Stabbing Westward (thing)

Their final album, "Stabbing Westward" was released on May 22, 2001 to mixed reviews. While generally regarded as a solid rock album, many fans felt betrayed by the bands choice to abandon their traditional "pseudo-industrial" sounds, and the use of electronics and keyboards. Instead, the band chose a more "organic" approach on the new record, doing away with the "click track", focusing more on acoustic guitars, and even including a marimba in several songs. Despite this, the album made its debut on Billboard Magazine's Top 200 at #47, a record for the band.

The album was the band's first record with their new label, Koch, after having been dropped by Columbia in the summer of 2000. It was also their first album to feature Derrek Hawkins on lead guitar, as their former guitatist, Mark Eliopulos, left before work on the new record began.

Koch, a relatively new label, seemed to have difficultly properly promoting the band and their new album, however. All told, only two singles were ever released off the album, and only the first saw a music video or any significant radio air play. After a short bar tour, the band was set to be an opening act, along with Monster Magnet, on The Cult's tour. However, the band dropped off the tour after only a handful of shows, alegedly due to financial issues (Monster Magnet did likewise not long afterward).

The band followed in the autumn of 2001 with a small tour of Australia and New Zealand, and later opened for Live in that band's tour of the continent. In early December, Hawkins and the band decided to part ways, and he was replaced briefly by Keith Joyner. By the end of the month, the band had also parted ways with their record label, Koch. The band promised to return with a new album and a new tour in 2002.

The band's final musical release was a track on the "Not Another Teen Movie" soundtrack, a cover of New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle". That album was released in December 2001. In what will probably become that band's final literary appearance, lead singer Chris Hall, and the rest of the band, appear in a photo spread and interview in the February 2002 issue of "Playgirl" magazine. The photo shoot and interview apparently took place several months earlier.

Finally, on February 6, 2002 the band's official web site was updated with a notice that the band had decided to disband.

The track listing of the album "Stabbing Westward" is:

1. So Far Away
2. Perfect
3. I Remember
4. Wasted
5. Happy
6. The Only Thing
7. Angel
8. Breathe You In
9. High
10. Television

1. So Far Away (acoustic)
2. Wasted (acoustic)