Track Listing

1. Open your eyes
2. Pressure
3. Fade
4. It's been awhile
5. Change
6. Can't believe
7. Epiphany
8. Suffer
9. Safe place
10. For you
11. Outside
12. Waste
13. Take it
14. Outside (Live)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5361 in Music
• Released on: 2001-08-20
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Explicit Lyrics, Extra tracks
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Protégées of Fred Durst they may be, but Massachusetts rock quartet Staind owe precious little to the rap-core fusion that lays at the centre of the Limp Bizkit blueprint. Rather, Break The Cycle--Staind's follow-up to their million-shifting major label debut Dysfunction--harks back further into to the alt-rock archive. A catalogue of fraught, heart-on-sleeve angst-rock, it's very quickly evident that Staind's heritage lays in the bruised, sensitive emo-grunge of Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam rather than any of their immediate peers. Trouble is, frontman Aaron Lewis' flat vocal lacks the weathered, pained dimension that all too often lent the Seattle sound its eerie pathos, and his lyrics are at best, functional; "Old man lies in an alleyway dead/ A little girl lost just stands there and cries," suggests the hand-wringing misery-tract of "Open Your Eyes"--a rather artless vision of social decay that never actually concludes anything beyond the fact that poverty, drugs and skipping school are very bad things. By the closing live take of "Outside"--on which Fred Durst crops up, popping on his sensitive cap for a syrupy duet with Lewis--you're left with the overriding feeling that Staind have absolutely nothing meaningful to say about the human condition; something that renders Break The Cycle as little more than an exercise in futility. --Louis Pattison

CD Description
This is Staind's follow up to 'Dysfunction' which was theirsecond album. They combine aggressive nu-metal with melodicacoustic ballads. Elements of Korn, Incubus and Godsmack all feature quite heavily in Staind's music.

Customer Reviews

staind are quality
From the opening track "open your eyes" you know that you are in for a treat with this album. Although it does take a while for the music to grow on you, it really does so don't give up on it. After listening to this album a few times, slower songs such as "epiphany","outside" and "it's been awhile" make themselves recognised as perhaps some of the best acoustic music for decades whereas other songs like "for you" show a more melodic side to the band. Aaron Lewis' song writing talents should not go un-noticed and the lyrics are, at times, exeptional. All of the songs do, however, send out a rather negative tone but when you hear the emotion pouring out of the pre-mentioned songs, you really begin to appreciate this. Staind should not be associated with Limp Bizkit's music, they are completely different - but it is nice to see Fred Durst put on his sensitive cap to perform a live version of "Outside" with Lewis.
Overall a masterpiece of an album which has so far not received all of the credit due to it.

Buy it.

It is very, very good.

The ballads from out of nowhere
To be honest....I didn't really like Staind when i first heard them, my sister introduced me to them a couple of years ago. But then i really listened to the lyrics and the sounds engulfed me. This single word comes to mind whenever i listen to any of Staind's music, whether it be from Dysfunction or Break The Cycle, or even from 14 Shades of Grey: Introspective. The overwhelming theme of looking inside oneself comes to me and i can relate on so many levels to Aaron Lewis' pain. Open your eyes isn't really appealing to me since it doesn't very radio worthy...it just seems like he is listing what is wrong in society and nothing more. Pressure is very nice, giving a sense of hopelessness but ending it with a slight high note, portraying a sense of hope almost. Fade is what really hooked me on this CD, showing resentment and betrayal through whom you trusted most helped me through many dark days, as did the lyrics from Its Been A While. Outside also helped me deal with problems of being left out, it showed me that its ok to be looking in from the wayside, because even though u can't see them, there is always someone there beside you looking in too. I don't really have enough time to explain why I like the others except for Epiphany. It is my new favorite song, shows exactly what kind of person Aaron is, again the word introspective comes to mind. The idea of Aaron telling his audience he is "nothing more than a boy inside, that cries out for attention though I always try to hide" shows that he doesn't have anything to hide anymore, he has seen who he really is in the mirror and is going to accept it and keep going. Brought me outta the depths of depression more than once. I really owe it to Aaron Lewis, and I'm sure many other people share the same sentiments. Really an amazing album.

Broken and Taintd
Since the fall of grunge, there's been an influx of bands who were, shall we say, ''pretenders to the thrown''. And many of the were that, minus the 'to the thrown' part, because not many at all could compare to the kings of yesterday. For every Nirvana, there's a Silverchair, for every Alice In Chains there's a Dust For Life...the list goes on. But Staind despite their fairly justified comparisons to angst-mongers Alice In Chains, were fairly fresh and sounding good.

Their first album was a turgid affair, that was very dirty indeed. The only vaguely 'sensitive' track on the album was the fearful 'Home' which could have fit in perfectly right here on Break The Cycle, because for Staind, their second album is pretty much all change. There's a lot more sensitive ballads and feeling and sense to it, and that will have attracted more of their audience as you can assume. The week I bought the album I was astounded to find the album at number 1 in the charts. This was due to the first single power-ballad 'It's Been Awhile' which is as good a slower grunge song, as you could have come across from the likes of AIC and Pearl Jam. And it also went to show that the people still love a good power-ballad, and 'It's Been Awhile' is one of the best in years for sure. And it's not on it's own, the album also contains the equally good 'Outside', and the disturbing 'Waste', which is dedicated to a dead fan, that just explodes in your face in all it's pained glory.

But don't get me wrong, this album is not one complete power ballad, which is a shame on a few of the songs. Second track 'Pressure' unfortunatly just doesn't seem to go anywhere, as does 'Warm Safe Place'....but there are some true crackers on here, such as the powerful opener 'Open Your Eyes', 'The weird but wonderful 'Fade', the pure rage of 'Can't Believe', the somber power of 'Epiphany', the chant-a-long 'Suffer', which contains a great chorus, and of course, the superb live acoustic version of 'Outside'.

When listening to this album, you have to just forget that Fred Durst signed these guys up, because it seems that none of the bands he's signed up, including the superb Cold, who you would also like if you like this, sound nothing like Limp Bizkit. There's no sign of any cringe-worthy rapping anywhere. And thank God because Staind are a genuine talent who don't need to be judged by that. They also don't need to be called sell-outs because they decided to write a few slower songs. There's never been anything wrong with trying new things, and although it is what they do best, I'm sure Staind will, with their brand new album 14 Shade Of Grey, prove to us all that they're just trying anything. Because this is a mixed album of hard, hard songs, and powerful ballads. And that's always been my cup of tea, and Staind are very easy to stomach if you care to try.

5 Stars.