“It's Been Awhile” by Staind

"It's Been Awhile" was the song Staind sent out first from Break the Cycle, their third album, in 2001 on Elektra, and it went on to become the most successful song of their career. Josh Abraham produced it and Andy Wallace mixed it, and the writing credit is shared by Aaron Lewis, Mike Mushok, Johnny April and Jon Wysocki.

It's post-grunge at its most brooding, a slow burn that starts in hushed, shadowy tones and builds to a heavy, aching chorus, with the guitars swelling up behind it like a wave breaking. There's no swagger in it, just a raw nerve laid bare.

The numbers that followed were enormous. It rose to number five on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 2001, spent 20 weeks at the top of the Mainstream Rock chart, a run bettered only by "Loser" by 3 Doors Down, and held the Modern Rock number-one spot for 16 weeks, a record at the time. The RIAA eventually certified it eight-times platinum, it topped the airplay chart in Canada, and it made the top 20 in Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the UK.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.