Dysfunction is the second studio album by Staind, released on April 13, 1999, by Flip Records and Elektra Records. It is the band’s first studio album released on a record label.
Staind self-released their debut album Tormented in 1996. On October 23, 1997, the band met Limp Bizkit vocalist Fred Durst. Durst was initially appalled by Tormented‘s graphic artwork, and refused to sign Staind, but changed his mind after being impressed with the band’s performance. Durst signed the band to Flip/Elektra and helped the band record Dysfunction. Staind promoted Dysfunction through touring and sampler cassettes.
Continuing, but expanding on, the dark alternative metal and nu metal sound displayed on Tormented, Dysfunction features a varied increase of singing and screaming, emotionally vulnerable lyrics inspired by singer Aaron Lewis‘ life, with a noticeable increase of melodic sections. Although still similar to Tormented in tone, Dysfunction is more melodic, has an absence of lo-fi production, and, despite prominent moments of screaming, features more clean singing than Tormented. Critics compared Dysfunction to various bands, including Korn, Coal Chamber, Spineshank, Nothingface, Deftones, Tool, and Alice in Chains.
Dysfunction received mostly mixed reviews upon release; some critics praising Lewis‘ vocals and lyrics, as well as Murshok‘s guitar playing, while some criticized the album for being repetitive in terms of song structure. Despite little success upon release, the album grew into mainstream popularity at the end of 1999 with the success of the singles “Just Go”, “Mudshovel” and “Home”, eventually peaking at number 74 on the Billboard 200 chart in November of that year. After the release of Staind‘s next album Break the Cycle (2001), Dysfunction experienced a resurgence in popularity and reached number 1 on Billboard’s Top Pop Catalog Albums chart. In February 2004, the album was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), signifying the shipment of two million copies in the United States.
Tracklist:
- Suffocate
- Just Go
- Me
- Raw
- Mudshovel
- Home
- A Flat
- Crawl
- Spleen (“Spleen” ends at 4:38. Following 11:45 of silence is a hidden track titled “Excess Baggage”.)
Staind
Aaron Lewis: lead vocals, acoustic guitar on “Excess Baggage”
Mike Mushok: guitars, backing vocals
Johnny “Old School” April: bass, backing vocals
Jon Wysocki: drums, backing vocals
Production
Jordan Schur: executive production
Staind: production
Fred Durst: co-production
Terry Date: production, engineering, mixing
Ulrich Wild: engineering
Tom Smurdon: assistant engineering
John Burton: assistant mixing
Roger Lian: mastering
Howie Weinberg: mastering
Artwork
Mike Mushok: concept
Gregory Burke: art director, art design, concept
EXUM: photography
Jane Choi, Joe Macchio: special effects make-up
