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Modern (Nu?) Metal

Ran across this thread during a search and I'm totally bringing it back from the dead

So, personally, I HATE(that's right, with capital letters) the extent to which the genre of metal has been subdivided at this point.  I think it really speaks volumes to the mentality that a lot of metal fans have in regards to their musical taste being better than everyone elses'.  I also think it shows just how close some metal fans are to the trend hopping pop fans that they say ruin music.  Look at how it's now cool to like bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.  Metal fans would have beat the crap out of someone who said that 10 yrs ago.

I have a fairly wide range of musical tastes but I mainly enjoy metal.  That's right, just metal.  I range from bands that have been mentioned such as Korn to Machine Head to Katatonia to Tool to Lamb of God.  I've got tons of obscure shit but I'm not afraid to admit that I like stuff that's popular too.  I'll even admit to liking stuff that isn't widely considered "good."  Limp Bizkit?  Hell, I'll admit that after the first album, Durst ran out of lyrical ideas and it was all downhill.  But dammit if some of those songs aren't fun to listen to.  I'm not saying that there's not standard for good music and bad music.  I'm just saying that a lot of people are blurring that line to boost their self esteem.  Korn's first album was outstanding, Tool's last album was weak.  Metallica's newest has less to offer than Limp Bizkit's first.  Deftone's last 2 albums sucked, Machine Head's last 2 have been nearly godlike.

Now, I'm kind of going off on a tangent but what I'm getting back to is the term "nu metal."  I think that term, at this point is just a catch all for bands that aren't "in" anymore.  Many of them really have very little in common.  Korn, for example, is closer to Tool than they are to Limp Bizkit but people won't admit that or call Tool nu metal because Tool is still okay to like.  However, a band like Rage Against the Machine is much much closer to Limp Bizkit, however, one is nu metal while the other isn't, because Rage is still "hip." 

Guitar solos, you say?  Well, Nine Inch Nails doesn't have any guitar solos, is Reznor nu metal?  I think most people would agree the answer is a resounding no.  But he uses electronics, which makes him industrial.  Okay, how about Filter, Stabbing Westward, Static X?

This is obviously well beyond just turning into a rant.  It's something that bugs me more and more about people that listen to at least some of the same music I do.  People that, I can only hope, would one day be hearing music that I make.  The closed mindedness and putting the scene before the music has just gotten to a breaking point with me.  There's no logic to it.  It's a popularity contest, pure and simple.

Metal is metal, stop telling your brothers and sisters that they aren't allowed to enjoy their music without ridicule.
 
I think all metal classifications came around from bands who were part of one particular "genre" but didn't WANT to be classified as such.  So they made their own genre to occupy.

Like, what's the difference between Black metal and death metal?  costume?

How about grindcore/gorecore?  lyrics?

Or Emo/Screamo?

I keep thinking of AFI.  I love their music, but they constantly get pissed at people classifying them as "goth."  Well, what did you expect when your singer and guitarist dress all in black leather and wear makeup?

I think it's all just snobbery.  I agree with lern2swim.  Don't classify, just listen.
 
Xplorervoodoo said:
Like, what's the difference between Black metal and death metal?  costume?

It's all down to the lyrics with Black and Death metal, I find that Black metal singers scream and Death metal singers growl, it's a subtle difference but it's there.

It's easy to get bogged down in genre arguments but sometimes music does need descriptions for example Judas Priest and Sunn o))) are both metal bands however they are very different and as a result they tend to get shoved in different sub genres. It's when you get sub sub genres that things get silly. ;)
 
I'm positive there are good metal/rock bands out there nowadays, however the people behind the music biz nowadays are stone-cold dumbasses - so said good bands don't
get the exposure they need, and the typical consumer is bombarded with @$$ for music.
 
+1 lern2swim.  A couple of my favorite "newer" metal bands are Killswitch Engage and Bullet for my Valentine.  I really enjoy that kind of guitar work.
 
The band A Job For a Cowboy. It doesn't make sense because there aren't even good guitar parts. Its just pure screaming! I always thought of nu-metal as like distubed and Slipknot.
 
...and what is the deal with "no guitar solos"  :dontknow:

Tired of the flannel-wearing, "angst"-ridden, super-depressed, surburbanite-teeny-bopper-has-it-too-good, one-finger-barre-chord-we-don't-do-solos-or-anything-that-requires-any-skill-or-practice-because-we'd-feel-all-guilty-with-all-that-excess trends that were started with bands like Nirvana in the 90's.  LOL

They F'd up rock big time. 

Rock is supposed to be excessive... 20 minute wanking guitar solos and all.  Loud and in yer face!

Make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.  BALLZ.  :party07:  :headbang1: etc 

Not, "woe is me I'm a big loser and I'm gonna suck everyone else down into my loser hole with my sh!tty depressing music without solos".  :sad1: :sad1: :sad1:

Instead of holding a guitar, they should be holding a tissue. 

Esteban wouldn't tolerate that crap - and neither will I.  :guitaristgif:
 
Superlizard said:
...and what is the deal with "no guitar solos"   :dontknow:

Tired of the flannel-wearing, "angst"-ridden, super-depressed, surburbanite-teeny-bopper-has-it-too-good, one-finger-barre-chord-we-don't-do-solos-or-anything-that-requires-any-skill-or-practice-because-we'd-feel-all-guilty-with-all-that-excess trends that were started with bands like Nirvana in the 90's.  LOL

They F'd up rock big time. 

Rock is supposed to be excessive... 20 minute wanking guitar solos and all.  Loud and in yer face!

Make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.  BALLZ.  :party07:   :headbang1: etc 

Not, "woe is me I'm a big loser and I'm gonna suck everyone else down into my loser hole with my sh!tty depressing music without solos".   :sad1: :sad1: :sad1:

Instead of holding a guitar, they should be holding a tissue. 

Esteban wouldn't tolerate that crap - and neither will I.   :guitaristgif:

And I'd disagree.  Beatles songs are easier to play than Malmsteen.  Which has better songs?  As I said, rock is not a competition, it's music, made for enjoyment.
 
Superlizard said:
...and what is the deal with "no guitar solos"   :dontknow:

Tired of the flannel-wearing, "angst"-ridden, super-depressed, surburbanite-teeny-bopper-has-it-too-good, one-finger-barre-chord-we-don't-do-solos-or-anything-that-requires-any-skill-or-practice-because-we'd-feel-all-guilty-with-all-that-excess trends that were started with bands like Nirvana in the 90's.  LOL

They F'd up rock big time. 

Rock is supposed to be excessive... 20 minute wanking guitar solos and all.  Loud and in yer face!

Make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.  BALLZ.  :party07:   :headbang1: etc 

Not, "woe is me I'm a big loser and I'm gonna suck everyone else down into my loser hole with my sh!tty depressing music without solos".   :sad1: :sad1: :sad1:

Instead of holding a guitar, they should be holding a tissue. 

Esteban wouldn't tolerate that crap - and neither will I.   :guitaristgif:


1. Nirvana and Kurt Cobain wrote some pretty fudging geat music
2. Kurt wrote plenty of solos, sure none were particularly great, there was no intricate taping or legato or even many hammer ons or pull off's but he had em'
3. the worst thing musicians can do when writing a song is playing a solo for the sake of playing a solo, not every song needs one, sure if it makes the song better than go nuts but it doesn't always improve the song...


also you speak liek someone who knows very little bout nirvana or infact the entire grunge movement of the 90's, maybe it would be worth listening to some before you make silly comments...
 
+1 the last couple of posts, even though the only "grunge" band I ever listen to anymore is Soundgarden. Loads of fantastic bands don't play wanky solos, it's not a guitar hero competition. Cmon, who was better, Poison or Johnny Cash?
What is up with you guys hating on different kinds of music recently? This and the blues thread are beyond pointless. Don't listen to it if you don't like it, sheesh.
 
Godsmack is probably the latest metal band that I can stomach. The guitar riffs and solos aren't all that technical but something doesn't have to be technical to sound good. What I find interesting about Tony (Godsmack's guitfiddler) is that he has created quite a few tunes using the exact same chords in the exact same order but just by changing his rhythm has created totally different tunes. I think his simplicity is brilliant. He does tend to use the wah wah a bit much though.
MULLY
 
Actually, Rock and Roll started as very short songs, with equally short, concise solos.  Think Elvis, Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent.  If your gonna be a purist, at least be sure to lable your purity correctly.  Twenty minute solos....Ha!
 
Yes, 20 minute solos!  :headbang:

Some people misinterpreted what I wrote (nuffin' new)... No, not every song has to have a solo in it, and there are lots of tunes without solos that kick ass.

It's the mentality of "I'm never doing a guitar solo because that's excessive" or "we're above guitar solos" that sucks.
 
Superlizard said:
Yes, 20 minute solos!   :headbang:

Some people misinterpreted what I wrote (nuffin' new)... No, not every song has to have a solo in it, and there are lots of tunes without solos that kick ass.

It's the mentality of "I'm never doing a guitar solo because that's excessive" or "we're above guitar solos" that sucks.

I totally understand what you mean, man. Zakk Wylde summed it up fairly well in an interview he did one time during a run of the Ozzfest. He said, and this is a loose quote,

"I'm not saying that solos are everything but me and Dimebag are probably the only ones here that know how to move up the neck and back."

Pretty much sums it up. There was a period there during the 90's and early 00's where it was almost uncool to actually learn how to play your instrument. I'm glad to see some new bands coming around that have actually taken the time. Blackstone Cherry is one new hard rock band that I really like.
MULLY
I like all kinds of music though Wes Montgomery, Los Lonely Boys, Pantera......they all get equal time in my stereo.
 
it seems to me that right now its cool to learn to play a fake plastic instrument attached to an xbox.

But i digress.

Personally. I've heard NU-Metal attached to a lot of different bands. which are all very different.

I wouldn't consider Linkin Park in the same sub genre as Korn but some people have labelled it that way.  In any case. I agree with lern2swim.  Who cares what it is labelled?
There are a great deal of "screamo" bands that I can't stand.  but I do my best not to jump on the "i hate emo" bandwagon.  There are a lot of people who are classic rock/metal fans who shitee all over emo "cause it sucks".  which is hardly concise.  Emo itself is starting to do the metal breakup.  When I first started listening to emo it was Dashboard Confessional , the Juliana Theory and Jimmy eat world.  Now they're all huge and very different from how they started ( with the exception of Juliana Theory)
I too grew up listening to Penneywise and NoFX and Chixdiggit and Bad Religion especially.  But i'm not like those dicks that run around at warped tour wearing a shirt they've scrawled sharpy on saying "F* Emo" and claim that they understand what Punk music is all about.  Even Greg Graffin tipped his hat to Taking Back Sunday and the like last time I was at warped tour, and he's the freakin' godfather of punk music.

Case in point, i just listen to what I like.  I DON"T like the cookie cutter scr/emo bands, but that doesn't dismiss the genre in its entirety.  I'll even admit to enjoying some bad bands.  In that I dont think they're musicianship is up to snuff and that they might not notice that they'r enot very good, but I still like them because they're honest.
 
I'm an 80's kid that grew up on Iron Maiden and thrash metal.  There are a ton of bands floating around right now that have that vibe to them.  Shadows Fall, Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage, Avenged Sevenfold, All That Remains, Children of Bodom, Dragonforce, etc....None of what I'd call Nu-Metal.

The technical level of some of this stuff is amazing.  it's a shred factor for me. (guitar gymnastics)  I remember the first time I saw that Dragonforce video, I was bouncing up and down on the couch high fiveing the dog. 

A while back I played bass in what I'd call a Nu-Metal band(s).  Fun times.....some good music.....made some great friends....met my wife.....

I've always been into heavy music.  But I think there are too many labels




 
Run to the hills by iron maiden is one catchy song. Hes got a very powerful voice, but thats about all I know from them.
 
Maiden rocks!  Piece of mind, Powerslave, and Number of the Beast are classics.  The first 2 A7X cd's should pay roylties to them. 
 
Maiden is a good example to use for this discussion.

Take Coheed and Cambria.  Lots of people I know absolutly HATE them.  Mostly because of the singers voice, they say he sounds like his balls haven't dropped.  Personally I dont feel that way, the timbre of his voice is a little different, and its not where near as annoying (to me) as listening to the beegees or geddy lee sing a song.  And most people shove them into the "crappy emo" corner of their spectrum.  Even though the guitar work is 1st rate and obviously very metal and classical influenced.  Some people call them Prog rock or Nu Prog, which I think is a better term than "emo"  Although Neo -Classical might be a good way to describe them (note the use of the word describe rather than catergorize)

in any case, lots of maiden fans I know fall into that mentality where anything not maiden-esque completely sucks, and would intentionally cite bands like Coheed and say they're not real music.

and yet.. when Claudio (the singer) is asked by a fan what they need to do/know to be a good guitar player, he simply says
"listen to Maiden"
 
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