sevenfoxes
SS.org Regular
Speaking of Freak on a Leash, i thought this cover was pretty adorable.
Why I Miss Nu Metal
- Thread starter sevenfoxes
- Start date
I have a question for Nu-Metal fans... Some of the best work of glam bands came out when no one was paying attention because they lost their major label support and only dedicated fans were around to appreciate it. Is that the same for your lot? Were the albums that missed the charts arguably better than the one that did?
sevenfoxes
SS.org Regular
That’s a great question. I personally exited the Nu Metal scene a lot earlier than most (so it seemed, anyway) and never really went back to check up on things, so my biased answer is that the best Nu Metal albums were usually the debut ones.
Curious to see what others say.
ShredmasterD
Calls it like it is.
i miss the simplicity of my life when nu metal and napster where a thing. i dont miss nu metal per se. fred durst and his stable did rule the radio for a few years. he got a lot of bands on the map. what happened to him? he was the king maker for a while.
gunshow86de
Beef Jerky Time
It has slowly become more acceptable to have nu-metal as an influence in hardcore/metalcore. Some zoomer bands that I really like specifically because of that nu-metal influence...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOB3IYBcJEE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOB3IYBcJEE
There are some nu metal bands I loved back in the day and still enjoy today. There's for sure some that I listen to now and think holy fuck that's dated and have a laugh lol
It did surprise me in the last couple years that nu metal was "coming back" because I thought it was ridiculed to the point it couldn't. I guess nu metal is strong enough to endure for nostalgia's sake and be openly accepted. The pattern repeats yet again... 20-30 years from now people will talk about how Polyphia was great, became dated and passe, and have a resurgence.
It did surprise me in the last couple years that nu metal was "coming back" because I thought it was ridiculed to the point it couldn't. I guess nu metal is strong enough to endure for nostalgia's sake and be openly accepted. The pattern repeats yet again... 20-30 years from now people will talk about how Polyphia was great, became dated and passe, and have a resurgence.
gunshow86de
Beef Jerky Time
It's hard to exactly articulate, but nu-metal makes perfect sense for it's time period. It really captures the aimless/pointless angst of growing up in the suburbs pre-911. Break Stuff being the epitome of being mad for literally no good reason. 
Break Stuff being the epitome of being mad for literally no good reason.
Nah, that is just Jacksonville. Pre-Post-During 9/11. There is nothing else to do.
My flaming hot take -
Korn was awesome when they were fresh, then went more mainstream and lost their magic, then got bad, then redeemed themselves (sort of), but are not and never will be as relevant as they were when they were fresh.
Limp Bizkit were always cringe, but were once fresh (but still cringe) and ended up being just cringe once their freshness wore off.
There were tons of other bands in the genre, some cool for their uniqueness, others were gimmicky, but most just sort of rode the wave and then either faded or jumped to a different genre. The ones that sounded the most like Korn or Limp Bizkit were mostly forgettable, though, because they just weren't as good as the original thing.
So it had it's moment. That moment passed right around when the early 2000's turned into the mid 2000's.
Korn was awesome when they were fresh, then went more mainstream and lost their magic, then got bad, then redeemed themselves (sort of), but are not and never will be as relevant as they were when they were fresh.
Limp Bizkit were always cringe, but were once fresh (but still cringe) and ended up being just cringe once their freshness wore off.
There were tons of other bands in the genre, some cool for their uniqueness, others were gimmicky, but most just sort of rode the wave and then either faded or jumped to a different genre. The ones that sounded the most like Korn or Limp Bizkit were mostly forgettable, though, because they just weren't as good as the original thing.
So it had it's moment. That moment passed right around when the early 2000's turned into the mid 2000's.
Strobe
SS.org Regular
I just miss guitar driven music being popular music. Hell, I would take hair metal if it brought it back.
ShredmasterD
Calls it like it is.
i still like mudvayne out of nu metal era most i think, and disturbed
wankerness
SS.org Regular
I'd say age is the vast majority of it. I still can remember almost the entire scene-by-scene plot of the stuff I watched as a kid, while any movie I see for the first time today I usually have a hard time remembering even the basic plot after a week. You're way, way, way better at remembering stuff you hear when you were young.
I still remember almost the entire tracklist of every album I listened to a lot in high school/middle school, along with most riffs and even entire guitar solos. It's not cause of simplicity, I listened to LTE2 a lot back then and Dream Theater stuff and none of that is simple. It's just cause that was back when my brain worked well. I can't commit stuff to memory if I heard it for the first time after about age 30 unless I really listen to it a LOT. But yeah, I also remember entire limp bizkit albums in addition to those prog metal ones cause I heard them back then. It's absolutely not a commentary on them being better or more memorable music. Hell, my first rock album was Smash Mouth - Fush Yu Mang and I still remember the whole damn thing and it SUCKS.
gunshow86de
Beef Jerky Time
^
I sang/rapped along to Significant Other in its entirety on a road trip recently. Not only did I know every lyric, but I perfectly nailed every one of those little whiny inflections in Fred's vocals.
I sang/rapped along to Significant Other in its entirety on a road trip recently. Not only did I know every lyric, but I perfectly nailed every one of those little whiny inflections in Fred's vocals.
MFB
Banned
The worst part of re-listening to KoRn for nostalgia purposes is Fieldy's god awful slap bass
AwakenTheSkies
SS.org Regular
Not only nu metal, I miss that whole era. The alt rock bands and the OG metalcore back then. Hip hop, hardcore, metal. Not the same anymore.
wankerness
SS.org Regular
I kind of liked it, at least it was distinctive. The only band I remember ripping that off was Coal Chamber on their first couple albums. I mean, objectively it's kind of terrible, but it was at least DIFFERENT when he'd have the occasional bass break (ex the intro of Got the Life). I remember trying to play some Korn songs on bass. It sounded more like him if I downtuned a regular-scale 4 string to A and didn't get heavier strings than if I downtuned a 5 string 1 step!
wheresthefbomb
SS.org Regular
I think numetal broadly had a lot more pop sensibility than most metal has or does, with glam being another noteworthy exception, and I think "simpler and more melodic" is a reasonably accurate characterization of "pop sensibility."
You may find Polyphia catchy. I get doom/drone progressions stuck in my head. Normal people do not.
You may find Polyphia catchy. I get doom/drone progressions stuck in my head. Normal people do not.
ShredmasterD
Calls it like it is.
yes to that. since the guitar sales explosion during covid, there should be a new crop of players developing right now. since record companies are no longer the gate keepers thanks to other platforms, we can hope.
A lot of bands evolved their sounds, so it might not be a fair comparison to earlier material in their heyday. Incubus is a good example. I saw them in the mid 90s and again about 10 years later and it was 2 completely different shows with totally different fan bases. Of bands that didn't change so much I can think of a few examples...
I don't know how well these charted, but they were released as popularity was waning and I consider them solid:
Orgy - Punk Statik Paranoia - I thought it was just as good as their first two albums even though barely anyone's heard of it.
Puddle of Mudd - Volume 4: Songs in the Key of Love and Hate - Has some catchy songs on it, fits in well with the rest of their earlier catalogue.
Static-X - Start a War - songwriting on this one is more evolved, but still maintains their core sound.
Fear Factory - Archetype - I didn't think it was possible after COW took over for Dino, but for many years this was my new favorite Fear Factory record and a few of my friends agreed at the time it came out.
Sevendust - Just about everything they put out to this day is solid and they still have their core members and distinctive sound.
sevenfoxes
SS.org Regular
One thing i love about hair metal is the guitarists. The dudes could actually play!
