A Pistol Hot Cup Of Rhyme: Favorite Albums: 90

Hot damn! I am actually posting on time and staying caught up! Yay!

90. Wither Blister Burn + Peel by Stabbing Westward (1996)

You have to love it when the first words on an album, before there is even any music, are, "I'm such an asshole. God, I'm such a stain. I just keep fucking up again and again." That's how "I Don't Believe" starts, before erupting in a massive attack of guitars and synths. "Shame" is a very Nine Inch Nails inspired song about a stalker and his target, one of the two big singles from this album. "What Do I Have To Do?" is the other one, and the one most people know. "Why" is a very dark slow song, very cool. "Inside You" sounds more like the bastard child of Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails than anything else on the album, but it's not a bad thing. "Falls Apart" is kind of a dull song compared to the rest of the album, pretty much the only weak spot. "So Wrong" is a really good song, one of the hardest rockers on the album. "Crushing Me" is another pretty dark song musically, a great lead in to "Sleep", which is the darkest song lyrically on the album. It is about a friend of lead singer Christopher Hall who was constantly being raped by her father, and it is pretty much the best song on the album. The final song is "Slipping Away", and it seems a bit out of place, because it is more guitar driven than anything else on the album, and it's a bit long at just over six minutes. This is a good, but not great, album. It seems that they are trying to mesh too many genres and influences together, but it's still a good listen.
5 Best Songs:
5. "Shame"

4. "What Do I Have To Do?"

3. "Why" (Wasn't used in The Crow, but goes well with it.)

2. "So Wrong"

1. "Sleep"

89. Boys Don't Cry by The Cure (1980)

In '79 The Cure released their debut album, Three Imaginary Boys, to little fanfare and even less notice. The next year, they released Boys Don't Cry, which was basically Three Imaginary Boys with a couple songs moved around. Dropped were the less than stellar "Meat Hook", "It's Not You", "So What" and their cover of "Foxy Lady". In their places were three of the band's first four singles, which for whatever reason weren't on Three Imaginary Boys: "Boys Don't Cry", "Killing An Arab" and "Jumping Someone Else's Train". Everything else appears on both albums. "Boys Don't Cry" starts the album off, one of the band's trademark songs. "Plastic Passion" has some very effects-heavy vocals, and it just dawned on me that the opening 5 or 6 seconds sounds like Hole ripped off the guitar riff for their song "Violet". Kind of funny. "10.15 Saturday Night" was the other early single, relying mostly on a steady medium beat on the cymbals and very sparse guitars before between and after the verses. "Accuracy" follows, a decent song but nothing special. "Jumping Someone Else's Train" is a cool song about being a nonconformist, the sound and pace of the music (especially the drums and bass) giving the impression of listening to a train pass. "Subway Song" is a kind of creepy quick little song about a woman being attacked in a subway station. The music and Robert's vocals set the perfect mood on this track. "Killing An Arab" caused a lot of controversy for the band. One of the Cure's most misinterpreted songs, "Killing an Arab" was inspired by the Albert Camus novel The Stranger. It is an homage to the book, in which the hero pointlessly murders an Arab man he did not even know, during a moment of existential confusion caused or exacerbated by desert heat. However, it was usually interpreted as an anti-Arab anthem, and caused the band problems not only when it was originally released in '78, but when it was included on Staring At the Sea - The Singles in '86 as well. When that album was released, it included a sticker on the front proclaiming that "Killing An Arab" was not a song of hate, or something to that effect. The guitars on "Fire In Cairo" sound like they were written by R.E.M. It sounds a lot more like one of their songs than a Cure song, but it's still a really good song, reluctantly catchy. "Another Day" is one of the few slow songs on this album, actually the slowest, if I remember correctly. It's also one of the few where Robert lets his voice flex a little muscle, hinting at what it would become on later albums. "Grinding Halt" is another really catchy pop song that probably could have had some success as a single. It wouldn't have been a huge hit, but it would have been successful. "Three Imaginary Boys" is the final song, the only truly "goth" song on one of the albums always labeled as a "goth" classic. Stupid ass music critics. Overall, this album still kicks ass 30 years after it was released. Yes, it all sounds dated and sounds like it was recorded in a cramped basement, but it's one of those albums that will never really get old.
5 Best Songs:
5. "Three Imaginary Boys" (This is faster than the album version and he screws up the words in a couple spots, but it's the best one I could find.)

4. "Grinding Halt" (Odd version, but whatever. It is nearly impossible to find album versions of Cure songs on YouTube, and even when you do the embedding is disabled. Sigh.)