NU METAL

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@JiveTurkey

Best bands of the genre. Seemingly a straightforward discussion but lets see.

As far as I'm concerned the Big Four of the genre are considered to be:

1. Korn
2. Limp Bizkit
3. Linkin Park
4. Slipknot

Points of discussion:

These aren't necessarily my 4, but I suppose they all warrant talking about.

Korn are far and away the leaders of the genre - they were VERY early in the game, genuinely fused outside influences and created a sound that hadn't been done before. Helmet are SORT of in the discussion, but for what they have in innovation and creating a new sound, they lack personality/charisma/iconic songs/classic albums. Korn made a brand new sound, had huge songs, huge albums, massive influence. I like Helmet a LOT, but Korn have something that they don't and ultimately piss all over them.

Limp Bizkit, I'm not really sure why they're in my big 4 (how many good albums do they have? maybe a handful of songs that hold muster?), but I suppose for a while they had enormous commercial success and appealed to the mainstream beyond what Korn and Slipknot might have. Quite a few iconic songs, and they tick all the boxes as far as fusing hip hop/groovy riffs/dissonance/rapping/screaming/stupid lyrics/the charisma/look etc. Personality wise, they kind of embody the sound perfectly.

Linkin Park - stadium fillers. I loved Hybrid Theory as a kid, and kind of lost interest with them after that. I still like the sound of that album but so much of their stuff just sounds embarrassing. I heard Numb on telly the other day, and while I can kind of laugh at Limp Bizkit in a funny way, LP's lyrics just make me cringe. Kind of like LB are in on the joke, and LP deserve to be laughed at by trying to be serious. Still, they had the right sound, the right look, big songs, filled stadiums, big commercial appeal. That collaboration with Jay Z was sort of predictable/not very good, but also a pretty huge thing in hindsight.

Slipknot. I don't really get why Deftones get away with skirting the fringes of being called Nu Metal (mostly because everyone doesn't want them tarred with that brush). To me Slipknot are no more nu metal than Deftones are. Still, they were fucking huge, still are. To me they're some kind of death metal offshoot that incorporated some other influences. I dont really hear any hip hop/groove influence in there, and even the commercial stuff isn't really leaning into nu metal for me. I dig them for what they are, but I think Deftones are a better band and neither are nu metal.

Other Bands/albums

- Mudvayne - LD50 really brought a lot to the table but them looking ridiculous made people probably overlook them more than they deserved. Probably lost their way a bit from there though, and music as nutty as theirs isn't going to have the widespread + commercial appeal of the bands mentioned above

- Papa Roach - their first album is arguably one of the best Nu Metal albums, but they seemed to just shift genre to whatever would bring them success so its hard to consider them a nu metal band in the way I would the others.

- Sevendust. Pretty great players, great sound - lacking in charisma and HUGE songs. Hard to say they're anywhere as innovative or creative as some of the other bands, they just did what they did very well.

- Disturbed. Always struggled with these. Probably in buttrock territory (see also Godsmack, Staind, Drowning Pool etc). There's something about these bands that feels more derivative of Alice In Chains than it does hip hop or anything groove based.

- System of a Down. I actually think they deserve to be in the top 4, I just don't think they are considered in that category? Didnt do that many albums, but they released a lot of great, innovative stuff of the time.

- Incubus. great players, probably deserve the nu metal tag in a good way. Innovative, great players, drawing on different influences.
 
All the above:

poo GIF
 
LB, Korn, Deftones and Incubus. There are others who are great. Certainly. But those are my picks and the artists whose greatness extends over a good bit of their discography vs. 1 hit/1album wonders \m/

I do like some of LP but they are a bit too light for my tastes in the wrong ways. Slipknot is good but they kind of drifted a bit too close to Stone Sour as far as Taylor's input was concerned so I kinda stick with bits and pieces.

LD50 is a banger. System's first two albums are KILLER. Sevendust you are right on the money. All the right ingredients but nowhere near enough of the right SONGS. Disturbed is definitely buttrock and I do make fun of them but there are some catchy bits in that mix nonetheless. I am a big fan of the nu metal influence in modern bands.

I always post this one because it is a great example of modern nu
 
Funny story. When we travel to do our out of town summer gigs; we'll end up holed up in the condo where they put us and have some adult beverages after the show each night. We'll all take turns playing music for each other. I invariably end up playing the more oddball stuff/stuff that isn't like Mr. Big or classic rock stuff.

I was going through songs last Saturday and I put on Break Stuff. Nothing 'obscure' obviously but I did crack the f up when my bassist and drummer immediately reversed their hats out of pure instinct and started headbanging :rofl
 
- Sevendust. Pretty great players, great sound - lacking in charisma and HUGE songs. Hard to say they're anywhere as innovative or creative as some of the other bands, they just did what they did very well.

I’m triggered!

If they never released Animosity, I’d agree with this, but that one album, their best IMO, was ripped off by so many bands that came after. These guys were doing 4-chords and the truth for choruses before all the other heavy bands started doing it, namely fucking Breaking Benjamin who is nothing but Sevendust-lite.

And no charisma? Man, Lajon is one of the most charismatic frontmen to come out of that whole era. Every band those guys took out on tour will tell you the same thing “We shit our pants when we had to follow Sevendust”, their live shows, even to this day, are so full of energy that you can’t not have a good time. Those dudes are legit songwriters before anything else.

I don’t know of too many 50-year old dudes putting on shows like this night after night!




This whole album is banger after banger, killer tones and playing and I LOVE the mix on it.

Mudvayne is one of my all time favorite bands just because the first two albums. Those are 100% prog-nu-metal albums and I was bummed when I heard Chad recently saying his favorite stuff is their 3.5 minute singles. That band was so on their own during that time and while I dig some of the shorter, catchy tunes,
 
I always post this one because it is a great example of modern nu

hadn't heard of these guys but song sounds great. While I'm all for this nu metal revival at the moment, most seem to stray into taking themselves to seriously and trying to be a kind of "smarter" version of deftones rather than embracing groove and the fun aspect of it. This band is defo getting it right for me.

I really would have System of a Down in my top 4. If I consider Deftones nu metal, they'd be in there too, I'm genuinely not sure if they are nu metal or not.
 
I’m triggered!

If they never released Animosity, I’d agree with this, but that one album, their best IMO, was ripped off by so many bands that came after. These guys were doing 4-chords and the truth for choruses before all the other heavy bands started doing it, namely fucking Breaking Benjamin who is nothing but Sevendust-lite.

And no charisma? Man, Lajon is one of the most charismatic frontmen to come out of that whole era. Every band those guys took out on tour will tell you the same thing “We shit our pants when we had to follow Sevendust”, their live shows, even to this day, are so full of energy that you can’t not have a good time. Those dudes are legit songwriters before anything else.

I don’t know of too many 50-year old dudes putting on shows like this night after night!




This whole album is banger after banger, killer tones and playing and I LOVE the mix on it.

Mudvayne is one of my all time favorite bands just because the first two albums. Those are 100% prog-nu-metal albums and I was bummed when I heard Chad recently saying his favorite stuff is their 3.5 minute singles. That band was so on their own during that time and while I dig some of the shorter, catchy tunes,

Black is for the me their absolute BEST song. Followed by Angel's Son \m/
 
hadn't heard of these guys but song sounds great. While I'm all for this nu metal revival at the moment, most seem to stray into taking themselves to seriously and trying to be a kind of "smarter" version of deftones rather than embracing groove and the fun aspect of it. This band is defo getting it right for me.

I really would have System of a Down in my top 4. If I consider Deftones nu metal, they'd be in there too, I'm genuinely not sure if they are nu metal or not.
I LOVE SOAD. They really struck me as this weird mix of Dead Kennedys mixed with micro bits of Slayer and Maiden as well as just a general alt-rock mindset that realllllllly worked for me.

Ocean Grove has a few killer tunes but they are a bit all over the place and definitely of that more modern singles mindset where there isn't as much cohesiveness from one track to the next.

Deftones are by far the sexiest heavy band in existence imo. They are nu and I know they are one of those bands that seem embarassed by it and they shouldn't be.
 
On the topic of the small 257; I was jamming some Taproot here a month or so ago on Sirius Turbo :satan
 
I’m triggered!

If they never released Animosity, I’d agree with this, but that one album, their best IMO, was ripped off by so many bands that came after. These guys were doing 4-chords and the truth for choruses before all the other heavy bands started doing it, namely fucking Breaking Benjamin who is nothing but Sevendust-lite.

And no charisma? Man, Lajon is one of the most charismatic frontmen to come out of that whole era. Every band those guys took out on tour will tell you the same thing “We shit our pants when we had to follow Sevendust”, their live shows, even to this day, are so full of energy that you can’t not have a good time. Those dudes are legit songwriters before anything else.

I don’t know of too many 50-year old dudes putting on shows like this night after night!




This whole album is banger after banger, killer tones and playing and I LOVE the mix on it.

Mudvayne is one of my all time favorite bands just because the first two albums. Those are 100% prog-nu-metal albums and I was bummed when I heard Chad recently saying his favorite stuff is their 3.5 minute singles. That band was so on their own during that time and while I dig some of the shorter, catchy tunes,

not completely disagreeing with what you say about Sevendust. I LOVE Animosity, especially the production and mix. Korn's first album came out 7 years before that, incorporates way more "new" sounds for the time, takes more creative gambles, their look was totally different to anything else. Sevendust to me are just a better version of what was around at that time, they could probably pull it off better than most bands but I dont think they were original enough to really get the general publics imagination in the way that other bands did. Their songs probably stay in their lane a little more than the more influential bands too.

They didn't have a HUGE song like Freak on a Leash or Rolling or One Step Closer or Last Resort etc.
 
Deftones are by far the sexiest heavy band in existence imo. They are nu and I know they are one of those bands that seem embarassed by it and they shouldn't be.
deftones sound like they like good music (and all the best bands are influenced by the smiths). I massively respect how they always tried to carve their own sound and wanted to distinguish themselves from what other bands around them were doing. Incubus were like that too.
 
not completely disagreeing with what you say about Sevendust. I LOVE Animosity, especially the production and mix. Korn's first album came out 7 years before that, incorporates way more "new" sounds for the time, takes more creative gambles, their look was totally different to anything else. Sevendust to me are just a better version of what was around at that time, they could probably pull it off better than most bands but I dont think they were original enough to really get the general publics imagination in the way that other bands did. Their songs probably stay in their lane a little more than the more influential bands too.

They didn't have a HUGE song like Freak on a Leash or Rolling or One Step Closer or Last Resort etc.

Oh for sure their biggest song isn’t even indicative of their normal thing, pretty sure it’s “Angel’s Son”.
 
deftones sound like they like good music (and all the best bands are influenced by the smiths). I massively respect how they always tried to carve their own sound and wanted to distinguish themselves from what other bands around them were doing. Incubus were like that too.
Incubus brings the :love as well.

I love the new wave/goth influence in the Deftones. I also love the early rap metal vibes of the debut as well as Stephen 'let's tune down to drop F on the newer albums' Carpenter riffs of their moremodern stuff. I watched that Lollapalooza gig from last week and their fill in guitarist doing background vox is killing it in that role \m/
 
Nine Inch Nails is another odd one, ABSOLUTELY NOT nu metal but their influence over the whole genre is absolutely huge.

You're all just joking and I fell for it, didn't I?
Cat Celebrate GIF
what is it you don’t like about it? do you think literally every single millisecond of it has no redeemable quality? For all its negatives, there are definitely some aspects of it that were good.
 
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