Friday 14 December 2018

Captain Beefheart album by album





(Work in progress... not much progress......)

I first encountered Captain Beefheart  when I was around 14/15 years old and mixed with the hip hippy crowd that gathered at The Royal Oak in the Old High Street Hemel Hempstead.  Strictly Personal was the album that turned me on, and it still remains my favourite.  I have read and been told many times over the years that  Strictly Personal is not a good album because Beefheart disowned it. But regardless of if Beefheart liked the fade effects that  Bob Krasnow put on the album, I like the effects, and I love the music, which for me is his purest and most effective take on the blues,  and the songs are amongst his best, if not his best.

Most fans and critics put praise on Trout Mask Replica (1969), but I'm less keen on that album. For me there is too much of the influence of Zappa on it - discordant non sequiturs,  jazz breaks, etc.

I saw Beefheart at Knebworth in 1975, though I only have a hazy memory of his performance. Sound quality was poor, and I was preoccupied with selling a dodgy batch of Afghan hash while looking after our two small children, so most of the festival music remains vague in my memory. 


Wikipedia:

Don Van Vliet (15 Jan 1941 – 17 Dec 2010), best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart, was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist. Sometimes collaborating with his teenage friend Frank Zappa, Van Vliet's musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called the Magic Band, with whom he recorded 13 studio albums between 1964 and 1982. His music blended elements of blues, free jazz, rock, and avant-garde composition with idiosyncratic rhythms, surrealist wordplay, and his wide vocal range, commonly reported as five octaves. Known for his enigmatic persona, Beefheart frequently constructed myths about his life and was known to exercise an almost dictatorial control over his supporting musicians.
Van Vliet developed an eclectic musical taste during his teen years in Lancaster, California, and formed "a mutually useful but volatile" friendship with Zappa. He began performing with his Captain Beefheart persona in 1964 and joined the original Magic Band line-up, initiated by Alexis Snouffer, the same year. The group released their debut album Safe as Milk in 1967 on Buddah Records. After being dropped by two consecutive record labels they signed to Zappa's Straight Records, where they released Trout Mask Replica (1969); an album variously described as "unlistenable", "a joke", and a "masterpiece", that would later rank 58th in Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 1974, frustrated by lack of commercial success, he pursued a more conventional rock sound, but the ensuing albums were critically panned; this move, combined with not having been paid for a European tour, and years of enduring Beefheart's abusive behaviour, led the entire band to quit. Beefheart eventually formed a new Magic Band with a group of younger musicians and regained critical approval through three final albums: Shiny Beast (1978), Doc at the Radar Station (1980) and Ice Cream for Crow (1982).
Widely regarded as unusual and interesting, critics have had difficulty in pinning down Beefheart's musical style; he has been described as "one of modern music's true innovators", though most see his music as a quirky and idiosyncratic variation of blues music which, while not achieving mainstream commercial success, attracted a cult following and was an influence on new wave, punk, and experimental rock artists. Van Vliet made few public appearances after he retired from music in 1982 to devote himself to his childhood interest in art. His neo-expressionist paintings have been exhibited in several countries, and have sold for up to $25,000. Van Vliet died in 2010, having suffered from multiple sclerosis for many years.
AllMusic:


Born Don Van Vliet, Captain Beefheart was one of modern music's true innovators. The owner of a remarkable four-and-one-half octave vocal range, he employed idiosyncratic rhythms, absurdist lyrics and an unholy alliance of free jazz, Delta blues, latter-day classical music and rock & roll to create a singular body of work virtually unrivalled in its daring and fluid creativity. While he never came even remotely close to mainstream success, Beefheart's impact was incalculable, and his fingerprints were all over punk, New Wave and post-rock.
In their original incarnation, Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band were a blues-rock outfit which became staples of the teen-dance circuit; they quickly signed to A&M Records, where the success of the single "Diddy Wah Diddy" earned them the opportunity to record a full-length album. Label president Jerry Moss rejected the completed record as "too negative," however, and a crushed Beefheart went into seclusion. After producer Bob 

Krasnow radically remixed the hallucinatory Strictly Personal (1968) without Beefheart's approval, he again retired. At the same time, however, longtime friend Frank Zappa formed his own Straight Records, and he approached Van Vliet with the promise of complete creative control; a deal was struck, and after writing 28 songs in a nine-hour frenzy, Beefheart recorded the seminal double album Trout Mask Replica  (1969). After Ice Cream for Crow (1982), Van Vliet again retired from music, this time for good; he returned to the desert, took up residence in a trailer and focused on painting. In 1985, he mounted the first major exhibit of his work, done in an abstract, primitive style reminiscent of Francis Bacon. Like his music, his art won wide acclaim, and some of his paintings sold for as much as $25,000. In the 1990s, he dropped completely from sight when he fell prey to multiple sclerosis. Van Vliet died of complications from multiple sclerosis on December 17, 2010 in California; he was 69 years old.


Albums

Safe as Milk (1967)
Yes.

Beefheart's debut is full of surprises and pop references.

Reissued briefly in 1970 as Dropout Boogie to cash in on the growing interest in Beefheart.

AllMusic: 10 
Score: 8 



Strictly Personal (1968)

Oh yes!

AllMusic: 8
Score: 10



Trout Mask Replica (1969)

I have historically had problems with this album. It feels rushed and knocked off, and too much under the influence of Zappa. Within the discordant non sequiturs and odd jazz breaks, there is the hallucinatory New Orleans take on the blues that Beefheart was so good at. But the songs are weak. It is a matter of legend that Beefheart wrote all 28 songs in eight hours, but this is typical Beefheart myth-making;  the songs were mostly written in an eight month period when the band were confined to a small rented house in the suburb of Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, but not road tested, so there is an insular and self-indulgent feel to them. That is part of the attraction for some people, but for me the album could do with pruning, the songs could have done with being exposed to live audiences, and the whole thing would have faired better under a producer with a firmer grip on Beefheart. Zappa enjoyed allowing unedited oddities to spill out in front of him, such as with Wild Man Fischer.


AllMusic: 10



Lick My Decals Off, Baby (1970)

No

AllMusic: 9



Mirror Man (1971)

No

AllMusic: 7




The Spotlight Kid (1972)

No

AllMusic: 8



Clear Spot (1972)

Yes, but patchy.

AllMusic:  8



Unconditionally Guaranteed (1974)

Rather ordinary soft rock.

AllMusic: 4




Blue Jeans & Moonbeams (1974)

Less than ordinary soft rock. There's some soft soul thrown in the mix as well. Not quite dreadful, but surprisingly banal.

AllMusic: 4




Bongo Fury (1975)

Live album with Frank Zappa. Songs and music by Zappa - Beefheart just adds his voice. Well, "just" is a misnomer, as he has an extraordinary voice. But this is a Zappa album that Beef sings on, rather than a true collaboration.

AllMusic: 7



Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) (1978)

There's a return to the approach and sound of classic Beefheart, but there's something missing.

AllMusic: 9




Doc At The Radar Station (1980)

There's nothing new here, and the sound is moving away from a new and refreshing approach to the blues toward something akin to a wacky pop version of alt-rock. Beef's voice is not what it was, and the whole thing sounds a little tired and uninspired. Beef and his new band trying hard to recapture some of the magic of the early albums, and sometimes approaching that in sound, but missing out on the spirit.

AllMusic: 9



Ice Cream For Crow (1982)

This works.

AllMusic: 9




(2012) 
Bloody good stuff.


Pitchfork: 8.2


Additional albums

Live at Knebworth Park  Saturday 5th July, 1975
(2016) 

I was at this concert, but don't remember much of Beefheart's performance. The recording was a bootleg for many years, but was given an official release in 2016.




The Legendary A&M Sessions, 1966
(1984)
 
Beefheart's early recordings, two electric blues/ R&B (with hints of psychedelia)  singles for A&M. Competent enough, and Beefheart's voice is attractive enough to make them distinctive, even if not entirely worth attention other than as examples of Beefheart's roots.

AllMusic: 6
Score: 4



Live At The Avalon Ballroom 1966
(2014)
Fairly bog standard R&B, somewhat lacking in energy and ideas, though sometimes a groove is generated. Listenable, but of curiosity interest only.

AllMusic: 6
Score: 4



Magnetism: Best of Captain Beefheart Live 72-81 (2009)



Discography


Safe as Milk (1967)
Strictly Personal (1968)
Trout Mask Replica (1969)
Lick My Decals Off, Baby (1970)
Mirror Man (1971)
The Spotlight Kid (1972)
Clear Spot (1972)
Unconditionally Guaranteed (1974)
Bluejeans & Moonbeams (1974)
Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) (1978)
Doc at the Radar Station (1980)
Ice Cream for Crow (1982)
Bat Chain Puller (2012)


Best of lists 



* UCR 
* BEA 
* RYM 10 Best




Reviews

* Adrian Denning
* The Guardian
* A Beginner's Guide

Links

Setlists




554 March 2019


Monday 3 December 2018

Pulp album by album



(Work in progress.)


I was working as a teacher on the Isle of Sheppey when Pulp  released "Common People" in Spring 1995, and grabbed everyone's interest, and then audaciously yet naturally stepped in to replace The Stone Roses as headliners at that summer's Glastonbury.  That was the year that Channel Four broadcast the whole festival live, and Pulp's performance, which has gone down in history as the best Glastonbury performance, was broadcast live into millions of homes. 1995 was a great year, and Pulp were a significant reason for that.


Wikipedia
Pulp were an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 1978. Their best-known line-up from their heyday (1994–1996) consisted of Jarvis Cocker (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Candida Doyle (keyboards), Russell Senior (guitar, violin), Mark Webber (guitar, keyboards), Steve Mackey (bass) and Nick Banks (drums, percussion). Senior quit in 1996 and returned for tours in 2011, while Leo Abrahams had been a touring member of the band since they reunited in 2011, contributing electric and acoustic guitar.
Throughout the 1980s, the band struggled to find success, but gained prominence in the UK in the mid-1990s with the release of the albums His 'n' Hers in 1994 and particularly Different Class in 1995, which reached the number one spot in the UK Albums Chart. The album spawned four top ten singles, including "Common People" and "Sorted for E's & Wizz", both of which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart. Pulp's musical style during this period consisted of discoinfluenced pop-rock coupled with references to British culture in their lyrics in the form of a "kitchen sink drama"-style. Cocker and the band became reluctant figures in the Britpop movement,[4] and were nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 1994 for His 'n' Hers; they won the prize in 1996 for Different Class and were nominated again in 1998 for This Is Hardcore. Pulp headlined the Pyramid Stage of the Glastonbury Festival twice and were regarded among the Britpop "big four", along with Oasis, Blur and Suede.[5][6]The band released We Love Life, in 2001, after which they entered an extended hiatus, having sold more than 10 million records.[7] Pulp reunited and played live again in 2011, with dates at the Isle of Wight Festival, Reading and Leeds Festivals, Pohoda, Sziget Festival, Primavera Sound, the Exit festival, and the Wireless Festival. A number of additional concert dates have since been added to their schedule. In January 2013 Pulp released "After You", a re-recording of a We Love Life demo track, as a digital download single. It was the band's first single release since "Bad Cover Version" in 2002. On 9 March 2014 Pulp and filmmaker Florian Habicht premiered the feature documentary Pulp: A Film about Life, Death & Supermarkets at SXSW Music and Film Festival in Austin, Texas. The film toured the international film festival circuit and was released theatrically by Oscilloscope Laboratories in the US in November 2014.[8][9] It is the first film about Pulp (and Sheffield) that has been made in collaboration with the band.

AllMusic
Most bands hit the big time immediately and fade away, or they build a dedicated following and slowly climb their way to the top. Pulp didn't follow either route. For the first 12 years of their existence, Pulpl anguished in near total obscurity, releasing a handful of albums and singles in the '80s to barely any attention. At the turn of the decade, the group began to gain an audience, sparking a remarkable turn of events that made the band one of the most popular British groups of the '90s. By the time Pulp became famous, the band had gone through numerous different incarnations and changes in style, covering nearly every indie rock touchstone from post-punk to dance. Pulp's signature sound is a fusion of David Bowie and Roxy Music's glam rock, disco, new wave, acid house, Europop, and British indie rock. The group's cheap synthesizers and sweeping melodies reflect the lyrical obsessions of lead vocalist Jarvis Cocker, who alternates between sex and sharp, funny portraits of working class misfits. Out of second-hand pop, Pulp fashioned a distinctive, stylish sound that made camp into something grand and glamorous that retained a palpable sense of gritty reality.

The albums 


It  (1983)

Charming, acoustic-led debut album. Cocker's voice is strong and distinctive. It sounds like a demo, with an empty hollow feel as though recorded in the village hall on a cheap cassette, which adds to the charm.

AllMusic: 4
Score: 4

Freaks (1987)

Pulp's second album five years after the first is a totally different band - the only points in common are Cocker and the name Pulp.  Different musicians and record company.  Hmmm. This is more interesting than attractive. It mostly doesn't work.

AllMusic: 4
Score: 3


Separations (1992)

This is getting close to the Pulp we know and like, but it's not quite there yet. This sounds like some off-cuts from an Eighties Leonard Cohen album. The lyrics are either "interesting" but don't quite hit the mark, or juvenile attempts at trying something new with cliched subject matter. The music is more of an accompaniment to the lyrics than something in its own right. There's an Eighties backing soundtrack feel to the music, and some superficial synth-dance-house sounds which at times, such as on "Death II" and "This House Is Condemned" can be quite ugly.  There are hints here of what Pulp will become, but the album itself fails.  Not completely. It is quirky and interesting, and you can see a lyricist who is trying something different, and occasionally has a novel approach, and an interesting oblique view on relationships, and this is the band who will make Different Class, so there's stuff here to pique an interest. But if Pulp stopped here we wouldn't be listening to this album. This is too much in the shadow of Leonard Cohen - Cocker has yet to find his own voice.

AllMusic: 6
Score: 4


Intro (1993)

Ah! Now this is Pulp!  Not a "proper" album as officially its a compilation of previously released singles (none of which were on an album, though a different version of "Babies" will appear on His 'N' Hers), but it is an album and it is Pulp. The singles were released in 1992 and 1993 by the Gift record label. Start here.

The music is stronger - more pop and rock and less Eighties synth. The lyrics are stronger - less Leonard Cohen, less 6th form twists on relationships, and more original, more genuinely observant, and more linked in with the music. Now the music and lyrics are working together as they will so stunningly on Different Class. And here is the first really great Pulp song - "Babies". Not everything works, there are some awkward pieces like "Sheffield: Sex City" which is a not fully realised idea spread over eight minutes like a long slow failure of an erection. Good bits, and promising, worth checking out, but not a complete album.

Lyrics
AllMusic: 9
Score: 4 1/2


His 'N' Hers (1994)

This is proper Pulp in their first major label album release, and it all works.

AllMusic


Masters Of The Universe  (1994)

Another singles compilation, but this is from Eighties Pulp when they were on the Fire record label, and so is similar to the material on the first two albums rather than Pulp as they actually were in 1994.  Most of the tracks would later be incorporated on CD releases of Freaks.  One to avoid.

AllMusic


Different Class (1995)

This is it. An exceptional album.

AllMusic
Score: 10


Countdown 1992-1983 (1996)

Another Fire label compilation album - material from the first three albums released at the height of Pulp's success. This is quite a common commercial activity, and if the material is embarrassing (as here)  then the artist will speak out against it, as Cocker did. However, it does serve as a useful overview of the early material.

AllMusic


This Is Hardcore (1998)

The much anticipated and difficult follow up to Different Class is, of course, disappointing. Critics liked it for the darker theme and general professionalism; however, let's not kid ourselves, this is not on the same level as Different Class - it's not even as good as His 'N' Hers, nor even as good as Intro. You can see that Cocker has  tried, but the bravado and creativity has gone, and in its place is a nervous attempt at making a serious album. And its the attempt that you hear rather than the achievement. The cover sums it up - it's a failed attempt at sexual irony. For all the talent involved in making and touching up the image, it remains porn, and is ultimately as superficial and missing the point as the songs.  If a genuine piece of porn had been used as the cover, that would have been effective. It's that lack of confidence, lack of understanding, and lack of authenticity that marks the album as a whole. Pulp is over.
And it is significant that Russell Senior, who - along with Candida Doyle -  had been part of Pulp since the Freaks album in 1987, was not part of the album, having left earlier saying Pulp was no longer creatively rewarding.

AllMusic
Score: 3

We Love Life (2001)

A slightly refocused Pulp which returns to more familiar Pulp territory and sound, but ultimately fails to capture the essence of what made them special back in 1995. This is the final Pulp album - anything else is compilations of older material or live performances.

AllMusic
Score: 4


Peel Sessions (2006)

A splendid overview of the band from 1981 (two years before the debut album) to 2001, when they release they final album and break up.  A good number of the songs had not been previously available on any recording. There is a huge leap from the first four tracks recorded in 1981 to the next session in 1993 - Cocker himself quipping that they hold the world record for the longest gap between sessions.  While this is a remarkable record of Pulp's progress, it's also a remarkable testimony to John Peel's importance in British music history.

Score: 6

Discography




It (1983)
Freaks (1987)
Separations (1992)
His 'n' Hers (1994)
Different Class (1995)
This Is Hardcore (1998)
We Love Life (2001)

Links

* PulpWiki  (fan site)
* Acrylic Afternoons (fan site, last updated 2014)
* FaceBook (last updated 2016)
* JarvisCocker.Net (last updated 2011)
* Mother, Brother, Lover

* NME album reviews and ranking
* Guardian poll on Pulp's greatest album
* Adrian's album reviews
* Ranker

Best albums 

The conclusion is:
1. Different Class
2. His 'N' Hers
3. This Is Hardcore






832 March 2019

Thursday 29 November 2018

Nu metal - a quick look




(Head banging and vomiting in progress...watch out for flying axes and the odd bit of grind..)


A quick look at nu metal as several bands on 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die are nu metal.

Definitions


Wikipedia:

Nu metal (also known as nü-metal and aggro-metal) is a subgenre of alternative metal that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial and grunge. Nu metal bands have drawn elements and influences from a variety of musical styles, including multiple genres of heavy metal. Nu metal rarely features guitar solos; the genre is heavily syncopated and based on guitar riffs. Many nu metal guitarists use seven-string guitars that are down-tuned to play a heavier sound. DJs are occasionally featured in nu metal to provide instrumentation such as sampling, turntable scratching and electronic backgrounds. Vocal styles in nu metal include singing, rapping, screaming and growling. Nu metal is one of the key genres of the new wave of American heavy metal.
Nu metal became popular in the late 1990s with bands and artists such as Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Kid Rock all releasing albums that sold millions of copies. Nu metal's popularity continued during the early 2000s, with bands such as Papa Roach, Staind, and P.O.D. all selling multi-platinum albums, and came to a peak with Linkin Park's diamond-selling album Hybrid Theory. However, by the mid-2000s, the oversaturation of bands combined with the under-performance of a number of high-profile releases led to nu metal's decline, leading to the rise of metalcore and many nu metal bands disbanding or abandoning their established sound in favor of other genres.
During the 2010s, there has been a minor nu metal revival; many bands that combine nu metal with other genres (for example, metalcore) emerged and some nu metal bands from the 1990s and early 2000s returned to the nu metal sound. Many heavy metal fans have criticized nu metal, and do not regard it as "true heavy metal". Many nu metal musicians have rejected the nu metal label, and some have also rejected being labeled as heavy metal...

Revolver:

With the exception of Eighties glam, no hard-rock subgenre has been more critically reviled — or found more chart success — than the nu-metal that dominated the airwaves during our most recent millennial shift. Fusing Nirvana's trademark dynamics with influences from rap and electronic rock, nu-metal was brash, funky and free of the hand-wringing guilt that kept flannel's most visible flag-flyers from embracing their stardom. Though it was eventually toppled by skinny jeans, screamo and a resurgence of more traditional-style metal, much of music that came out of the movement — and these 20 records, in particular — stands the test of time. It makes sense, then, that the sound is having something of a resurgence of its own today, at the hands of rising groups like Vein and Cane Hill for whom it served as the gateway to sonic excess.

....

Let's face it: "Nu-metal" will never be "cool," if only because of its associated rave-ready fashion choices, but a lot of bands thrown under its umbrella are pretty damn great, groups that catalyzed a generation and served as a gateway to even heavier and/or more nuanced sounds. With a new breed of musicians currently mining the nu-metal aesthetic in exciting ways, we recently put together our somewhat-controversial list of 20 Essential Nu-Metal Albums, and then we asked you to pick what you consider to be the scene's single greatest recorded offering

Kerrang:
People love to scoff at nu-metal, but that’s a little unfair. The in-your-face sub-genre’s importance in revitalising interest in heavy music in the dreary post-grunge mid-nineties cannot be overstated. Let’s be real, purists: most of you (all of you) wouldn’t be into heavy music today were it not for the on-ramp provided by Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit and their myriad of goatee-d cohorts back in the day. Nu-metal was heavy music’s gateway drug, and while today you might only listen to first pressings of Sunn O))) records and Darkthrone demos, we know - and you know - that at one point in your life you were sure that Mudvayne invented music and Osiris D3s were the only shoes available.


VMP:


Few movements in music were as successful as they were polarizing. A rather nebulously defined catch-all term, nu metal managed to amass an enormous audience while simultaneously infuriating a huge cross section of metalheads. Directly preceded by and evidently drawing influence from mid-1990s alternative and groove metal, it came into existence by fusing together heavy guitar music with hip-hop, electronica and grunge, to name a few. Notably, these bands and records that emerged around the millennium broadly appealed in ways more streamlined and templated metal forms did not. Though there’s considerable sonic and stylistic differences between Coal Chamber, Godsmack and Linkin Park, much like the Supreme Court’s definition of pornography, you know nu metal when you hear it.


LouderSpeed: 
Love it or hate it, without the revitalising effects of nu metal in the post-grunge late 90s, the metal would sound very different today. Splicing the musical approach of rap-metal superstars such as Faith No More and Rage Against The Machine, the self-laceration of grunge and the dark innovation of alt-rock heroes such as Tool, it was a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale time.
Who sowed the seeds of nu metal will forever be debated, but Korn can stake a claim to ushering it into the mainstream metal scene with their self-titled debut album. Within two years, it had taken hold, and in Korn’s wake, bands such as Deftones and Coal Chamber rode the nu metal wave. Suddenly, grunge’s plaid shirts-and-distressed denim uniform had been replaced by oversized trousers and wallet chains. Tours such as Family Values and Ozzfest helped legitimise it for mainstream metal fans, while Florida upstarts Limp Bizkit helped make the scene omnipresent in the late 90s.
Nu metal’s success continued into the early 00s thanks to the likes of Linkin Park and Papa Roach, though its glory days were numbered. Within a few years, the masses had turned their attention to My Chemical Romance and their ilk and nu metal was yesterday’s scene. But no matter – its job had been done.


Damnation: 
Nu metal is a sub-genre that often gets scoffed at and even fully disregarded when looking at metal as a whole. It is a genre that began to develop in the early to mid-1990’s and gained tremendous popularity at the tail end of the decade. Now, it is somewhat difficult to nail down exactly what characteristics make a band nu metal. Partly due to the fact that the genre is characterized as a one where the melding of influences was expected, with bands merging sounds from metal, hip-hop, funk, grunge, industrial and goth. So, in order to quell the potential arguments that this or that band doesn’t belong, we are going to simplify this, any band whose shirt looked good with your JNCO’s in 1999 is officially nu metal


LAWeekly: 


The term "nu-metal" began as an insult, but it's since become an umbrella term to describe the collective wave of late-’90s and early-2000s bands that created a sound blending the worlds of alternative rock, heavy metal and hip-hop. This music was usually bass-heavy and dark, with demonic or demented vocals and distorted, down-tuned riffs. But let’s not kid ourselves and pretend that "nu-metal" is any type of perfect classification system. Some bands had darker images; some relied more on a fusion of hip-hop and heavy rock, some on traditional thrash metal. But most created art that comes from a place of personal anguish and, ultimately, the search for some kind of redemption.

Best album / band  lists






1.   Korn -  Korn  1994

2.   Slipknot - Slipknot  1999

3.   System Of A Down - System Of A Down   1998

4.   Deftones - Around The Fur  1997

5.   Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory  2000


7.   Machine Head - The Burning Red   1999

8.   Soulfly - Soulfly 1998
9.   Coal Chamber - Coal Chamber  1997
10. Static-X -  Machine  2001








1.  Deftones -  Adrenaline  1995

2.  Soulfly - Primitive    2000

3.  Skindred - The Union Black  2011

4.  Korn  - The Untouchables   2002

5.  Sevendust - Black Out The Sun  2013

etc


Damnation: Top 29 Nu Metal Albums




1.   Static-X - Winsconsin Death Trip  1999
2.   Korn -  Korn  1994
3.   Slipknot - Slipknot  1999
4.   System Of A Down - System Of A Down   1998
5.   Deftones -  Adrenaline  1995
6.   Limp Bizkit - Three Dollar Bill Y'all $  1997
7.   Coal Chamber - Coal Chamber  1997
8.   Hed PE -  Broke  2000
9.   Soulfly - Soulfly 1998
10. Machine Head - The Burning Red   1999

etc


LouderSpeed: Top 10 Essential Nu Metal Albums



Korn -  Korn  1994
Deftones - Around The Fur  1997
Limp Bizkit - Three Dollar Bill Y'all $  1997
Coal Chamber - Coal Chamber  1997
Incubus - S.C.I.E.N.C.E.  1997
Hed PE - (Hed)Pe  1997
Spineshank - Strictly Diesel  1998
Soulfly - Soulfly 1998
System Of A Down - System Of A Down   1998
Slipknot - Slipknot  1999


VMP: 10 Best Nu Metal Albums



Sepultura - Roots  1996
Korn  - Follow The Leader   1998
Staind - Dysfunction  1999
Static-X - Winsconsin Death Trip  1999
Crazy Town - The Gift of Game  1999
Kittie - Spit  2000
Mudvayne - L.D. 50   2000
Slipknot - Iowa  2001
Disturbed - Believe  2002
Evanescence - Fallen   2003


Kerrang  21 Greatest nu metal albums




1.   Korn -  Korn  1994
2.   Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory  2000
3.   Papa Roach - Infest 2000
4.   System Of A Down - Toxicity   2001
5.   Slipknot - Slipknot  1999
6.   Deftones - Around The Fur  1997
7.   LimpBizkit – Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavoured Water 2000
8.   Static-X - Winsconsin Death Trip  1999
9.   Mushroomhead - XIII (2003)
10. Soulfly - Soulfly 1998
12. Mudvayne - L.D. 50   2000
17. Sevendust - Sevendust  1997



Revolver: Fan poll - 5 Greatest nu-metal albums




1. Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory  2000
2. Slipknot - Slipknot  1999
3. Korn  - Follow The Leader   1998
4. Mudvayne - L.D. 50   2000
5. Deftones - Around The Fur  1997


Revolver: 20 Essential nu metal albums




 1.  Korn -  Korn  1994
 2.  Sepultura - Roots  1996
 3.  Deftones - Around The Fur  1997
 4.  Incubus - S.C.I.E.N.C.E.  1997
 5.  Sevendust - Sevendust  1997
 6.  Limp Bizkit - Three Dollar Bill Y'all $  1997
 7   Orgy - Candyass 1998
 8.  Fear Factory - Obsolete  1998
 9.  Soulfly - Soulfly 1998
10. Spineshank - Strictly Diesel  1998
11. Slipknot - Slipknot  1999
12. Static-X - Winsconsin Death Trip  1999
etc

Ranker: Best Nu Metal Bands


Korn

1.  Korn
2.  Slipknot
3.  System Of A Down
4.  Deftones
5.  Disturbed
etc


AllMusic: Nu Metal Highlights

Bands

Korn
Limp Bizkit
Coal Chamber
System Of A Down
Staind
Disturbed

Albums

Korn -  Korn  1994
Slipknot - Slipknot  1999
Coal Chamber - Coal Chamber  1997
Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory  2000
Limp Bizkit - Three Dollar Bill Y'all $  1997
Papa Roach - Infest  2000


Articles


* Decibel: The Rise And Fall of Nu-Metal (Aug 2015)
"The intro is long. Nearly 50 seconds without tipping its hand. A new band should be terrified to open a record like this, worried that potential listeners will get bored with a lone ride cymbal and high, jangly guitar chord. And it’s certainly not something a discerning producer is going to throw on the radio. But then comes that growl—Are you reeeeeaaaady?!—and you hear a musical revolution being born…Which then died, less than a decade later.
Emerging with Korn’s “Blind” in 1994, and ending around the summer of 2003, when Limp Bizkit was forced from a stage in Chicago by an audience hurling garbage and chanting, “Fuck Fred Durst,” nü-metal remains one of the most maligned and despised genres since the dawn of rock ‘n’ roll. Despite certain bands having weathered the backlash—Korn still headlines music festivals; Linkin Park’s The Hunting Party debuted at #3 on Billboard last year—the legacy of nü-metal is now considered a gimmicky fashion show, rife with faux aggression, simplistic songwriting and arrhythmic rapping.
Hatred for it grew far and wide enough to spawn a successful pop song mocking it, Ben Folds’ “Rockin’ the Suburbs,” but unsurprisingly, the most vitriolic rhetoric came from the metal community: musicians, label heads and fans who saw their beloved genre both overshadowed and perverted. Nü-metal not only usurped its predecessor in popularity, but it also began to corrupt some of their own; the DJ scratches were coming from inside the house.
This article began as a quest to look at nü-metal from the perspective of those who at least had one foot in the regular metal community; those who could tell us, now 20 years later, what the true impact had been. But I found out very quickly that opinions on nü-metal’s significance are far from universal and, aside from a few key players and elements, no one is quite sure why it started, how it gained traction so quickly, and what put the stake through its heart....."

* MetalDescent: Nu Metal (2013)
"The term “nu metal” was used to describe the metal movement that was happening in the time between 1995-2002. Originally called the “new heavy metal,” it was shortened to nu metal by the media. Korn and Deftones were the definitive leaders of the nu metal movement, paving the way for Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, Snot, Sevendust, Saliva, Staind, Adema, Coal Chamber, Cold, Slipknot, Soulfly, Methods of Mayhem, Linkin Park, and P.O.D. Other bands that are often lumped in as “nu metal” but are not stylistically congruent are System of a Down, Static-X, Disturbed, and Godsmack...."
* Firstpost: The rise, dominance and fall of nu-metal (2016)

* The Guardian: Goodbye Oasis...Hello Slipknot and Limp Bizkit  (2000) 


"Fasten your seatbelts, dudes. This is your moment.
The beginner's guide to Nu MetalThe bands: Limp Bizkit. Slipknot. Korn. Rage Against the Machine. Deftones. Amen. Static-X. System of a Down. At the Drive-In. Snot. Orgy.
The music: Loud and heavy guitars, big crashing drums - a bit like old metal (Metallica, Anthrax etc), but with hip-hop and dance rhythms, and often with rapped vocals. No guitar solos.
The fashion: Multiple piercing, sometimes with chains. Tattoos and bodypaint. Baggy shorts. Trainers. No leather, spandex or long hair.
The influences: Nu metal fans are generally unaware that music existed before 1991. Their Beatles are Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Eminem.
The lyrics: Angst-ridden and filled with doom and bitterness. Lots of swearing and generalised swipes at the 'system'. Very little sex, no satanism.
"


***

Observation


It appears from those lists and articles that nu metal is not respected, but was highly popular - probably the most popular heavy metal genre. It was mainly a genre liked by young American males, and it had its own fashion style of baggy jeans. The music and lyrics are particularly aggressive and simplistic. While commentators seem to struggle with cleanly identifying which bands/albums are exactly in the genre or in one of the closely related genres, there is a familiar sound to the albums listed above that fans could recognise and latch onto - and there is not much here that would challenge them. If someone liked fast loud aggressive metal hip-hop then all these albums appear to deliver that in one way or another with not much in the way of variety.  Nu metal appears to be on a continuum of loud, fast rock that began in the late Sixties, and developed alongside heavy metal and hard rock into gunge and other forms of alternative rock, incorporating some of the loud and aggressive aspects of hip hop (particularly the direct, simplistic speech of rap) along the way.  

The most notable (not the same as the best) nu metal albums are likely to be:

Korn -  Korn  1994 (AllMusic).   Often cited as the album that started the trend.
Slipknot - Slipknot  1999  (AllMusic).  Hugely popular. Slipknot's debut came out just as nu metal was breaking big.
System Of A Down - System Of A Down  1998  (AllMusic).  The band's second album,  Toxicity   2001 (AllMusic), came out at the height of nu metal's popularity (just before it collapsed), and was hugely popular, though most nu metal fans and critics see their 1998 debut as the important one. 
Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory  2000  (AllMusic). The biggest selling nu metal album, indeed, one of the biggest selling albums of all time. 


Personal opinion

Deftones are considered an essential nu metal band, and their album  Around The Fur  (1997) appears on a number of best nu metal album lists. Their sound is close to Rage Against The Machine, but - for me - lacks the energy. They come at nu metal very much from the metal/grunge end of the scale with lots of simplistic riffing, repetition, and general sludge. 

Disturbed are too conventional and limited for me. They come at nu metal from a solid and stolid metal angle, and pretty much remain there. 

Evanescence's debut album Fallen (2003) was from the start lumped in with nu metal, and I can see why, but it is more conventionally gothic-rock with some dirty guitar that could be grunge rather than metal. The attraction of the band is in Amy Lee's strong clear voice that hints at Celtic keening, but after making the sound, Lee stops and creates a new note. While she does conventionally hold and bend notes a lot of the time, her USP is when she doesn't.


Kid Rock is generally not included on lists of best nu metal, though Robert James ("Kid Rock") Ritchie's music has elements of nu, though leans a lot in the direction of country like Beck. Devil Without a Cause (1999) is an interesting and listenable album. 

Limp Bizkit are also limited, juvenile, and not interesting. They remind me of Kevin and Perry. They are apparently more rapcore or rapmetal than nu metal. 

Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory is one of the world's best selling albums. Simplistic, direct, lyrics of angst and resentment, but musically amongst the most balanced, varied, mature, and approachable of the nu metal bands. Rather like a blend of Faith No More and Nirvana, but without the quality or originality of either of those bands. So, good as regards nu metal, but not so interesting when placed against music in general. 

Papa Roach are more rock than nu metal, and are positively melodic and pop compared to the rest of the pack. Infest is an understandably big selling album, and - along with Hybrid Theory - represents nu metal in the 2000s. 


Rage Against the Machine are seen as one of the more significant influences on the creation of nu metal, and for me appear to be a part of the genre, sounding as much and sometime more nu metal than a number of other bands listed quite high on  best band/album lists.  Rage Against the Machine 

Slipknot are too limited and juvenile for me.

System Of A Down are quite varied and interesting on their debut, and more in touch with alt rock, rock, and pop than heavy metal, so the music is more melodic and changeable, so nothing can be expected. Hmmm. I can see why this band were so popular. Perhaps, though, not typical of Nu Metal? I am liking them, and am not embarrassed to be caught listening to them. Ah. Not so keen on Iowa - that seems a step backwards. It's less diverse than the debut, and more in line with heavy metal - simple rhythms played over and over again.

My top nu metal albums: Hybrid Theory (2000),  Infest (2000), System Of A Down (1998),  Fallen (2003),  Korn (1994), Devil Without a Cause (1999) 


It's clear where a lot of the bands are coming from - Faith No More,  Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, a bit of Nirvana. There's even a sense of throwback to the Beastie Boys. I don't see Nu Metal bands bettering or developing on from any of their influences, though Kid Rock has caught my ear with a slightly more expansive and inclusive approach that brings a greater degree of colour and depth to the genre - not enough to signify anything special (Beck does it better), but the move away from the metal of nu metal and toward a wider range of influences and done with humour, style, and a great sense of melody is something I like and see as promising. 

***

Music Styles & Genres



1310  March 2019