| "Temptation Waits" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Promotional single byGarbage | |
| from the albumVersion 2.0 | |
| Released | June 20, 1999 |
| Recorded | 1997–1998 |
| Studio | Smart Studios,Madison,Wisconsin |
| Genre | Pop[1] |
| Length | 4:37 |
| Label | Mushroom Records UK |
| Songwriter(s) | Garbage |
| Producer(s) | Garbage |
"Temptation Waits" is a 1999 song performed by the bandGarbage and is featured in their second studio albumVersion 2.0 as the opening song.
"Temptation Waits" was not released as an international single, but was released as an airplay-only sixth single inSpain to mark the year-long chart run ofVersion 2.0 on the Spanish album charts[2] and to mark its certification of the European Platinum Award by theInternational Federation of the Phonographic Industry for 1 million sales ofVersion 2.0 across Europe.[3]
In North America, "Temptation Waits" was licensed to TV'sAngel,Dawson's Creek,The Sopranos[4] andBuffy the Vampire Slayer, and was included on the 1999 tie-inBuffy the Vampire Slayer: The Album.
Garbage began writing their second album, which would go under the working title ofSad Alcoholic Clowns, in March 1997 in the band's label-headJerry Moss'sFriday Harbor,Washington, vacation house. The groupdemoed and made rough outlines for new songs, of which "Temptation", was one of. When they felt they had made a good start,Garbage took the work they made in Washington back to theirMadison, Wisconsin base atSmart Studios and begin fleshing out the ideas and rough sketches over the following year.
Garbage intended their second album to build upon the framework, music style and musical template laid down bytheir first release; to create a rapprochement between the "high-tech and low-down, the now sound and of golden memories" and wear musical references to the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s: the production of "Temptation" nodded towardsIsaac Hayes andDonna Summer'sdisco period;[1]Garbage recorded all of their work for the second album through a 48-track digital system digitally, direct tohard drives utilizing a 24bitPro Tools rig.
Much of the percussion was recorded in a disused candy factory located in Madison;Butch Vig, Marker and sound engineerBilly Bush set up a drum kit within the factory and recorded variousfills, utilising the acoustics of the dilapidated building. Forced to stop afterlocal police officers responded to complaints about the noise, some of the percussion was later incorporated into "Temptation Waits" (and also found its way into "I Think I'm Paranoid" and "Hammering in My Head").[5] The guitars would typically be run through either afilter or awah wah pedal, and thengated off a sixteenth-notepulse to create akeyboard-like effect. Instead of usingsynth bass,Garbage hadDaniel Shulman performelectric bass on "Temptation", mixed in withsub-bass. The band had wanted to use atheremin to create the whistle-likemelodic line on theoutro, and had hired one for use at the studio. The band couldn't perform the instrument well, and so utilized a sound created by ananalog modelingsynthesizer instead.[5]
Garbage completed recording, producing and mixing of their second album in mid-February 1998, and the album was given the titleVersion 2.0. "Temptation", which had by now been finalized as "Temptation Waits", was tracklisted as the album's opening song.Version 2.0 was released worldwide on May 11 of that year; despite a slow start,Version 2.0 went on to equal its predecessor, selling over four million copies and achievingplatinum-certification in many territories, including United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe and Australia.[6]
"Temptation Waits" was performed at almost every show on theVersion 2.0 tour; where it began as a mid-set inclusion before being promoted to open each show. Once established as the setlist opener, "Temptation Waits" was intro-taped by a recording of a section of the 4th Movement ofMahler's "Symphony No. 5", famously used in the climax scene of the 1971 movieDeath in Venice.[7] During the last leg of the tour in 1999, it was replaced as opener by "#1 Crush" and moved back into the mid-set, and led into by asample ofvoice-overdialogue from thetrailer to the 1965exploitation filmBad Girls Go to Hell. "Temptation Waits" was initially absent from theBeautifulGarbage tour set-list, but returned to the band's live set in mid-2002 where it remained a common feature of the band's show until the end of that year. "Temptation Waits" was not performed again until 2012, when it once again became a regular in the setlist.
A live version of "Temptation Waits" recorded at theRoskilde Festival,Denmark in June 1998 was included on the repackagedVersion 2.0 Special Live Edition, released byMushroom Records the following year.[8]
"Temptation Waits" received a mostly positive reception frommusic critics around the time ofVersion 2.0s release.Billboard journalist Bradley Bambarger wrote that the song's "slice of predatory swagger opens the album in fine style, with an '80s pop sound a laPsychedelic Furs updated with aplomb"[1] and added that the song showed the band was "burgeoning [with] songwriting prowess".[1] David Stubbs ofUncut wrote, "With its whiplash backbeat and matt black exteriors, ["Temptation..."] sets the tone – like some PVC panther, Shirley Manson establishes the character she maintains throughout the album, taunting, sensual, predatory, desperate, self-loathing, nasty".[9] In a review forMTV Online, Alexandra Flood wrote: "It's a rock/disco anthem about obsessive love. Continuous changing movements make it not only good, but also interesting. "Temptation Waits" is in itself a wolf in sheep's clothing. It comes on subdued at first, but opens up into a memorable, downright danceable, single-bound song."[10] Peter Murphy ofHot Press compared the song's "claustrophobic meshes of flesh and technology"thematic to theprotagonist ofShinya Tsukamoto’s 1989cyberpunk filmTetsuo.[11]
| Chart (1999) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Spain Top 40 Airplay Chart (AFYVE)[12] | 39 |
| Territory | Release date | Record label | Format(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | June 20, 1999 | RCA/BMG Espagna | Airplay |
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| Singles |
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| Related articles | |
