was the official theme song of WWE's Vengeance pay-per-view event in July 2003. As well, their song "So Far Away" was featured on an episode of WWE RAW as part of a video tribute to hardcore wrestling legend Mick Foley. The band's appearance at Reading Festival during the 2003 tour had another impromptu acoustic set, this time due to equipment failure. The singles "So Far Away" and "Price to Play" came with two unreleased tracks, "Novocaine" and "Let It Out", which were released for the special edition of the group's Chapter V, which came out in late 2005. In 2003, Staind unsuccessfully sued their logo designer Jon Stainbrook in New York Federal Court (blabbermouth.net) for attempting to re-use the logo he had sold to the band. They re-opened the case in mid-2005.
Chapter V
After extensive promotions, including an appearance on Fuse TV's 7th Avenue Drop, Staind's newest album, titled Chapter V was released on August 9, 2005, and became their third consecutive number one. The album opened to sales of 185,000 and has since been certified platinum in the U.S. The first single "Right Here" has been the biggest success from the album thus far, garnering much mainstream radio play and peaking at number 1 on the mainstream rock chart. "Falling" (the video of which does not feature the band members at all) was released as the second single, followed by "Everything Changes" and "King of All Excuses." Staind have been on the road since the album came out doing live shows and promoting it for a full year, including participating in the Fall Brawl tour with P.O.D., Taproot and Flyleaf, a solo tour across Europe and a mini-promotional tour in Australia for the first time. Recent live shows have included a cover of Pantera's This Love, a tribute to Dimebag Darrell. Staind appeared on The Howard Stern Show on August 10, 2005, to promote their new album Chapter V. They performed acoustic renditions of the single Right Here and Beetlejuice's song "This is Beetle." Their rendition of "Beetle" is immensely popular with fans and listeners alike and became a staple of the show. Staind also performed a version of "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd. Kevin Lofton, who does all the animation for the Howard Stern website, created a black-and-white animated video for the song. During a January 2006 Episode of WWE RAW, a tribute video to then WWE Champion Edge featured the band's song "Right Here". In early November 2005, Staind released the limited edition 2-CD/DVD set of Chapter V. The set included several rarities and fan favorites— music videos; a complete, 36-page booklet with exclusive artwork; an audio disc with an acoustic rendition of "This is Beetle"; the original, melodic rendition of "Reply"; the previously released B-side singles "Novocaine" and "Let It Out"; and live versions of "It's Been Awhile" and "Falling", among many others.
The Singles: 1996-2006
Staind announced that they would be performing an acoustic show in the Hiro Ballroom, New York City on September 6 and the songs played would be recorded for their upcoming "Greatest Hits" album, scheduled for a November 14 release. They played sixteen songs including three covers: Tool's Sober, Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb and Alice in Chains's Nutshell.
The title was later renamed to "The Singles" and finally "The Singles: 1996-2006". The album had most of Staind's singles (including "Everything Changes" which was recorded at the New York show), the three covers performed at the New York show and a remastered version of "Come Again", from Staind's first independent release Tormented.
It was released on November 15, 2006.
The Illusion Of Progress
On August 19, 2008, Staind released their 5th studio album (6th overall), The Illusion of Progress. A limited edition of the album was also made available to fans, which included 3 bonus tracks and a year membership in the Staind Fan Club, along with other items (the first 200 fans who pre-ordered the album through Atlantic Records received a signed copy of the album by the band). Prior to the album's release, the track "This Is It" was available for download on the iTunes store, as well as for Rock Band. The album debuted at #3 on US Billboard 200, #1 on the Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums Chart, #1 on the Top Digital Albums Chart, and also #1 on the Top Internet Albums Chart, with first week sales of 91,800 units. The first single on the album, "Believe", topped Billboard's Top 10 Modern Rock Tracks on September 05, 2008.
Not Again, the first single from Staind's self-titled seventh album was released to active radio stations on July 19, 2011 and made available for purchase on July 26, 2011. (Not Again Songfacts).
They are currently not Touring.
During this time, Staind played a show with Limp Bizkit. When Fred Durst saw the controversial cover of the group's self produced album; tormented, he tried to have the band kicked off the bill, but when he saw the band's live show, he changed his tone and befriended them. Durst later sang harmonies on the live version of Outside, which was recorded at a Family Values Tour concert in Biloxi, MS, in late October 1999. Durst went on to be one of the executive producers for Dysfunction and Break the Cycle. He also directed a few videos for the band later on, including It's Been Awhile.
Dysfunction
The band's big break came in October 1997 after Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst witnessed the band open up for them at a Hartford, Connecticut show, eventually signed them to his Flip record label, and co-produced their 1999 breakthrough Dysfunction with Terry Date. Although it is supposed that the band owe a lot of success to Durst, Aaron Lewis has expressed in interviews that Durst never had much of a relationship with either the singer or the band, claiming the band 'only worked on four songs with Durst and recorded the rest of the album themselves.' [4] Staind has not been associated with Durst since he directed several videos from their 2001 follow-up. Dysfunction has sold over two million copies in the U.S. alone. The album was given mediocre reviews by critics for being "indicative of the times", but a large number of the band's fans nonetheless regard it as the group's best work. The nine-track LP (with one hidden track, "Excess Baggage") produced three singles, all of which enjoyed radio play. The most well known, "Mudshovel", (which also appeared on Tormented, spelled as "Mudshuvel"), has since become a staple of the band's live shows.
Break the Cycle
Staind toured with Limp Bizkit for the Family Values Tour during the fall of 1999, where Aaron Lewis performed their first mainstream hit "Outside" (a song he was working on at the time but had not yet finished—he finished it on the fly while performing) with Fred Durst to hundreds of waving cigarette lighters, and which set them up for their smash hit 2001 album Break the Cycle, which brought them international success (it went number 1 in both the U.S. and the UK), sold more than 7 million copies, and had first week sales of over 767,000 in the U.S. alone. The album sees the band move away from the nu metal sounds of their previous album and resort to an alternative metal sound [5] which has spawned five hit singles to date, "It's Been Awhile", (which hit the Billboard Top 10) "Fade", (which has been featured on a number of movie soundtracks and television shows), "Outside", "For You", and the acoustic ballad "Epiphany", and included a track called "Waste", devoted to two teenage fans who committed suicide shortly before the album was released. The album also received mixed critical praise; Rolling Stone magazine called them "the grim genre's most song-oriented, downright sensitive band in years" [3] while New Musical Express referred to the album as "14 tracks of parent-friendly grunge-flavoured soft rock that make Creed sound like GG Allin." [4]. 'It's Been Awhile' spent a total of 16 and 14 weeks on top of the modern and mainstream rock charts, respectively, making it one of the highest joint number 1s (30 weeks) of all time.
14 Shades of Grey
In early 2003, Staind embarked on a worldwide tour to promote the release of the follow-up to Break The Cycle, 14 Shades Of Grey, which sold two million albums and debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200. The fourteen-track collection was the band's most mainstream yet[6], and showed Aaron Lewis writing songs about his daughter, as well as moving on with his life and forgetting his past, hence the title representing uncertainty for the future and forgiveness. The album provided two mainstream hits: the lead single "Price to Play", and "So Far Away" (which spent 14 weeks on top of the rock chart); in addition, two other singles failed to crack the Hot 100—"How About You" and "Zoey Jane"— but "How About You" was a fairly popular song on modern rock radio. Their song "Price to Play" was the official theme song of WWE's Vengeance pay-per-view event in July 2003. As well, their song "So Far Away" was featured on an episode of WWE RAW as part of a video tribute to hardcore wrestling legend Mick Foley. The band's appearance at Reading Festival during the 2003 tour had another impromptu acoustic set, this time due to equipment failure. The singles "So Far Away" and "Price to Play" came with two unreleased tracks, "Novocaine" and "Let It Out", which were released for the special edition of the group's Chapter V, which came out in late 2005. In 2003, Staind unsuccessfully sued their logo designer Jon Stainbrook in New York Federal Court (blabbermouth.net) for attempting to re-use the logo he had sold to the band. They re-opened the case in mid-2005.
Chapter V
After extensive promotions, including an appearance on Fuse TV's 7th Avenue Drop, Staind's newest album, titled Chapter V was released on August 9, 2005, and became their third consecutive number one. The album opened to sales of 185,000 and has since been certified platinum in the U.S. The first single "Right Here" has been the biggest success from the album thus far, garnering much mainstream radio play and peaking at number 1 on the mainstream rock chart. "Falling" (the video of which does not feature the band members at all) was released as the second single, followed by "Everything Changes" and "King of All Excuses." Staind have been on the road since the album came out doing live shows and promoting it for a full year, including participating in the Fall Brawl tour with P.O.D., Taproot and Flyleaf, a solo tour across Europe and a mini-promotional tour in Australia for the first time. Recent live shows have included a cover of Pantera's This Love, a tribute to Dimebag Darrell. Staind appeared on The Howard Stern Show on August 10, 2005, to promote their new album Chapter V. They performed acoustic renditions of the single Right Here and Beetlejuice's song "This is Beetle." Their rendition of "Beetle" is immensely popular with fans and listeners alike and became a staple of the show. Staind also performed a version of "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd. Kevin Lofton, who does all the animation for the Howard Stern website, created a black-and-white animated video for the song. During a January 2006 Episode of WWE RAW, a tribute video to then WWE Champion Edge featured the band's song "Right Here". In early November 2005, Staind released the limited edition 2-CD/DVD set of Chapter V. The set included several rarities and fan favorites— music videos; a complete, 36-page booklet with exclusive artwork; an audio disc with an acoustic rendition of "This is Beetle"; the original, melodic rendition of "Reply"; the previously released B-side singles "Novocaine" and "Let It Out"; and live versions of "It's Been Awhile" and "Falling", among many others.
The Singles: 1996-2006
Staind announced that they would be performing an acoustic show in the Hiro Ballroom, New York City on September 6 and the songs played would be recorded for their upcoming "Greatest Hits" album, scheduled for a November 14 release. They played sixteen songs including three covers: Tool's Sober, Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb and Alice in Chains's Nutshell.
The title was later renamed to "The Singles" and finally "The Singles: 1996-2006". The album had most of Staind's singles (including "Everything Changes" which was recorded at the New York show), the three covers performed at the New York show and a remastered version of "Come Again", from Staind's first independent release Tormented.
It was released on November 15, 2006.
The Illusion Of Progress
On August 19, 2008, Staind released their 5th studio album (6th overall), The Illusion of Progress. A limited edition of the album was also made available to fans, which included 3 bonus tracks and a year membership in the Staind Fan Club, along with other items (the first 200 fans who pre-ordered the album through Atlantic Records received a signed copy of the album by the band). Prior to the album's release, the track "This Is It" was available for download on the iTunes store, as well as for Rock Band. The album debuted at #3 on US Billboard 200, #1 on the Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums Chart, #1 on the Top Digital Albums Chart, and also #1 on the Top Internet Albums Chart, with first week sales of 91,800 units. The first single on the album, "Believe", topped Billboard's Top 10 Modern Rock Tracks on September 05, 2008.
Not Again, the first single from Staind's self-titled seventh album was released to active radio stations on July 19, 2011 and made available for purchase on July 26, 2011. (Not Again Songfacts).
They are currently not Touring.
Eyes Wide Open
Staind Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The hating and the waiting, hesitating
I just want to be done with you faking
For the taking but I'm wicked
Up to the fact that you're lying, and denying
Justifying all the actions you take
It's pathetic and poetic
It's just sick!
It's just sick!
Is compromise something you don't understand?
You force your hand but my eyes are wide open.
Caught in the web of your self-serving plan.
Don't force my hand when my eyes are wide open.
Seeing is believing, now I'm leaving
All the damage is done
And you've broken the notion of trust
'Cause you're lying and denying
Justifying all the actions you take
It's pathetic and poetic
It's just sick!
It's just sick!
Is compromise something you don't understand?
You force your hand but my eyes are wide open.
Caught in the web of your self-serving plan.
Don't force my hand when my eyes are wide open.
Seeing is believing, now I'm leaving
All the damage is done
All the damage is done!
All the damage is done!
Is compromise something you don't understand?
You force your hand but my eyes are wide open.
Caught in the web of your self-serving plan.
Don't force my hand when my eyes are wide open.
Don't force my hand when my eyes are wide open.
Don't force my hand when my eyes are wide open.
Force my hand
When my eyes are wide open.
Lying and denying is just sick!
Lying and denying is just sick!
It's just sick!
I just want to be done with you faking
For the taking but I'm wicked
Up to the fact that you're lying, and denying
Justifying all the actions you take
It's pathetic and poetic
It's just sick!
Is compromise something you don't understand?
You force your hand but my eyes are wide open.
Caught in the web of your self-serving plan.
Don't force my hand when my eyes are wide open.
Seeing is believing, now I'm leaving
All the damage is done
And you've broken the notion of trust
'Cause you're lying and denying
Justifying all the actions you take
It's pathetic and poetic
It's just sick!
It's just sick!
Is compromise something you don't understand?
You force your hand but my eyes are wide open.
Caught in the web of your self-serving plan.
Don't force my hand when my eyes are wide open.
Seeing is believing, now I'm leaving
All the damage is done
All the damage is done!
All the damage is done!
Is compromise something you don't understand?
You force your hand but my eyes are wide open.
Caught in the web of your self-serving plan.
Don't force my hand when my eyes are wide open.
Don't force my hand when my eyes are wide open.
Don't force my hand when my eyes are wide open.
Force my hand
When my eyes are wide open.
Lying and denying is just sick!
Lying and denying is just sick!
It's just sick!
The lyrics to "Eyes Wide Open" by Staind speak about the frustration and betrayal felt in a relationship. The singer has become aware of the lies and deceit that have been present in the relationship, and despite the hesitation, they want to be done with this fake persona that their partner has created. The partner is trying to justify their actions, but it's pathetic and poetic because they can't see the harm they are causing. The singer has had enough of the lack of compromise, and they won't be forced into anything with their eyes wide open, knowing the truth of what is happening. They've decided to leave, as all the damage is done, and the trust has been broken.
The lyrics are open to interpretation and could be about any kind of relationship, whether it's romantic or otherwise. The singer feels that they've been manipulated and can't trust their partner anymore. It's a song about standing up for oneself and knowing when enough is enough. The frustration and anger are evident in the lyrics, making it a powerful and emotional song.
Line by Line Meaning
The hating and the waiting, hesitating
I'm sick of your indecisiveness and your constant negativity towards me.
I just want to be done with you faking
I want you to stop pretending like everything is alright between us when it's not.
For the taking but I'm wicked
You think you can take advantage of me, but I'm not that naive.
Up to the fact that you're lying, and denying
I've come to realize that you're a liar and you deny your actions.
Justifying all the actions you take
You always try to justify your actions, even when they're wrong.
It's pathetic and poetic
Your behavior is both sad and ironic.
Is compromise something you don't understand?
Do you not comprehend the concept of compromise?
You force your hand but my eyes are wide open
You try to manipulate me, but I'm not oblivious to your tactics.
Caught in the web of your self-serving plan
I feel trapped in your scheme that only benefits yourself.
Seeing is believing, now I'm leaving
I now see the truth and I'm leaving you behind.
All the damage is done
Our relationship is irreparable after everything you've done.
Don't force my hand when my eyes are wide open
Don't try to make me do something when I know what you're up to.
Force my hand when my eyes are wide open
You think you can make me do something I don't want to, but I know better.
Lying and denying is just sick!
Your deceitful ways and constant denial are awful!
It's just sick!
All of your behavior is just sickening.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: AARRON LEWIS, MICHAEL MUSHOK, JONATHAN WYSOCKI, JOHN APRIL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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@juliusjournal
This song is great! Many bands get less heavy with age, but not Staind. They just keep dropping down!
@desepture
It's always a triumph when a group this amazing can return to their roots so flawlessly
@ashlotus502
Yesss. Well put. 👌
@tarheelsgirl1991
I could listen to this album for days and not get tired of it. Also for those who said Aaron "went county and has come back" he is still doing his country thing. He's such a talented artist no matter what he is doing. All I know is I'll be a Staind fan until I die, no matter what they do.
@jeanpaulmichell7243
Honestly one of their absolute best albums, they had really fallen into a rut with the last few efforts. This album gives the best hard rock bands a run for their money, proof staind can still pull it off.
@mayhewNJ
THEY'RE BACK!!! Damn, this song kicks ass! So happy Staind is going back to their roots.
@Erador
Love hearing them head back towards that Dysfunction/Break the Cycle sound. I love all of their stuff, but this is a breath of fresh air in the music scene today!!! So many great groups from the 90s are doing things big lately.
@Metalhead4life87
Almost sounds like tormented.
@boxcpl
At the end of the song all you can really say is.... damn man. This is new material from staind and it fucking works.
@VinxTerranova
With eyes wide open, welcome to this place. I'll show you everything. With eyes wide open! lol