"Temptation Waits" is a 1999 song performed by the band

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and is featured in their second studio album ''

Version 2.0 ''Version 2.0'' is the second studio album by American rock band Garbage. It was released on May 11, 1998, by Mushroom Records worldwide, with the North American release on Almo Sounds the following day. With this album, the band aimed to improve ...

'' as the opening song. "Temptation Waits" was not released as an international single, but was released as an airplay-only sixth single in

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to mark the year-long chart run of ''Version 2.0'' on the Spanish album charts and to mark its certification of the European Platinum Award by the

International Federation of the Phonographic Industry The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 1 ...

for 1 million sales of ''Version 2.0'' across Europe. In North America, "Temptation Waits" was licensed to TV's ''

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

'', ''

Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college. It aired from January 20, 19 ...

'', ''

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'' and ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The concept is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film, also written by Whedon, a ...

'', and was included on the 1999 tie-in '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Album''.

Recording and production

began writing their second album, which would go under the working title of ''Sad Alcoholic Clowns'', in March 1997 in the band's label-head

Jerry Moss Jerome Sheldon Moss (May 8, 1935 – August 16, 2023) was an American recording executive, best known for being the co-founder of A&M Records, along with trumpet player and bandleader Herb Alpert. Music career Early stages (1958–60) After gr ...

's Friday Harbor,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, vacation house. The group demoed and made rough outlines for new songs, of which "Temptation", was one of. When they felt they had made a good start,

took the work they made in Washington back to their

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

base at

Smart Studios Smart Studios was a recording studio located in Madison, Wisconsin. It was set up in 1983 by Butch Vig and Steve Marker to produce local bands. The studio produced bands such as Killdozer, The Smashing Pumpkins, L7, Tad, Nirvana, Hawthorne H ...

and begin fleshing out the ideas and rough sketches over the following year.

intended their second album to build upon the framework, music style and musical template laid down by their 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 towards

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records in the 1960s, serving as an in-house songwr ...

and

Donna Summer Donna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Queen of Disco", while her music ...

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

period;

recorded all of their work for the second album through a 48-track digital system digitally, direct to

hard drives A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnet ...

utilizing a 24bit

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...

rig. Much of the percussion was recorded in a disused candy factory located in Madison;

Butch Vig Bryan David "Butch" Vig (born August 2, 1955) is an American musician, record producer, and songwriter who is the drummer and co-producer of the rock band Garbage. Producer of the diamond selling Nirvana album ''Nevermind'' (1991), Vig also pro ...

, Marker and sound engineer

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set up a drum kit within the factory and recorded various fills, utilising the acoustics of the dilapidated building. Forced to stop after local 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 "I Think I'm Paranoid" is a song written, performed and produced by rock band Garbage and was the second single released from their second album '' Version 2.0''. The song was released internationally in July 1998, following up on the success o ...

" and "Hammering in My Head"). The guitars would typically be run through either a

filter Filtration is a physical process that separates solid matter and fluid from a mixture. Filter, filtering, filters or filtration may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming * Fil ...

or a

wah wah pedal A wah-wah pedal, or simply wah pedal, is a type of effects pedal designed for electric guitar that alters the timbre of the input signal to create a distinctive sound, mimicking the human voice saying the onomatopoeic name "wah-wah". The pedal ...

, and then gated off a sixteenth-note

pulse In medicine, the pulse refers to the rhythmic pulsations (expansion and contraction) of an artery in response to the cardiac cycle (heartbeat). The pulse may be felt ( palpated) in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surfac ...

to create a keyboard-like effect. Instead of using

synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

bass,

had

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perform

electric bass The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an electric but with a longer neck and scale leng ...

on "Temptation", mixed in with

sub-bass Sub-bass sounds are the deep, low-register pitches below approximately 70 Hz (C2 in scientific pitch notation) and extending downward to include the lowest frequency humans can hear, approximately 20 Hz (E0). In this range, human hea ...

. The band had wanted to use a

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone, etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named aft ...

to create the whistle-like

melodic line A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm, while more figuratively, the term ca ...

on the outro, and had hired one for use at the studio. The band couldn't perform the instrument well, and so utilized a sound created by an analog modeling

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

instead.''Keyboard'', "Case Study: The Making of ''Version 2.0''", by Greg Rule, published August 1999 issue.

completed recording, producing and mixing of their second album in mid-February 1998, and the album was given the title ''Version 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 achieving platinum-certification in many territories, including United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe and Australia.

Live performances

"Temptation Waits" was performed at almost every show on the ''Version 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 of

Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

's " Symphony No. 5", famously used in the climax scene of the 1971 movie ''

Death in Venice ''Death in Venice ''() is a novella by German author Thomas Mann, published in 1912. It presents an ennobled writer who visits Venice and is liberated, uplifted, and then increasingly obsessed by the sight of a boy in a family of Polish tourist ...

''. 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 a

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dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...

from the trailer to the 1965

exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that seeks commercial success by capitalizing on current trends, niche genres, or sensational content. Exploitation films often feature themes such as suggestive or explicit sex, sensational violence, drug use, nudi ...

'' Bad Girls Go to Hell''. "Temptation Waits" was initially absent from the ''BeautifulGarbage'' 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 the

Roskilde Festival The Roskilde Festival is a Danish music festival held annually south of Roskilde. It is one of the largest music festivals in Europe and the largest in the Nordic countries. It was created in 1971 by two high school students and a promoter. In 1 ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

in June 1998 was included on the repackaged ''Version 2.0 Special Live Edition'', released by

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival ...

the following year.

Critical reception

"Temptation Waits" received a mostly positive reception from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

around the time of ''Version 2.0''s release. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' journalist Bradley Bambarger wrote that the song's "slice of predatory swagger opens the album in fine style, with an '80s pop sound a la

Psychedelic Furs Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic hallucin ...

updated with aplomb" and added that the song showed the band was "burgeoning

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometers, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is i ...

songwriting prowess". David Stubbs of Uncut 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". In a review for ''

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'', 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." Peter Murphy of ''

Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a monthly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who cont ...

'' compared the song's "claustrophobic meshes of flesh and technology" thematic to the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

Shinya Tsukamoto is a Japanese filmmaker and actor. With a considerable cult following both domestically and abroad, Tsukamoto is best known for his body horror/Japanese cyberpunk, cyberpunk film ''Tetsuo: The Iron Man'' (1989), which is considered the defining ...

’s 1989

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting said to focus on a combination of "low-life and high tech". It features futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyberwa ...

film '' Tetsuo''.''

'', "The Heart of Garbage", by Peter Murphy, published August 30, 2001. Retrieved 2010-01-30

Charts

Release history

References

External links

"Temptation Waits" lyrics

"Temptation Waits" release discography
{{Authority control 1999 singles Garbage (band) songs Song recordings produced by Butch Vig 1998 songs Mushroom Records singles Songs written by Shirley Manson Songs written by Duke Erikson Songs written by Steve Marker Songs written by Butch Vig