The Top 40 Nu-Metal Albums - 30 to 21

As we continue to delve deeper into our list of the Top 40 Nu-Metal albums, things begin to require a more objective view in order to shed the sense of nostalgia carried for certain albums from this era. These are the forty albums from the genre that have best stood the test of time. We have not leaned too  heavily on  any one band, in fact there is only one band that made a large enough contribution to perhaps the genre’s entire existence to merit more than one entry, These are not the album with singles that got the most plays from Carson Daily or sold the most units back in the day when bands sold albums, but the ones with the best songs. Popularity means nothing, as sheep will just follow the leader. I am also not just limiting it to the mid to late 90s. There are plenty of nu-metal albums released recently that got right what bands before them did not catch onto, as well as a few that preceded the label of nu-metal. 

 Don’t be quick to break out the cardboard just yet, as album that relied solely on rapping are in the minority, as they all ended up sounding like what the Beastie Boys did on “Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun”, and if your entire career can not exceed the dynamic range of a single Beastie Boys album, then chances are you are not the best of any genre. I also am standing fast by the metal part, this meant excluding a few great albums by bands who were more post-hardcore or even just intense rock albums that were not metal. Don’t expect to see the Beastie Boys on here either, if you can’t understand they don’t belong on a metal list, then it’s time to drown yourself in the next convenient body of water you can find. With that let’s dig into our Top 40 nu-metal albums.

30-Nonpoint - "To the Pain" 2005

By the fourth album they had the formula dialed in airtight. Their songwriting managed to be pretty fucking working off syncopated guitars working off vocal repetition. Not fully as committed to the hip hop side of the equation that can be hear in the phrasing of Elias's verses, which in and of themselves work better than most band's choruses. By 2005 the transition into the era of Myspace had begun and these guys managed to be relevant in that context.

29-Papa Roach-"Infest' 2000

 Yeah ya know your life being cut into pieces , but there are also 11 other songs on this album. Which by the way is their second album. If you like this genre of music and have only heard the single then you need to do yourself a favor and give them whole thing a listen. It's infectious in the explosive energy it hits you with. Spitfire vocals are balanced with sung hooks, and has on of the most in your face mixes.

   

 28-Issues- "Beautiful Oblivion" 2019

 When you think about boy bands with guitars like Linkin Park that emerged from this scene, this band was much more honest in how they woven their pop leanings in with the metal side of their sound, into one sinewy beast that held deadly choruses which got stuck in your head. A prime example of a band that learned from those that came before them.

   

27-Sevendust-"Home" 1999

Many might be partial to their 1997 debut. The sophomore album is more polished where it counts , which is namely the songwriting. The vocals begin to explore more soulful places, along with both Chino and Skin contributing guest vocals .

   

 26 Bush -"The Art of Survival" 2022

Thanks to Chris Traynor the former guitarist of Orange 9 MM, a band who came close to making the list, this band gained a heavier edge that reached the point of near perfect songwriting with last year's release, not the grunge band you might remember from the 90s, but I guess divorce added the extra edge of anger Gavin needed.

   

25-In This Moment- "Blood" 2012

They started off in a much different place, trying to exceed their grasp in terms of heaviness. This album found them settling into a place that was a better fit. At times the album sounds like if Katy Perry was fronting KMFDM, but the blend of pop hooks and industrial strength metal made for effective grooves that pay homage to this era.

   

 

 24- Guano Apes - "Proud Like a God" 1997

 

This German band did not get the recognition they deserved back in the day. Front by the diminutive Sandra Nasic, who larger than life voice amped up the impact of the slapped bass groove and dynamic anthems. They might be the least metal band on this list, but they packed enough punch in the pit to belong on this list . 

   

 23-Scars on Broadway- "S/T" -2008

 the guitarist and drummer from System of a Down, created this side project that leans into System of a Down's more traditional metal influences. When this album came out it seemed like a more logical progression. It has held up well over the years, and rooted enough in System's sound to belong on this list. 

   

 22 Chevelle-"Wonder What's Next" 2002

It's like these guys could not decide if they wanted to be Helmet or Tool, so they just decided to split the difference and try to do both at the same time. Not the most original band on this list, but the are damn fine songwriters. That goes a long ways in my books. 

 

21- Coal Chamber - "S/T"1997

This album pretty much encompasses every aspect of nu-metal. The creepy window dressing, the down-tuned grooves, as the chanted chorus that build into pumped up bouncing. Slapped bass provided the back bone, and really the only reason this album did not rank higher is I feel like Dez's vocal prowess was somewhat limited, but his delivery is also a part of this album's charm , so it's a both a blessing and a curse. 

Issues : "Beautiful Oblivion"

 I really love those Punk Goes Pop compilation albums , where Myspace emo bands cover mainstream pop songs. This band is like the culmination of those. Anyone with ears  can hear with this album how pop and djent are next door neighbors. I like this guys voice, but I also like pop music. I consider this a pop album that happens to have a metal production quality to the guitars.This demands as much head banging as the last Justin Bieber album. For a pop album this is ok. I do not like the turn to a more Bruno Mars like sound on "Find Forever" as I think it loses what makes these guys work. Perhaps they are trying to jump on more of a Panic at the Disco style. If you do not think they are going to jump on the first bandwagon that passes then you are delusional.

"Tapping Out " almost works perfectly with it's hooks and groove under they go into harder vocals which at this point is like fucking some dude in the ass for an hour then he tells you he actually straight.It is hard to take that seriously. When they fully commit it's fine and honest in fact the novelty of hearing this kind of music performed with actual instruments is novel enough. By "Without You" if it was not for the more rap flavored delivery then I might not be able to tell this song from the others. "Rain" is a fitting title as it begins to feel like they are just treading water and stuck in a place we have been in for the first 5 songs. They also show the bridge between nu-metal and djent at several times on this album though one of the pronounced moments is on "Second Best". If Incubus still tried to fool themselves into being a rock band the results might be similar.

The drumming and the time signatures suggest that these guys might be into proggy metal as they pulls off everything really well and I am sure they are impressive live. Lyrically vapid in a way that is more fun in the more r&b places. Not all of the hooks are flawless as I think they could be should they buckle down and really fine tune the songs, the execution is so dead serious and spot on they get away with it. "Flexin" sounds like a harder groovin Justin Timberlake. "No Problem" doesn't work as well, though it doesn't suck. The ballad that follows this is pretty uninspired and doesn't play to any of their strengths. I will give this album a 9 as it continues to grow on me.

The Top Ten Worst Albums of 2014

I forced myself to listen to some of this so you wouldn't have to. Some of these albums got reviewed, others were so bad I couldn't listen to it again to really put it into words. Twilight's newest album which fell a little short, just missed this list by the skin of their teeth.There are some of the arena rockers you would expect to be dialing it in, but some more underground fare that fell flat too.
So let's count down the Top ten worst albums of 2014


10-Perfect Pussy: Say Yes to Love -Score 5

While they are better than Pussy Riot, what they do tends to fall short of being songs which when you are making music ...well.

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2014/05/perfect-pussy-say-yes-to-love.html

9-the Dread Lords- Death Angel -5
This is one of those, where I couldn't get into it enough to write a review. A five is generous, but I think the singer has a good voice. The lyrics are beyond silly and trying to hard. The instrumentation is to sparse. The heavier moments feel awkward. I could go on, it's possible these guys might still have a good album in them, this just isn't it.

8-Opeth: Pale Communion - Score 4.5

These guys were once awesome, but the prog wagon has drifted them so far into indulgence they only have two good songs on this album. Sure some of this is well played. But it is wimpier than Jethro Tull

7- Dephosphorus: Ravenous Solemnity Score 4.5

Heavy handed riff chaos, where metal embraces the worst elements of punk. The litany of issues are listed below.

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2014/02/dephosphorus-ravenous-solemnity.html

6- Foo-Fighters - Sonic Highways Score- 4

My biggest problem with Foo-fighters is they are one of the reasons for Sunny Day Real Estates demise. Their first two albums were decent for radio fluff. Now they are resorting to making HBO document specials to try to breathe life into their uninspired radio fodder. I have no clue why they have three guitar players. Sometimes Dave stumbles over a catchy melody or two. The lyrics are  far beyond horrible.

5- Midnight-No Mercy For Midnight- Score 4.5

We are now passing the point of no return, this is no ooops... better production or maybe we should have tweaked the songs a bit , maybe a disappointment after our last album .... no we are going into you straight up suck.I haven't been that bored listening to an album in some time. Raspberry Bulbs does this better. You can read the rest of my gripes below.

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2014/11/midnight-no-mercy-for-mayhem.html

4 - Issues:-S/T- Score-4

The comeback of nu metal is even more lackluster than you might have braced yourself for. The full list of my issues with Issues can be read below.

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2014/03/issues-st.html

3 - Slipknot: the Gray Album-Score -3

Talk about dialing it in. The new drummer isn't doing these guys any favors. I don't mind Corey's clean vocals , but here they sound like any teenager from Myspace in the 2000's Even worse at other moments they sound like something from a Foo- Fighters album.One of the funniest moments is the fact the song "Kilpop" is one of the poppiest things I have heard from them.



2 - Avenged Sevenfold : Waking the Fallen Score-2.5

They tried to get heavier on this one , but it doesn't work out. Big problem is all of the clean vocal melodies sound exactly the same. The really slam the point home that cool riffs along don't make a good song, in their case they have them wedged i between so much cheese, it's hard to tell one from the next.To even try to score this one I had to fast forward  to catch the gist . Has one of the worst power ballads ever written on this.



1- Black Veil Brides : s/t -Score 2.5

I knew this nu-metal version of Motley Crue would be bad. They have turned more into Avenged Fold, the singer is less Vince Neil and trying to put more balls in his voice, but ends up sounding like the guy from Slipknot. Some of the emo is gone , but replaced by beer rock. For every riff that could be good there is a stupid radio melody that borders on Nickleback.It's not until the 3rd song that the singer returns to his more Hot Topic form. They are really going toe to toe with Avenged Sevenfold to see who can write the worst power ballad. I almost could respect the cock rock emo they used to play more than this. This one I could only get through a minute at a time. "Last Rites" is the only song on here that's listenable.

Issues: " S/T"

The over at Metal Sucks, seem to be fascinated with Nu Metal, so much so they tend to cry out like Chicken Little that it's making a comeback and claimed this band was going to be leading this. Nu Metal died in lets say 2000, for people who live in urban environments and  are aware of changes in the musical climate, it gave way to emo-core stuff of Myspace so 14 years seems premature for a genre to see a cyclic return, but music is pretty stagnant today so stranger things have happened.

I was unaware these guys were from Atlanta...or the suburbs of which makes more sense, and features members of Woe is Me whose Singer Tyler Carter came out as being bi-sexual so the Johnath Davi like ambiguity is in tact at least . He also has a penchant for covering Katy Perry and Justin Beiber songs, for those Punk goes Pop comps.

From the first song "Sad Ghosts" I don't really feel the Adidas, but this is more of  djent like take on the whole Myspace metal, that happens to have some turntables and pop vocal, if they bust out verse or go with the whole soft to loud Deftones thing, I might have this more claim more credence. I find them less annoying than Linkin Park was. The marriage of One Direction to djent, which if we are going to call a spade a spade is what this really has more in common with then Coal Chamber.

The almost Bruno Mars elements to the opening of "Mad at Myself" is pretty blatant and the ATL urban scheme of the lyrics doesn't ever break into rap, it does remind me Framing Hanley's cover of Lil Wayne's Lollipop. The sometimes sounds like a happier version of Enter Shikari, its not until "Life of A Nine" drop that things get krunk in nu metal direction. But is it anything that Blood on the Dance Floor hasn't already been doing ?

The more djent sound returns , but this time is accompanied by a more Korn like harsher emotive vocal.The clean vocals on this album as cheese filled as they are swoop into to save the songs. The trap music elements that are sprinkled with what sounds like j-pop house music bleeps and blips could work, the late 90's don't really do the House of Pain jump until later in the song. There are moments when this sounds like Alien Ant Farm and they don't have the angst of Slipknot, but this is better than half the of the pop on the radio.

There is a more j-pop dance feel to "Late". This one is less djent and more myspace , mall core and I am sure the catchy neon -t-shirts  they sell, will go over big at Hot Topic these days. It is interesting that pop and hip-hop element have replace the Tool influence that prevailed over most of the more worthwhile.. it it was worthwhile Nu-metal in the late 90's and when Tool transitioned over into A Perfact Circle bands started wanting to have their own power ballads and 30 Seconds to Mars started selling tons of albums before doing drag.

An old skool hip-hop element starts off "Old Dena" which is more of an interlude, I am surprised there is not more dub-step on this album as that seems a more logical band wagon to be jumped on here.  There is a much more Meshuggah like riff at the beginning of "Stringray Affliction".  There is one of the more Bruno Mars like breakdowns in the middle of this which is more convincing than the more djent elements.

I am surprised at this point that I have made it this far through the album, they assume a pop punk beat on " Never Loses Your Flames" that doesn't gel with vocals and the whole song seems more disjointed and filler than some of the tighter hooked writing earlier in the album. "Personality Cult" is just more along the lines of Myspace Mallcore, the riffage at times borders on more Slipknot like phrasing but the masked men from Iowa have a darker element they bring to what they did. This also lack any sort of Pantera influence which weighed heavily on Nu Metal. The closest they come to one of Dimebag's farts is on " the Settlement"

The duet with Nylo on " Tears on the Runway" is an odd choice and the song loses what ever advantage it gains in this creative twist with the breakdowns that at this point have gotten old. When the band closes the album, it has exhausted the brief fun pop elements, and seem to try to be taking themselves more seriously than the songs warrant. I'll give this one a 4 and declare if Nu Metal is making a come back it's the fault of of the same djent that Metal Sucks has kissed the ass of.