Customer Reviews

Tormented

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are a Staind fan and you don't own this album you be ashamed. This is an awesome album that all fans should own. It's raw and well deserved of recognition, especially by the fans.
Tracklisting:
1. "Tolerate"(*****, awesome opener w/ Aaron cocking a gun, then the awesome opening riff by Mike. This song introduced me to the album 5 yrs. ago.)
2. "Come Again"(****, awesome song, but chorus is lacking, kickass nontheless)
3. "Break"(*****My favorite song on the album, and one of Staind's best.)
4. "Painful"(*****Raw emotion, nothing hard hitting riffs and drum beats.)
5. "Nameless"(*****One of the album's best, again just hard hitting riffs.)
6. "Mudshuvel"(****Definitely different than the one on Dysfunction, I prefer the Dysfunction version probably cuz they cleaned it up a bit, but this is the raw version of the song, and there's nothing wrong w/ it. Still f--king awesome.
7. "See Thru"(*****Staind just don't stop, they keep hitting you hard track after track, my ears are f--kin bleeding.
8. "Question?"(*****)
9. "No Ones Kind"(****1/2)
10. "Self Destruct"(*****Definitely a favorite, one of the most hard hitting songs on the album, Aaron shows so much raw emotion that you can't help but notice he's putting his heart & soul into this)
11. 4 Walls(*****The only soft song on the album, and a very awesome song w/ the gun that was cocked in the beggining of the album going off at the end of this song, and then a hidden track at about 13:30 which is just a funeral procession(sp?) and nothing special, I think the album would have been better w/o it, or maybe just put in a song instead, but there are people that like it, so just listen to it yourself and don't take my word for it.

This album is a must-have, and if you don't know who Staind is or just never had an interest. Check out Dysfunction, if you like that album check out Break The Cycle, then go on to 14 Shades Of Grey, and finally their 1996 release Tormented. Unless you want to start w/ Tormented it's up to you, it's Raw, and definitely for people that are already fans.

Peace out from tha R-o-d-Z

This is Staind's first CD from early on in 1996. Finally Amazon.com is selling this utterly entertaining music album from a Staind before they became famous with the 'Break The Cycle' album. Actually it was that album that made me a die-hard fan of this heavy rock group. Aaron Lewis has one of the best male vocalist voices for this genre of music and you can feel the emotion behind the words. The lyrics of early and even the present Staind has stemmed from life experiences and subjects touched are what affects us as a society and in family terms, relationships, domestic violence etc. This is a raw performance from Staind, using heavy drums, dark vocals and deep synths. There is alot of explicit language and yet this doesn't detract from the overall experience.
All the songs are absolutely unmissable and even after all these years after their debut, the old songs still mean so much to us fans. In August 2005, this year, Staind will be releasing their 5th album Chapter 5. As a fan I can't wait. But I play this CD regularly and absolutely love the hidden track 'Funeral'. Absolutely amazing.

The first staind cd I bought was Break the Cycle. I loved it but my friend yelled at me because they "sold out" because they sang a "slow song" so he made me buy dysfunction. I also loved this cd. Much more agressive yet still melodic. Then 14 shades came out and I bought that as well. Everyone said that cd was crap because they lost all their angst. I still loved it. It was a nice break. Then I heard about tormented and decided I had to have it. I looked and looked and it was sooo hard to find, but I finally did and All that waiting paid off immediatly. This cd is my all time favorite cd of this genre. In fact All of stainds cds are different genres so they are all my favourite cds for my sporatic moods.

If you are one of those who are turned off by the sound Staind have developed on their last few albums ("14 Shades Of Grey" or "Chapter V") you just might appreciate Staind's very first, independent release, "Tormented." Self-produced mainly by guitarist Mike Mushok and bassist Johnny April, "Tormented" sounds less like the distinct Staind we know and more like an accumulation of influences, spanning from Korn to Tool to Pantera. Make no mistake, though. This is still Aaron and the boys at play.

Obviously, the closest album you could compare this too would be their proper debut, 1999's "Dysfunction." Heck, there's even the original version of their hit "Mudshovel" on this album. Despite some rocky prodcution values, "Tormented" is surprisingly tight. Aaron beautifully pulls off the whisper to a scream to a moan style that only he can do, while the band just fully rocks out, with Mushok delivering some especially hot riffs. Songs such as "Tolerate" "See Thru" and "Break" (a song which the band has been pulling out at recent live shows) will do well to get your blood pumping and heart pounding. Other, more refined tracks like "4 Walls" and the aformentioned "Mudshuvel" (misspelled on purpose) shows signs of the band's bright future as a multi-talented multi-platinum group.

You can still find "Tormented" in many places. If you are attending a Staind concert, look out for it there. I also believe their website still carries it as well (I got mine two years ago from there). It's definitely essential Staind. If you don't like this album, you have problems. This is them at their rawest and hardest. So, if you feel like they're a bit too soft these days, then "Tormented" should hush you up for a while.

Upon receiving this album today I knew it was an instand classic since it was hard to find for under $100. After listening to this album I was completely in awe. I will not make this review much longer..All I must say is that it deserves to be listened to the whole way through. NO SKIPS!! Take the brutality of the old KoRn and the wave of emotions they sent through you and add one of the most amazing metal voices ever..You get this.

Back in 1996 the ONLY way to get this album (then a demo) was attending a Staind show in their New England area. After a show, Aaron noticed Fred Durst in the crowd and proceeded to give him a copy of the demo. Seeing the cover art, Fred flung the cd back at Aaron and told him to f--- off. Months later Fred got back up with Aaron and said he wanted them to come into the studio with him. The rest is all downhill from that point.

I actually can't stand what Staind had turned into, but having a ORIGINAL copy of this album; I do like it. Question? is probably one of Staind's best songs along with the version of Mudshuvel on this disc. Obtaining a copy now is either near impossible for a standard collector or just too expensive to justify buying it; along with an original copy of Evanescence's first album "Origin"...believe me there are MANY bootlegs of that album. The reason I still give this album only 4 stars as I stated above, Im just not a Staind fan, but this is a good album to throw on when you are pissed off and just want something different to listen to.

If you like only the new Staind albums, I suggest you DON'T get this album. If you like "Dysfunction" more than any other of there discs, this is for you. There not much singing like at the very end of "Mudshovel" on "Dysfunction" but after a few listens it sounds great. The album starts with Aaron Lewis' voice, sort of a solilouque if you would, and the sound of a gun clicking...

#1: Tolerate, 5 out of 5. Just pure hatered and distain for whinny people. its hard as hell.

#2: Come Again, 4 out of 5. A song directed towards I have no idea who, it's sort of a fighting song.

#3: Break, 5 out of 5. It starts kind of slow then picks up after about 30 seconds. its kind of a "I want to give up song".

#4: Painful, 3.5 out of 5. A depre`ssing song that could have been played better, but it's still a good song.

#5: Nameless, 4 out of 5. Another hateful song not as good as "Tolerate". It's still a pretty awsome some.

#6: Mudshovel, 4 out of 5. The original recording of "Mudshovel". Not as great as the one from "Dysfunction" but still great.

#7: See Thru, 4 out of 5. Depressing but still good. It's hard like like you like it.

#8: Question?, 5 out of 5. slower, but still hard. another kind of hatered song.

#9: No One's Kind, 4.5 out of 5. Hard, this song is a hate and depressing song. It's pretty good.

#10: Self Destruct, 5 out of 5. One of the songs that stick out on the album. very hard.

#11: 4 Walls, 6 out of 5. The best sounding song on the entire album. It is an awsome song to end the album with. Hell, its just an awsome song. It's slow, kind of depressing.

The album ends with another solilouque "There's nothing left for me..."

This was the beginning of the band that has changed my life, or at least the way I look at music. The ever changing and ever original Staind shines (albeit gritty and raw) on their debut album, the underground self produced album that started it all. True, some of these songs come off very unpolished, but when compared to rather ridiculous self produced albums (like Mudvaynes travesty) this is truly brilliant. Rather hard for what we as fans may be used to, let it be said that Staind softened their sound after Fred Durst offered to sign them, stating that Aaron Lewis had a voice best suited for singing and that he should cut down the scream time.

Here, Aaron proves he has the vocal chops to tackle both, and while I love the soft side to this band, songs like `Come Again' and `Self Destruct' just make me all warm inside (hehe). So, any true fan of this band MUST own this album (which is becoming harder and harder to find) otherwise they are missing out on some of the greatest tracks this band has ever put out there. The raw demo cut for `Mudshuvel' far surpasses the cleaned up version on `Dysfunction' and is one of the biggest reasons to find this album and buy it right away. Just another reason why this band will always be on my mind and in my soul!

I loved Staind from Dysfunction. Too bad their music has gotten overproduced and crappier as time goes on. After releasing Chapter 5, these guys should just give up. Like any other typical rock sellout, these guys have amazing roots. This entire CD is an amazing piece of work up there with debut albums like the Korn self title and Taproot's first. This is a pretty hard, emotional, and awesome CD. It never lets up and also never disappoints. Too bad Aaron Lewis has made so much money now where he's happy and their music has become soft and is garbage anymore. I recommend this album to any rock fan who is looking for a great piece of metal history to listen too.

Before buying this album, I had heard all of the songs from it, and I must say that is was well worth the price of buying it. If you liked Dysfunction, you'll adore Tormented. The album seems to have the concept of a man who is lost in his own personal travesties, and leads to his suicide on the last track, and thus comes the hidden track, The Funeral, which is indeed, a funeral. There's the organ music, and a eulogy. If I had to shorten this review to three words, I would say: Worth every penny.