You know, Maybe Nu Metal wasn't all bad.

I was listening to some of the albums that I listened to in high school earlier today and I was thinking that these albums aren't nearly as bad as a lot of websites and publications make them out to be. Yes the Nu Metal genre was nailed into the ground with tons and tons of bands that seemed to come from no where. It seems that Nu Metal gets a bad rap because of the bands that were super popular at the genre's forefront. Bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit's seemed to spawn direct imitators. While bands like Linkin Park have managed to stay what some people consider to be fresh. I want to make it very clear that I don't condone the Nu Metal genre as a reputable style of music in this day in age. The hard rock and metal we have now is far better than anything these bands could have ever hoped for. I will argue that there are bands who put out material during this time in metal history that aren't throw away, like all of the clones. Here are a few...

American Head Charge

This wasn't my favorite Nu Metal band but they did put out one of my favorite albums to this day. "The Art of War" In my opinion is timeless. Little fact for you it was produced by Rick fucking Rubin. Who is that? you ask. Go look it up. I never did get the chance to see AHC unfortunately. I was one of the unfortunate souls to go to the show where their guitarist died on the tour bus and they canceled the concert . It was a very odd and somber moment. Eventually the other bands did come back but I will never forget how shocked I was about what had happened. I digress. AHC isn't really a rapping band. They are more Nu Metal from the sound of the music. It was very straight forward. Not much creativity. Just crushing riffs and talky and screaming vocals. This is the video for "All Wrapped Up" which was banded from MTV for being to graphic. They used real pig heads and pigs blood for these scene's. Its one of the most metal videos I've ever seen.


Primer 55

This band was my favorite Nu Metal band and for good reason. These guys made some awesome music. The first and the only truly Nu Metal album they released was called "Introduction to Mayhem" and I've gone through several copies. I even purchased a signed copy from the band. This album was about as Nu Metal as they come, Rapping vocals to metal/hardcore music and it was great. It was perfect for my rebellious teen years and my favorite song from the album was "The Big Fuck You". Only issue I have with it now is they lyrical content is terrible. Back in the day I didn't mind cursing in my music, in fact I thought it was cool. I've grown out of that now and that makes it harder to listen to the album. I'll always remember it fondly though. The second album by P55 was called "The New Release" and I still listen to it every week. I was shocked when I purchased it back in the day because of the lack of cursing. Its not as rappy as the previous album which is great and the songs are catch and memorable. Recently Primer 55 has reunited and there is talk of a new album. I would love a follow up to "The New Release", so I hope it works out for them! This video was there only professionally produced video. Its also edited for you pansy's who can't take a "Fuck" or two.


Reveille

Reveille will be the last band that I will be talking about for my Nu Metal look back. Reveille is arguably the heaviest of all the bands on my list.A different heavy from AHC. Reveille was more angsty.  The Emo Nu Metal if you will. They also had some of my favorite vocal work from the entire genre. The great thing about the band was the live show. These guys put on a killer show. I saw them in a shit whole and they freakin rocked the place. I remember there was at least 500 people at this show and they were going nuts.  Reveille's first album was called "Laced" I believe. I wasn't a big fan of the album. Their second was called "Bleed The Sky" and believe it or not it holds up even today. The song "Catarax" is freakin heavy. Also the song "Plastic" is total baby punching material. The band didn't last long after "Bleed the Sky" breaking up before Nu Metal was really done. Which is really disappointing because they had the potential to really make something great. I decided that I would go for quality over something to watch for Reveille. This is "Plastic"

Its been fun looking back on these bands. Yeah the style doesn't really hold up today. Plus I really do hate rapping. Its always just fun to look back at my younger years and see how far I've come in my musical maturity.

There is one thing I would like to dive into before I sign off. Slipknot is not Nu Metal. Slipknot is Metal period. A lot of people describe them as Nu and I just don't see it. I guess we are all entitled to our opinions right?

Thanks for reading.