this should make everything crystal clear to your nu metal infested perception:
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Warning! The following opinion may not coincide with your own. The thesis of the review is that nu metal, basically, spanks ass. If you will experience anger or sadness because of this opinion do not read any further.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] felt that I needed to put a disclaimer at the beginning of this article because I don't want my email box to fill with poorly spelled, whiney, illiterate barrages of cursing from 14 year old children that are the willing victims of 'non-conformist conformity attempting to defend the 'best band in the world.'[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Since I've began teaching guitar professionally I have been forced to become more familiar with the trendy music of today: most notably nu-metal bands in great proliferation. Linkin Park, Slipknot, Mudvayne, Limp Bizkit, Sevendust and others are among the favorites of many of my students. Although I told my students I'm not too interested in listening to these bands I'd check them out so I can make sure to optimize their lessons for playing these songs. This is what I've learned so far about nu-metal.... [/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]So far the defining element of nu-metal seems to be a complete lack of originality coupled with an apparent ignorance of past musical styles; it's a really strange phenomenathe ability of bands to so blatantly rip off entire musical styles and offer no innovation whatsoever, and the seeming ignorance that they are even doing so. However, there is one important filter that seperates older metal styles from that of nu-metal: nu-metal, in keeping with the zeitgeist of the times, offers nothing new but makes ample use the tested and true technique of 'dumbing down' everything for the youth of today.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Like everything else offered to teens today, Nu-Metal is a dumbed down version of heavy metal.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]That's right: nu-metal is nothing more than dumbed down Pantera often coupled with a gimmick or two to add an illusion of band individuality. The music is dumber, the beats are dumber, the riffs are dumber, andbased on the few interviews with the musicians I've readthe performers are dumber too. This really makes me begin to wonder about the fans of nu-metal music. Are they dumber too? It's frightening to think of metal fans being dumber (and I was one for many years in the 80's).... so I won't even go there. Hopefully the youth of today are just too naive to realize that the entire nu-metal trend is a marketing gimmick and that when they get older perhaps they will find (or write) the truly cutting edge music of tomorrow. Maybe I ask too much.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The thing that amazes me the most about nu-metal fans is their belief that their music is HEAVIER than any music before. To quote one of my students concerning a Mudvayne CD: "I can't listen to it for too long because it is soooo heavy!" I listened to a few songs, completely unimpressed, and proceeded to put on some old Mayhem (the black metal band from Norway); his jaw dropped in disbelief by how brutal that was compared to Mudvayne. Then I had to explain a few things to him:[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Me: "Look, I know this stuff seems heavy to you... but trust me, there is nothing that you could show me that will blow me away. I grew up on Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth... as well as listened to bands like Voivod, Kreator, Coroner and Obituary. It doesn't get much more caustic than that."[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Student: "Ummm......" (Still in shock from the Mayhem song.)[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Teens covered in what appears to be the music of today.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Now I'll admit that the youth of today got cheated because their music didn't get heavier, or faster, or more obscene, or crazier sounding than the previous generation. Granted, the many underground movements of the 1980's from goth, industrial to thrash would be a hard act to follow, but surely musicians today can find something remotely original to do. For teens nowadays I suppose it must really suck when they figure out that a lot of thirtysomethings listen to more abrasive music than the so-called 'bad-ass' teenagers of today. Unfortunately for them, instead of innovating new types of music or exploring frontiers, the bands of today settled with a safe pseudo-edgey sound that garners them Mtv rotation, radio play and enough volume to be considered rebellious by today's teens.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Besides the stale conformity of the pre-packaged and safe rebellion that nu-metal presents, the overall instrumentation irritates me. Virtually none of these bands play in anything but subterraneanly low tuned guitars in a 'dropped-D' configuration. Other than the occasional dissonant high frequency noise, almost all of the guitar work are single-finger power chords. Some bands make use of a DJ or someone to scratch records, although the only appearance of such a player that I have evidence for is in the liner notes because I can't hear any turntable skills being flexed on any recordings. Once in a while a keyboardist will be onhand to deliver very stale string lines or the occasional semi-analog bleep or blurpand then nothing for the rest of the song (man, I wish I had their job!)[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Some of the better known nu-metal bands are particularly irritating, with Slipknot being number one on my list. For one, they are a total rip-off of Pantera; secondly they have nine members in their band performing music that any four normal musicians should be able to do. But foremost on my list is the fact that they all refer to themselves by a number and wear stupid looking masks. Generally, Slipknot strike me as a Gwar imitation without the sense of humor and a fixation on White Wolf Game Studio's Werewolf: The Apocalypse role-playing game. In general I gather that Slipknot are considered among the heavier of the nu-metalers but I wasn't too impressed by their primitive sludge and nascent antisocial five year old trapped in a man's body vocal style. I did chuckle, however, as I think one of their lyrics said: "C is for cookie... is good enough for me... FUCK YOU SHIT!" Slipknot prove that it is still financially viable to substitute potty mouths for real thought or controversy and manage to be considered a rebellious band. I suppose in this manner you could consider Slipknot to be influenced by hip hop, because rappers have been milking this cow for years.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Please be scared of us or we will be forced to cry.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]On the other end of the spectrum are Linkin Park. Where Slipknot fails to be heavy these guys don't even try. To my ears Linkin Park are the modern Poison without any talent... contemplate the meaning of that last phrase very carefully. Same rules apply as other nu-metal bands: tune down, one finger power chords, verse-chorus-verse, lip service to hip hop stylings, write three minute songs and before you know it you're a media sensation. Sometimes I got the feeling that Eminem was somehow involved with the song writing and spoken-word white-boy metal rap cliche fest that is Linkin Park. In all other ways, except their mediocrity, Linkin Park is unnoteworthy, although not as generic as Papa Roach, who should be considered to be a one-hit wonder along the lines of M. Oh, you don't remember M? Well, in twenty years nobody will remember Papa Roach either so it's no matter.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Possibly the heaviest, or so my students have told me, band is Mudvayne. Strangely I felt that sense of nostalgia when listening to Mudvayne's songs and then it hit me: Mudvayne are what the death metal band Obituary would sound like if they were remixed by a techno weenie. Needless to say I wasn't very impressed. Like all other nu-metal bands Mudvayne try very, very, very hard to scare you with their over-eager guitars and screamed vocals; however I was only reminded of that episode of Jackass where they try to eat all those eggs and end up having a major puke fest instead. Honestly, their banality was beginning to put me to sleep.[/font]
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Some may think I'm just picking on the younger generation and trash their music as a way to feel superior, or I don't like it because I'm too old and out of touch with the youth movement of today (very true and thankfully) but I assure you that neither is true. The way that nu-metal, as well as the rest of today's youth culture, affects me is sadness for the teens of today who will know nothing better than the crap they allow themselves to be spoonfed by a cynical, marketing-mad corporate entity like the music business. All they will ever know is dumbed-down, imitatitive music that sells an image of rebellion, the fashion of revolution and the uniform on non-conformityas rebellion is first and foremost an intellectual choice, it seems that the youth of today are doomed... that is if their music is any indication of their inner convictions and substance.[/font]
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Flame away I suppose,[/font]
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