Staind - third single?

[prenatt1166]

Now that Staind has reached number one on the active rock chart, what should the next single be? I would imagine it would be either "Layne" or "How About You".

[Tayzlor]

I don't own the album...but what about "Yesterday"? I've heard a lot of good buzz about that and how it has big hit potential.

[Miguelín]

I agree with prenatt1166, one for the 3rd single and the other for the 4th single. Maybe better "Layne" the 3rd

[Rich P.]

At first listen, I didn't think 14 Shades of Grey was at the same level as Break the Cycle. I didn't like Price to Play at all and the only songs that sounded like they had legs were So Far Away and Zoe Jane.

So Far Away is deservedly the number one song; its one of my favorites of all time, becoming my theme song almost immediately (replacing Incubus's "The Warmth").

As So Far Away climbed the charts, I thought it was going to end up as a long-term #2 song behind Faint. I do think Linkin Park had the opportunity of watching "Faint" stay at #1 for 6-8 more weeks had they not started making noise with "Numb". That's OK for Linkin Park, After "Numb" hits #1 there's at least four more potential #1s on Meteora (Lying From You, Easier to Run, Breaking the Habit, and From the Inside are my next choices).

I don't think 14 Shades of Grey has the same depth, so I wouldn't be surprised if Staind delays releasing another single until someone else dethrones it. Seeing the crew of top 20 songs that we now have, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Numb takes that honor!

When they do release another single, I'm hoping for "Zoe Jane" or "Could it Be"; both are great songs.

[Nicholas2.0]

In my mind, Staind are f***ed. This album is one of the many disappointing follow-up albums this year. Critics (and probably Flip/Elektra, too) are dogging Staind, saying they can't keep writing about miserable life experiences when they're a hit, millionaire (hundred-thousandaire?) band. So instead of coming up with other artistic ways to continue being hard and not soften up their sound or lyrics, they cave in and make a crappy, washed-out album, *by comparison.* None of the songwriting sounds fluid. Almost all the choruses sound disjointed next to their respective verses, like they don't fit. This also makes them sound obligatory, like they have to put a chorus in right there. A lot of the rhymes are carelessly crafted or so careless they end up being the same word. I don't know if this was a problem on Break the Cycle, but I didn't notice, and Dysfunction didn't have printed lyrics.

There are absolutely no good songs on there, just a lot of OK ones. My favorite song is "Blow Away," but it's over 6 minutes long and is just 3 verses and 3 choruses.

My 2nd favorite is "Zoe Jane," but I'd hate for it to be a single, because it's so personalized.

"Yesterday" is my next favorite, but even it seems to personalized, whoever it's for.

"Fill Me Up" (yes, these are going in order of preference) sounds good for the most part, but it's chorus has an awkward melody and it's also very personalized for his wife, and c'mon, this is a Staind single we're trying to come up with.

"Fray" isn't bad, but it's not great, either. And I absolutely hate how they repeat the chorus that last time. The song has an obvious ending right before that and by tacking on that last chorus and extending the song to 5 minutes, it all becomes so redundant.

"Falling Down" is too weak.

"Tonight" starts off absolutely great, but then they get to the crappy, ill-fitting chorus that just ruins the momentum, and then everything that made the intro and first verse cool never returns again.

"Reality" is too weak.

"How About You"...give me a break. Is this written in a f***ing major key? Do you know how terrible that sounds in a Staind song?

"Intro" isn't radio-friendly enough.

"Layne"...what are you people, nuts? First of all, it's a tribute to Layne Staley, so that'd make a terrible single, but it's also done terribly, terribly wrong. The beginning harmony is meant to replicate the classic Jerry/Layne harmonies, but it sounds uninspired, sub-quality, and it's so loud in the song that it grates on my skin. Then all the words are completely outta junior high, with hardly any artistic integrity to them whatsoever, and the chorus is so monotonous, melodically that it makes the song lifeless and dull. And even worse, the last line of it destroys all artistic subtlety, saying "Your name was Layne." Although it's not fantastic, Staind should take a page from the tribute of their peers, Cold.

"Could It Be" is too weak and disjointed.

Well that settles it. There are no possible songs to use as a worthy next single. But what do I know? "So Far Away" was yet another dead-horse-beating power-ballad from them (I've become quite sick of them using these as singles) and worse yet, it was optimistic with a lame life-on-the-road video. That's my 8th favorite, and the generic, "Price to Play" is my 5th favorite.

[BFMR]

had Staind released Layne near the death of Layne Staley then i could see it being a good release, but now the buzz has died down, and i don't think it would be a good release...

[Rich P.]

I was at Staind's concert last night in Convention Hall in Asbury Park, New Jersey, and although they didn't say anthing about their next single, what they did say and play might hold some clues.

(Price to Play and So Far Away were both played -- no news there)

Layne was introduced with Aaron identifying the inspiration to the song.

Yesterday's title was also introduced by Aaron.

I'm sure Blow Away, and Intro were played. I'm pretty sure of How About You, and also think that Falling Down was included. (Sorry I'm not more certain, but as I mentioned in a previous post I'm just lukewarm on 14 Shades and haven't memorized it yet!)


Seeing that both were introduced, perhaps Yesterday or Layne might be the next single; of those I think Yesterday is stronger.

I REALLY enjoyed Intro; that one's got a neat slow/hard mix that'll work well on radio, and the band really rocked during the hard parts. This was one of my favorites of the night.

[redsummersun]

The new Staind single is "How About You." They had something about it on MTV.com. Yeah, it is written in a major key and sounds a little too poppy. I don't know if they've shot themselves in the foot or not w/ rock, but probably not. I think this will probably get good play across the board. "Yesterday" is personally my favorite track, and i think it would have made for a good single on rock charts... (...though, like "For You," it wouldn't give them any pop play. And it's obvious with their single choices that they're keeping that aspect in mind.)

[Deleted]

Yeah, it goes for adds on November 4.

[Nicholas2.0]

What an awful choice. Jeez, throw this band onto the scrap heap.

[BFMR]

Nicholas2.0 said:

What an awful choice. Jeez, throw this band onto the scrap heap.

theoretically speaking, they were never gonna go back to "Outside", "It's Been Awhile" style... i don't think they are ever gonna be huge again...

[singingsparrow]

I probably would prefer "Yesterday" to come first, then "How About You" as the fourth single.

"Layne" is beautiful, but it is simply a tribute that belongs as a seal of authenticity on the album.

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

[jond7699]

i have yet to hear layne yet but i like how about you. and if they never hit the chr/pop chart again they will still be a huge band on the rock scene. i think dysfuntion was the best rock album released that year and break the cycle was brillant. i have not heard the whole 14 shades of grey. but from what i have heard i don't think i will be disappointed. i see staind still going in the right direction.

[jond7699]

i have been listening to how about you more often in the past couple of days and i am really really impressed. it took a couple of listen to get the hang of it. and i personally am not sick of aaron lewis's lyrics. if you have a shi**y life than you write what you know. and i don't see any problem with staind's future. they were a breath of fresh air back in 99 and now in 03 they are a household name. success of pop shouldn't even be a goal since staind is a hard rock band. hey it's only my opinion

[Gorminako]

Staind is one of the best groups around today. I think in this CD their weakest songs are not as bad as their worst on their previous CD, but neither are their strongest songs as good as their best from the previous CD. I think "So Far Away" is a very good ballad. The only problem is you know it's going be big, and get played over and over, which is what has happened. "How About You" is okay, but it won't do nearly as well as "So Far Away" on rock, anyway. I prefer "Yesterday". "Fray" is good, too. I can see "Zoe Jane" doing fairly well on Hot AC, but it had better stay clear of rock or alternative; they should have out a harder track for those formats. "Falling Down" and "Tonight" are okay, and "Blowing Away" better. But by the time you get to the later tracks, you may suffer from fatigue.

[jond7699]

If Staind was smart they would forget about chr/pop and hot ac and release a hard rock track to bring back their legion of fans that might not prefer the softer Staind. They need not alientae their fan base. Staind started out as a rock band not a top 40 pop band. There success is great but I think they should go back to their roots. "So Far Away" was lame compared to "It's Been Awhile" , "Outside" , and "Epiphany".