"I did it all for the nookie!
The nookie!
So you can take that cookie!"
I remember it like it happened yesterday: the first time I listened to Korn and Limp Bizkit. I was sitting in my parents' car as we were driving towards Disneyland in Paris, when I played the cd's me ole pal Tom (aka Mister Three) had copied for me. It was October 1998 and singles off of 'Follow The Leader' and 'Significant Other' were all the rage in hit charts worldwide.
Those albums would go on to cement their place in my Personal Album Top Twenty, but at first I didn't really like their sound. I was used to Metallica's smooth metal style, as opposed to the detuned guitars and distorted vocals of Korn and Limp Bizkit.
But their music - called 'nu-metal' - grew on me, to the extent that they changed my musical spectrum forever. The step from Korn to the likes of Deftones, System Of A Down, Slipknot, Mudvayne and (hed)P.E. was a small one, and it didn't take me long either to start dressing up like the guys in those 'nu-metal' bands: baggy jeans, T-shirts, a cap and sneakers were my teenage dresscode.
I also remember the joy, somewhere around January 2000, after I heard the news that Korn were coming to town. Their gig, at the Brussels venue of Forest National, on May 24th, was my first live show ever. P.O.D. opened for them, and that marked the first time I got into a mosh pit - it was an eye-opening experience as I had never felt such energy in such a confined space.
Korn were amazing as well: singer Jon Davis headbanging like a madman and screaming his heart out, guitarists Head and Munky bending deep over their instruments; shredding away, bass player Fieldy juggling over the stage like a pimped-out gangster, and David Silveria banging on his drums like there would be no tomorrow.
(The next time I would experience such a Eureka, 'I was born to dance to this type of music' type of moment, was four years later, when Sick Of It All beat the Groezrock Festival to a bloody pulp.)
Limp Bizkit and Slipknot conquered Belgium that same year at the Pukkelpop festival, with Amen, Mudvayne, (hed)P.E., Papa Roach, Sepultura and Slipknot (again; I've seen 'em about eight times by now) rounding out the nu-metal extravaganza in 2001 at Earect in Torhout.
Those were the bands I grew up with, the bands that shaped me into the person I am today. I loved the blend they brought to the table (in equal, lesser or more measure) of stomping drums, hiphop-style grooves and vocals, bruising, detuned metal riffs and clusterbomb-style climaxes. So it was good to see that Kerrang! recently did a Legends issue on nu-metal.
To me, Kerrang! has always been the No. 1 rock and metal magazine out there. Not only because of their unparallelled access to the people in the business, which make for fascinating backstage stories; also because of their good taste in music and because of the proficient pens of their writers.
And I must say: those writers put all their wit, savvy and guts into this Legends issue. If you were a Limp Bizkit fan around '98, '99, and you loved the same bands that I did during those days, you'll devour every syllable of this publication. I can honestly say it's one of the best magazines I've read all my life.
If you're just getting into the likes of Slipknot, Deftones, System Of A Down et cetera, you'll like it as well because who knows? You might get to know some other, similar bands you might like.
Everything's in there: from the roots of nu-metal (coming from Aerosmith and Run-DMC performing 'Walk This Way'; then onto Faith No More and Rage Against The Machine), over insight interviews with the bands that propelled the genre to mainstream status, to an overview of the best songs that came out of the movement.
'Rollin''! 'One Step Closer!' 'Last Resort'! 'Smooth Criminal'! 'Freak On A Leash'! 'Break Stuff'! 'Chop Suey!' 'Stupify'! 'Wait And Bleed'! People in their fourties and fifties get a hard-on when they hear Beatles songs, or the Rolling Stones, or even Dire Straits - but to me, hearing 'Bartender' by (hed)P.E. sends me on a trip down memory lane.
(The only things that are missing, at least to me, are stories on Mudvayne - their 'LD50' album is one of my all-time favourites - and Amen - their frontman Casey Chaos was undoubtedly the most undaunted microphone abuser ever.)
I think good music journalism reignites your passion for a band, an album or an entire genre by infecting you with sheer enthousiasm. And that's exactly what the people over at Kerrang! have done for me and nu-metal with this magazine.
Hats off to them - and if you'll excuse me now; I'm off blasting some Deftones through the speakers.
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