Break the cycle

Musical style

Like previous work by Staind ( Dysfunction and Tormented ), this disc combines nu metal and alternative metal genres. The group has retained its nu-metal sound from the previous album. However, the album also demonstrates a softer post-grunge sound of the group, an element in which the group wanted to move forward with more acoustic and soft ballad songs ^[19] . This is especially noticeable in the song “ It's Been Awhile ”, a hit of the band, due to which music critics ranked Staind among the post-grunge bands of the time ^[5] .

Songs

The third single " Fade " from the album, as Aaron explained, is about parental neglect. The frontman of the group believes that parents generally forget about their responsibilities. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Aaron Lewis said that when he was a child, he did not know who to turn to ^[20] .

In the song “It's Been Awhile”, Aaron Lewis sings about how, in his opinion, he messed up and how disappointing the person who means a lot to him. Because of this, Aaron, plunging into drug addiction , seeks to get rid of it ^[21] .

The song “Can't Believe” about the disgusting and vile things that Aaron Lewis notices during live performances, when a crowd of listeners tear down clothes from a girl; according to the frontman, “parents should do their job as best as possible” and also that “children will be disrespectful in the future” ^[22] .

According to Aaron Lewis, the song "Epiphany" is devoted to the topic of attention deficit disorder ( ADHD ). Explaining that he himself was suffering from this syndrome, Aaron did nothing to prevent it and decided to simply allow it to manifest. The lyrics of the song show us how it is to live with Aaron with his frustration ^[23] .

“ For You ” is the fourth single from the album Break the Cycle , written from the point of view of a child who needs the help of their parents, but the parents ignore the request of their child, but instead they just keep silent ^[24] .

The song “ Outside ” was released on the album in 2001, but earlier, at the end of 1999 at the Family Values ​​Tour festival, Aaron Lewis performed it for the first time. Promising to perform with him, Fred Durst persuaded Aaron to sing it. Since it was still an early and unfinished version of the song, Lewis completed it right on the stage. This version of the song was published in the Australian and European edition of the disc as a bonus track ^{[25] [26]} . Aaron could not explain the meaning of the song due to the fact that it was written during the concert itself:

The best part is that I can’t tell you what the song is about. These are just words and phrases that I had in my head that night.

- Aaron Lewis in an interview with "Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Story Behind the Song" ^[27]

The song "Waste" is dedicated to a teenager who has lost his life , who was a fan of the group. This song is about the tragedy of suicide and that the act of suicide itself does not solve anything. It sings about how we all fight in life, but nothing can be justified as accepting our own life as it is. Based on a true story when, at one of Staind's concerts in Detroit , singer Aaron Lewis was approached by the mother of a teenager, saying that her son had committed suicide and asked Aaron to give her the answers why. Aaron could not answer her, and as he sings in the song, he felt that he should have these same answers. Aaron said that when he finished the lyrics of this song, he became very angry:

In order to go through all this, you need to have a lot of strength, but when you decide to do it all of a sudden, you don’t solve the problem - you only harm the people around you.

- From an interview with Aaron Lewis magazine San Antonio Metal Music Examiner ^[28]

Initially, reviews about the album ranged from mixed to medium. On the Metacritic website, which assigns a normalized rating of 100 reviews of major critical publications, the album received an average score of 55 out of 100, based on 9 reviews ^[7] .

Barry Walters of Rolling Stone rated the album three and a half out of five, with the words: “At first glance, Staind looks like a Korn tribute band. But after the first few seconds of Break the Cycle , they release heavy enough mattress riffs to prove that they can be part of a rock circle among peers like Limp Bizkit or Godsmack. ” ^[10] According to Lewis Pattinson from NME , “Break the Cycle” is nu-metal that Tripper Gore imagines - a 14-track parent-friendly album spiced with grunge and soft rock that makes Creed sound like GG Allin ^[2] .

Blender magazine spoke negatively about the album: “unfortunately, the production smoothes the sharp edges of the group clean to too polished” ^[7] . Michael Gluczy from AllMusic also put it on the sound of the record, noting the following: ““ Cycle ”is, in the end, no more than a 50-minute standard record of complete desolation. But the softness of most of the songs evokes sympathy for him, unlike many such as the Staind groups ” ^[8] . The Q music store spoke about the new sound, saying: “musical changes are lacking and frame the vocal moans almost reverently” ^[7] .

All lyrics are written by vocalist Aaron Lewis . The composers of all the music on the album is the group Staind , with the exception of selected songs.

• Allmusic
• Discogs.com
• Genius lyrics