This came out in 2003 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
We all know people like Staind singer Aaron Lewis.
They’re the ones who take everything way too freaking seriously. The ones who stay up writing love poetry whenever they get a girlfriend — and then stay up weeping and writing pleading e-mails when they get dumped. The ones who just can’t get over anything — or over themselves. The ones who daddy never understood. Well, here’s an idea. Next time the Lewis in your life starts mewling about his latest trauma, give him (or her) Staind’s third major-label disc 14 Shades of Grey, an aptly titled set of turgidly cliche, ploddingly earnest grudge-rock emotionalism. Then give them a guitar and urge them to purge their traumas musically just like Lewis does. Hey, who knows? Maybe they’ll become the next big thing. At the very least, it oughta get them to clam up and leave you alone for a while. That is, until they start to whine about how their bass player just isn’t working out …
