Nu-metal: I need your opinion!

[Vitor]

you are asking alot, and I don't like people who ask too many question. Hmmm....TONY! Kill this guy!

of course he is a joker

nu metal is dead

 

[Xorv]

Shut up.

TONY! Kill this man.....

 

[metallord69]

nu-metal suck's period it's crap . it's the combining of two musical styles that sinply imo don't work and never will

 

[IWP]

1.) I like/dislike Nu-metal because…

I dislike it, because the music is boring, the vocals are generally whiny, or just plain suck, and the lyrics are too angsty for me.


2.) I do/don’t think Nu-metal is a real sub-genre of Heavy metal because…

I don't consider it metal, because it has more in common with grunge, hard rock, and rap(rapping and drumming tempo) then it does actual metal.

3.) I think Nu-metal was so popular in the late ‘90’s because…

I think it was popular, because after grunge's popularity started to wear out, the mainstream was looking for the next big thing that could appeal to angsty teens all over the globe.

4.) I think Nu-metal came to such a sudden downfall because…

People were just becoming sick of the music, and rightfully so. All nu-metal is shit, in my opinion. However, it would just make way for another generally shitty "metal" scene know as metalcore.

5.) I think the Heavy metal scene never really accepted Nu-metal because…

It has too much mainstream appeal considering that your avarage metalhead only likes stuff that isn't popular. That, and see answer for #2.

 

[Satanstoenail]

1.) I like/dislike Nu-metal because…
I don't mind some of it. Early Korn and a few other bands did some good stuff. I really enjoyed the whole super heavy, tuned down to A with massive build ups aspect of it at first, but it got boring pretty quickly.

2.) I do/don’t think Nu-metal is a real sub-genre of Heavy metal because…
I do think it's metal because it has many elements of metal. The fact that it was a fad or a trend doesn't mean it isn't metal.

3.) I think Nu-metal was so populair in the late ‘90’s because…
Because death metal had died in the arse and people were sick of grunge, so Nu-metal was the next fad.

4.) I think Nu-metal came to such a sudden downfall because…
Because all fads do so. Over-saturation of the market with way too many copy bands leads to boredom, and people move on to the next thing.

5.) I think the Heavy metal scene never really accepted Nu-metal because…
Because it was a fad and true metal warriors hate trends. And some of it had some hip hop influence, and true metal warriors hate hip hop. It's the same with Metalcore at the moment, and my opinion is the same with that style. There is some good music in amongst all the try-hard rubbish, but the die hard metal crowd will shun it all because it's popular.

 

[ohiogrinder]

Because death metal had died in the arse

that never happened.

 

[S<issors]

So what I've heard so far is:

1. You all don't think Nu-metal has enough stylistic resemblances with other types of metal to be called a part of the metal genre...

The simplicity doesn't seem to be a problem to many of you, but what then are, stylistically speaking, factors that make you dislike the music?
for instance someone can say 'I don't like heavy metal because for me it's too loud and too fast' then you judge the music by it's factual characteristics. If you say 'I don't like it because it's crap' or 'it's boring' then you are giving a subjective judgement and I'm afraid I can't work with that
Could you give me your opinion based on factual characteristics of the music?

Nu-metal is DESIGNED to be appeal to a wider audience than "real" metal (unless you count glam, I suppose); it's essentially metal transmuted into a form of pop music. Much of it is aimed at teenaged angst. This yields very simplistic song structures, "catchy" choruses, rap-eque vocals, and relatively mindless subject matter. Much of metal suffers from similar problems, but nu-metal is a genre defined by them. It's essentially a genre of music engineered to be shitty.

As for the technicality aspect, that's a matter of debate among metal fans, but even if you assume that time changes and complicated song structures and stuff aren't important, the other poppy elements tend to kill things for us metalheads.

So, to address this point,

2. The popularity to many of you is also a problem, in the way that it attracts too much (negative) attention to the metal scene. (does this also mean that if the music had stayed 'underground' you would have appreciated it?)

(This is also something I can work with from a sub-cultural sociological point of view)

I don't think the problem is that it IS popular, I think the problem is that it's DESIGNED to be popular, and as a result it eschews most of what is attractive about metal in the first place. You can't have brutal vocals, wild soloing, crazy time changes, and dark subject matter in a song that's built for teens and airplay.

Of course, I'm sure that many of us do revel in the whole "underground scene" thing, but I don't think that's the prime factor, and it's certainly not the only one. A good percentage of metalheads aren't knuckle-dragging headbangers; they're people who want a degree of complexity and maturity in their music (this sounds weird given some of the bands that come to mind when you think of "heavy metal," but if you're familiar with the music, you probably know what I'm talking about). Nu metal just serves up juvenile angst and meaningless noise.

 

[CF87]

I liked nu-metal when was young going through puberty and watching softcore HBO porno.

 

[DarkBliss]

To be quite frank I've never even listened to this so-called Nu-metal. Sound-wise, I wouldn't be able to tell Korn from Slipknot, if my life depended on it. I started out my exploration of metal with the likes of Metallica, Nightwish and Tristania and then via Death transitioned into death/black, where I found my niche.

 

[Seance]

if you actually think nu-metal isn't a sub-genre of metal, then you have no sense or understanding/comprehension at all. it isn't a matter of opinion, as some of you for whatever reason think. whether you like it or not is irrelevant

 

[Ancient Rabid One]

Nu Metal is nothing more than coporate fad music uber controlled by the record companies who's products for the most part have a short shelf life. It's just a quick cash in and run for the record companies. IMHO it's just disposable music......for the most part. Of course there are always exceptions to eveything.

 

[Hatebreeder]

I think Korn is the only nu-metal band that ever had any musical credibility, though it didn't last for long once the labels got a hold of them. Never liked 'em much, though.

 

[thisisaformicatable]

if you actually think nu-metal isn't a sub-genre of metal, then you have no sense or understanding/comprehension at all. it isn't a matter of opinion, as some of you for whatever reason think. whether you like it or not is irrelevant

So it is metal because...?

 

[S<issors]

I think Korn is the only nu-metal band that ever had any musical credibility, though it didn't last for long once the labels got a hold of them. Never liked 'em much, though.

I would tend to disagree with this statement. Except for that last part. That's spot on.

 

[Seance]

So it is metal because...?

well, here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nu-metal

that about sums it up. let's look at the criticism:

Nu metal bands, because their style was not clearly defined, were often considered within multiple other genres. For example, Korn crosses into Alternative Metal and Funk, Limp Bizkit into Rapcore and Disturbed into Heavy Metal. The mix of styles led to some criticism that nu metal was not related to traditional metal.

quite contradictory, seeing as Disturbed is defined as heavy metal in the same paragraph, and the only thing tying these bands together is indeed the metal elements of their music

Rap is often used in nu metal, and fans of popular rap variations didn't always respond well to it.

what fans think is irrelevant, we're talking about what the music is, not whether it's good

Papa Roach's Jacoby Shaddix, for example, has abandoned rapping in his band's most recent work. However, he has said that this was because of his childhood dream to be a rock star. In recent times the genre has received increasing derision from the metal community for various reasons, and the terms mallcore and false metal are used by many as derogatory. Some also use the terms as a synonym for the genre, believing it to be the "true" name for the genre, arguing that the use of "metal" in the name is deceiving.

no reasoning given. nothing said at all really. just a bunch of bullshit

Jonathan Davis of Korn said in a magazine interview just before 'Life Is Peachy' was released that the band wasn't "simply metal". He claimed that there was "many other influences" in the bands sound and that calling it 'metal' would be "limiting".

lol

Quite a few members of other bands have criticised nu metal. Trivium vocalist Matt Heafy criticised it in an issue of Kerrang magazine, saying that nu metal is "not sexy enough" because "a DJ became more important than a guitarist".

irrelevant. nobody gives a shit whether or not the singer of Trivium likes nu-metal

In Flames vocalist Anders Friden criticised it in an issue of Metal Hammer magazine, saying that the fans "buy the cds but don't go to the concerts".

irrelevant. nobody gives a shit about the fans. we're talking about the music

Ben Folds made a song entitled Rocking the Suburbs which is a parody of nu metal bands. It was partly written because Jonathon Davis compared the music of the Ben Folds Five to the theme tune of Cheers in an interview with Spin magazine in 1998

who fucking cares

etc.

 

[thisisaformicatable]

Well, that was interesting, I guess. But I asked why it's metal, not what you don't like about the Wikepedia entry.

 

[Seance]

I feel like a kindergarten teacher.

 

[stardrowned]

Nu-metal: I need your opinion!

Sucks.

 

[thisisaformicatable]

I feel like a kindergarten teacher.

...

"Nu metal" isn't a clear stylistic derivation of any prior metal movement, it's a distant cousin of the genre that shares a few superficial characteristics. It isn't even a clearly defined genre, it's only a blanket term used to group a bunch of bands sharing certain characteristics (namely "loud" and "heavy") to simplify marketing efforts. The bands labeled as such are more accurately described as hybrids of hard rock and modern hardcore, rap, funk, industrial, etc. The instances where you can take a nu metal band and see clear metal influence (s/a, "this riff is clearly in the vein of Slayer") are rare. While some nu metal bands may have some metal influence, they generally use ideas from metal in a different context; taking a metal riff and placing it in the context of a hard rock song doesn't make that song metal.

Furthermore, it evolved as an entirely separate "scene" from metal. Remember back in the early 1990s when all those nu metal bands were playing local shows, opening for your favourite death metal bands, defining themselves as the next wave of metal? I don't.

Do you disagree? I was asking for an explanation of how nu metal is a metal subgenre - the Wikipedia entry mentions some bands that had some metal influence, and at the most paints the "genre" as one with some slight superficial similarities to metal. What posting a bunch of "witty" retorts to a section of the article (or even bringing up the article in the first place) does to further this discussion eludes me.

PS If JdeTheije is around I'm still waiting for a source on "In 1989 metal accounted for over 40% of all record sales."

 

[Toxik Overkill]

Thank you for your reply's, it does seem hard to get a serious answer from some but those of you with a serious answer thank you!

Some of the 'problems' with Nu-metal and also reasons for it's fall you are giving are also some of my thoughts and presumptions, but these are mostly things that have been seen in metal before. I'm trying to uncover why in those early cases the metal scene did accept it and in the Nu-metal case didn't.
For example: the answer I hear alot is that Nu-metal is too commercial, but in the late '80's bands like Metallica were just as popular maybe even more popular. In 1989 metal accounted for over 40% of all record sales, this is a popularity Nu-metal has never seen. How come metal fans accepted the popularity of these early bands and see it as a problem when it comes to Nu-metal bands?

Also alot of you see the musical simplicity of Nu-metal as a problem and see it's musicians as inferior. While John Otto and Sam Rivers of Limp Bizkit are classically trained jazz musicians, Ryan Martinie of Mudvayne, also a classically trained Jazz bassist and there are more of these examples. The simple character of Nu-metal seems to be a choice rather than a short coming of it's musicians (ofcourse there are exceptions) Alot of the early metal bands are mostly self-taught musicians, and use fairly simple riffs, so why is this a problem when it comes to Nu-metal?

Could you help me shine a light on these matters?

Well the thing about it is that they can be well trained in any form of music, wether it be good music or bad music, but the things they are creating are what they get credibility for. Limp Bizkit guitarists may be good jazz musicians but they bullshit nu-metal (my own opinion) that they create makes me not respect then. Just as someone may be a great basketball player but plays in a soccer league horribly. People are not going to let it slide just because he's good at basketball, they are going to say he suck for what he is actually doing at the moment.

as for the questionnaire

1.) I dislike Nu-metal because… it just sucks to my ears.
2.) I do think Nu-metal is a real sub-genre of Heavy metal because… well slipknot, mudvayne, and limp bizkit were starters of metal for many other people, there can be sucky genres of metal, but i do believe some of it is metal, just don't confuse nu-metal with bullshit like linkin park
3.) I think Nu-metal was so populair in the late ‘90’s because… i don't research it so i wouldn't know.
4.) I think Nu-metal came to such a sudden downfall because… it sucks.
5.) I think the Heavy metal scene never really accepted Nu-metal because… it sucks.