The LOL At Nu-Metal thread

[Fall of Epic]

The "stupid bullshit" thread made me bump this. I think more needs to be said about my teenage nu-metal days:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkRWTWBBsAc

Kittie, when you think about it, were unique for their time. Sure there female metal bands before and after, but the fact that when this album came out, they were a couple of teenage Canadians, made them stand out from the pack and that certainly helped them for awhile. 14-year-old me was ALL OVER THIS ALBUM. All over it. Kittie was probably in my top 5 from 2000-2002. I completely forgot them until this past summer when I was packing my old CD's to take to my new apartment and I decided to see if "Spit" was worth taking so I listened to it from start to finish. It's terrible. Awful lyrics with crappy nu-metal riffs. I think I read an interview a few years ago where the lead chick admitted that the album was crappy and her excuse was "lol, we were kids!'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMk-8pmTpgU

Embarrassingly, I didn't know this was a cover until I started college. When I was a young teen all I cared about was 'OMFG OZZY OSBOURNE???????". "Chamber Music" is a pretty terrible album with maybe three decent tracks. I also had a thing for the female bassist.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSajjsER8iQ

Another band I haven't thought of in ages. My friend burned me this album back in high school and I actually dug it back then. The album's highlight was its closing track where they pay tribute to a bunch of hip-hop songs from the 90's.

 

[Gary]

What's funny about bands like Kittie and Coal Chamber is that they were big at the time, but they never became huge. In fact, with a few exceptions, I don't think most of these bands really became huge. Like sure, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park and a few others were huge, but a lot of them just felt like they were kinda there or toiled away in some sort of obscurity.

Also, responding to an older post, but

Anyways, are there any nu-metal bands considered good even now, or is the genre just one big fail from start to finish?

It's basically died off because there never was a true definition of what "nu-metal" entailed. At first it was just heavier alternative rock, like Helmet, and then it was any band that blended rap with rock, like {insert every rap/rock band}, but then kinda formed into overly melodic grunge-inspired drivel that used the break-beat as a backing structure, like Disturbed. Stuff like thrash, death, black, doom, etc. has lasted because there's pretty clear definitions of what they entail as a whole, despite the bands that push the envelope within those sub-genres, but nu-metal never had that. It was, basically, a catch-all term for any popular heavier-than-NSync music released between 1997 and 2003.

A friend (well, person I converse with frequently via the Internet, who used to write for 411) and I did a co-op article for a site he wrote for that tried to dissect the rise and fall of nu-metal as well as why it was a horrible "genre" that was never going to last beyond a few years. If I can find it I'll edit this and link it, but I think the site it was for is now gone.

The other thing that killed it is the same thing that killed hair metal: After a while, there ended up being too many Nu Metal bands. By 2001, you couldn't turn on the radio without hearing it all the time or step into a CD section of a store without seeing at least 5 or 6 Nu Metal bands in the new albums section. It became overkill, and by the time the year was almost over, more and more people were sick of it. 2002 was it's dying breaths, and 2003 was when it ended.

Another factor is the simple fact that most of the people that were listening to it grew up. Something like (hed) PE or Dope (who I think were in some ways worse than Limp Bizkit) might appeal to you when you are 14 or 15, but when your 17-18 years old you realize that it's just the same manufactured rebellion that's been around forever. In December of my senior year of High School, most of the people I knew that previously liked Nu Metal wanted nothing to do with it. Now it's that kind of thing that you look back at and say "Well, I was a teenager"

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Dope's popularity, though, fell because of how different the second album was to the first. Here's the two more known tracks off of the first album, Felons and Revolutionaries:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4JbGQgJb_4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggHpZE2W-rs

And here's the lead single off of their second album:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdisereJaXQ

Even as a confused and angry 14-year-old whose taste for death metal was on the rise, I still really dug Dope's first album, and still listen to it now and then. I have no problem saying "Debonaire" is a good mainstream rock song, despite it being a mash-up of Marilyn Manson and White Zombie in sound (hell, that applies to the whole band, really, only with generically horrible gangsta lyrics thrown in), and I can still dig on it thanks to the decency of that main riff. "Now or Never," though, was so much poppier than anything found on the first, both in terms of lyrical content and production, not to mention that the singer (Edsel Dope) decided to actually kinda/sorta sing...yeah, it was a big difference, even if listening back they're obviously from the same band.

That switch is also, IMO, what killed Sevendust and Static-X. They went from having some killer riffs and even borderline on legitimate metal at times (particularly Static-X, who were basically White Zombie/Ministry Lite)...but then they went with shyte nu-metal ballad-y songs.

 

[Gary]

In the risk of ridicule, I will admit that the first Sevendust album is one of my guiltiest pleasures. I know it's not very good, but unlike a lot of these bands, it at least tried to sound like an actual metal album (Hell, I'd argue that a lot of it feels more like a Groove Metal album than a Nu Metal one). I remember when there third album came out, and me an a friend were listening to it. He liked it. I just thought "Oh wow, so they wanna be Staind now"

Re: Static X: I think they are terrible, but I agree that they were pretty much Ministry/White Zombie lite (though sorta in their defense, Ministry were pretty awful around that time)

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

I still say Sevendust live is one of the best shows I've ever seen.

 

[Haws Bah Gawd]

Sevendust is fucking awesome.

 

[Fall of Epic]

Let's talk about metal bands or artists that went nu metal in a desperate attempt to gain more fans:

Max Cavalera started off in Sepultura, a very good and reputable tribal/groove/death metal outfit. He quit in the 90's and formed a new band, Soulfly. This is the opening track off their second album released 2000 during the nu metal boom:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3LE6_y8J0s

Machine Head probably had one of the best debut albums of any metal band ever with "Burn My Eyes". This was their 1999 effort. The thrash sound and growling was removed in favor or rapping and detuned guitars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJzeJiHHQOY

And yes, I owned both these albums, thank you very much.

 

[Brocklock]

In the risk of ridicule, I will admit that the first Sevendust album is one of my guiltiest pleasures. I know it's not very good, but unlike a lot of these bands, it at least tried to sound like an actual metal album (Hell, I'd argue that a lot of it feels more like a Groove Metal album than a Nu Metal one). I remember when there third album came out, and me an a friend were listening to it. He liked it. I just thought "Oh wow, so they wanna be Staind now"

I think Lajon Witherspoon legit has a great voice, and it's sad that it's wasted on such a meh band. Their first two albums are some of the more tolerable nu-metal records.

 

[Gary]

Re: "The Burning Red" and Soulfly: Machine Head did another Nu Metal album in "Supercharger" After that they kinda came to their senses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQWu8IE-b6A

Soulfly-Well, they've never been good. Sure, "Dark Ages" and "Enslaved" have their moments, but most of it is generic Groove/Post Thrash/Nu Metal. Interestingly enough, Sepultura have also sucked since Max left.

I kind of look at this as an interesting/somewhat unfortunate trend in the 90's in which a lot of bands were trying to get with the times, and ended up embarrassing themselves. Sure, "The Black Album" is a fun an acceptable mainstream metal album for the large part, but it's still an undeniably dumbed down version of what Metallica once was, and "Load", "Reload" and the first disc of "Garage Days Revisited" didn't help (remember Metallica butchering Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds? I hope not.) Another example would be Anthrax. Sure, "Sound of White Noise" is an enjoyable album (probably my third fave album of theirs), but "Stomp 442" is mostly dull, and by "Vol. 8: The Threat is Real" they don't seem to know what kind of band they are anymore (plus, it sees them kinda dipping their toes into Nu-Metal) There was some great stuff in the 90's, but the bad really sticks out.

 

[Fall of Epic]

Even Slayer is sort of guilty of this. Sure, "Diabolus in Musica" isn't a straight nu-metal record but you can certainly tell they were trying to get fans of that market into their music. Ironically enough, that's a lot of my friends' favorite Slayer album. Go figure.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Your friends are dumb. One thing I can say about Slayer's foray into nu-metal (and even their attempts at metalcore on Christ Illusion, bringing shudders to my ears when I first heard it) is that it, at least, still sounds like Slayer. The minor scales, the lyrical content, and even Araya's trademark scream were still present. My first taste of Slayer was "Human Disease," which is one of their absolute worst songs, and I hated them. Now? Favorite band ever, easily, based on the strength of their first five albums (and I'll even say World Painted Blood is a great EP hidden in a mediocre-at-best album).

Re: Machine Head
Always sucked. Even their "we've come to our senses" stuff, like The Blackening, just positively screams "HEY, PLEASE JUST LOVE US," similar to Dez Fafara's departure from Coal Chamber into DevilDriver (only "Clouds Over California" is actually a good metal tune, unlike just about anything Rob Flynn has done after Vio-Lence).

EDIT:
I'm going to combine the better tracks of Slayer's God Hates Us All, Christ Illusion, and World Painted Blood to give us an actually solid album between the two, since they each have 3-4 good songs and a bunch of meh/drivel. Spoiler tagged (and some are spoiler tagged within the spoiler tag) for browser loading, but I'll give the track listing that I'd use:
1. "Flesh Storm" (Christ Illusion)
2. "Disciple" (God Hates Us All)
3. "Unit 731" (World Painted Blood)
4. "Bloodline" (God Hates Us All)
5. "Jihad" (Christ Illusion)
6. "World Painted Blood" (World Painted Blood)
7. "Hate Worldwide" (World Painted Blood)
8. "Payback" (God Hates Us All)
9. "Psycopathy Red" (World Painted Blood)
10. "Final Six" (Christ Illusion SE)
11. "Cult" (Christ Illusion)

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DwI-nWq2Cw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9sXeXVrdNc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pKPLKsiBhw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHcqPck0eWk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdDBWei1mMg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCtlnIek33c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtAPg91a61s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjUC_sgyWi0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnzQQ53rQGI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6jLezmrDac
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J11s-hXrew

You know, "World Painted Blood" probably has the most "okay, THIS IS SLAYER" riff ever around 2:16 or so.

 

[Haws Bah Gawd]

Burning Red was the first thing I ever heard from Machinehead. I kinda liked their nu metal spin on Message in a Bottle.

 

[Gary]

Re: Machine Head: I like "Burn My Eyes", but that's about it. Also, the video for "From This Day" just reminds me of how bad fashion choices were then. Man, the late 90's sucked in a lot of ways.

Re: Slayer: I'd argue "Diabolus in Musica" is their second worst album (their worst is that album of really bad punk covers), but it's still bad. It's kinda weird to listen to also. Like the idea of Slayer adopting grooves and sounds more akin to Korn and the like is awful, but it almost warrants at least one listen just for the sheer "why would you do that?" factor.

 

[Haws Bah Gawd]

Anyone remember Lostprophets? Their frontman, Ian Watkins, was sentenced to 29 years in prison, plus an additional 6, for molesting two BABIES. The babies were apparently given to him by the mothers, who were also sentenced to 14 and 17 years each. What the fucking fuck?!

http://loudwire.com/lostprophets-ian-watkins-35-years-prison-child-sex-crimes/

 

[Big Beard Booty Daddy]

He won't last the whole time. Either someone is going to shank him, or he's going to off himself, and that would be a good thing.

 

[Gary]

 

[Fall of Epic]

I'm not done yet!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI-fWgyMXYA

Ill Nino's first album literally dropped the week after I started high school. They must have been a thing in the "underground" scene because I could have sworn I heard their name before their first major release. Thinking I could capitalize on the hottest new band, I immediately took a liking to this song. The album has maybe 2 decent tracks (this not being one of them) but the majority of it is really bad Sepultura/Soulfly knockoff garbage. I guess the CONCEPT of the band isn't the worst but the majority of their music in cringe worthy and was still trying to cash on the already dying nu-metal trend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjvesZw-XtQ

Remember this band? No? Well, I can't blame you. The only reason why me and a lot of people know Pressure 4-5 is because this song was on the soundtrack to the first season of WWE's Tough Enough. I actually burned this album way back and liked it, still sort of do but I found out years later that the album was actually redone for its major release and sounds more "polished" (aka produced). Seriously, listening to the demo version and listening to this, is like two different bands. I don't know. The band fell off the face of this earth right after this came out and no one's heard from them since. For the better?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYIuWWHoSYQ

Another band trying desperately to cash in on the dying breaths of nu metal. This album dropped in the summer of '01 and was pretty much what nu metal always was. This band started off with two rappers who had little success then added a live band to their sound and found a tiny bit of success but mostly in their home country of Canada. After nu metal died, the band was fired and the two guys went on to form a rap group called "Dead Celebrity Status". I have the only copy of Project Wyze's first album and thought the video above was one of the coolest things I ever saw at the time. Was I mentally challenged?

 

[Baby Shoes]

A friend invited me to an Ill Nino concert. I'm pretty sure I went because I went to a bunch of concerts with him at the time with bands I completely don't remember. The only Ill Nino song I really remember is the one from Freddy vs Jason that they also had a Spanish version of on their album shortly after

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNH4IdCJZf8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cU418F-35o

 

[Fall of Epic]

Yeah, Ill Nino's sound was dumbed down a lot on their second album (not like it was complex in the first place). I dated a girl in my senior year of high school who loved "How Can I Live". It was like her favorite song and it drove me bananas.

 

[Red Baron]

Oh man, Project Wyze. You want to talk about awful. I saw these guys open up for Ozzy in 2001 and the only time the crowd cheered for them is when they left the stage. Horrible sound, the tin sounding drums caused your ears to bleed and the guitarists were sloppy and screwing up their riffs, but it was so distorted that there was too much feedback going through the speakers. Just awful.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyoV6mk74_o

These guys were a pretty big local hit in MA thanks to getting a lot of pimping from WAAF's afternoon DJ Mistress Carrie, and after re-listening I'm surprised by how well they mixed salsa into it.

And then there's Reveille.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cuhxnJ_Trs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bubstkSsAk

 

[BUTT]

I went to see Andrew W.K. open for Ill Nino in November of '03, but I didn't stick around for Ill Nino's set. We did, however, see them in a Chinese restaurant before the show. Allegedly my friend went up to them and told them that they sucked, but I was in the bathroom at the time and cannot confirm that.

 

[Haws Bah Gawd]

Andrew WK is still the most hilariously energetic person I've ever seen do anything.

 

[Gary]

This thread makes me wonder: outside of bands likes Korn, Linkin Park and a few others, what was the last hit Nu Metal album? The only one that enters my mind is that WWE album "Forceable Entry", and even that felt like it was eight months too late.

 

[Brocklock]

This thread makes me wonder: outside of bands likes Korn, Linkin Park and a few others, what was the last hit Nu Metal album? The only one that enters my mind is that WWE album "Forceable Entry", and even that felt like it was eight months too late.

Is that Evanescence album with "Bring Me To Life" considered Nu-Metal? That might be the last hit but it was still 2003.

Five Finger Death Punch feel the closest to a modern nu-metal band and they probably peaked three years ago.

 

[Haws Bah Gawd]

What about Disturbed? They seemed to be doing well and hadn't changed from numetal all that much. David Draiman's new band Device released a halfway decent album this year too.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Disturbed almost rose above the nu metal label into a decent hard rock act. I dislike the overwhelming majority of their stuff, but can really dig on other songs ("Voices," "Prayer," and "Liberate" are all pretty damn solid). Excellent live show, too.

 

[Gary]

This thread makes me wonder: outside of bands likes Korn, Linkin Park and a few others, what was the last hit Nu Metal album? The only one that enters my mind is that WWE album "Forceable Entry", and even that felt like it was eight months too late.

Is that Evanescence album with "Bring Me To Life" considered Nu-Metal? That might be the last hit but it was still 2003.

There's elements of Nu Metal in Evanescence, but I always looked at it as watered down Gothic Metal like Lacuna Coil (I don't care what anyone else here says: Lacuna Coil sucks and are no better than Evanescence. Same with Within Temptation.)

Five Finger Death Punch feel the closest to a modern nu-metal band and they probably peaked three years ago.

Last I checked, they are still a big band. Them and Avenge Sevenfold are among the most popular metal bands in the mainstream right now.

 

[Fall of Epic]

Lacuna Coil is definitely better than Evanescence but I never thought that were that much better.

 

[Fall of Epic]

Can we count Hollywood Undead as nu metal? Awful, awful band.