cool records by otherwise lame bands...
 

i can think of many in the so called "nu metal" category:

machine head-burn my eyes
well before these dudes became pathetic mainstream wannabe rap rock nu metal novelties, they put out this monster of a debut. its straight up stoner thrash, fast drumming, with huge sleep-like riffs that make you dizzy. sorta like high on fire but with better melodies and waaaaaay better vocals. oh and did i mention the riffs? fucking huge!

deftones-white pony
very ambitious and even risky record. half the songs are nothing special, but half are verry cool. i especially like pink magot and passenger with maynard from tool, one of his best ever vocal performances.

slipknot-s/t
yes, theyre goofy as hell. but cmon, this first record was unpretentious straight up metal! with melodies! good vocals, lots of weirdo riffs, and loud. that last track, forget what its called, but it sounds sorta like an 8 minute electronic tribal noisecore freak out, with all those screams. definitley a record we all claim to hate, but if someone were ever to put it on, youd make fun of them, but never ask them to turn it off.

system of a down-s/t
pretty cool untill you listen to mr bungle. then you realize these guys bite all bungles shit and make it radio ready, and you say fuck system of a down.

other stuff:

ween-pepper
i just have a soft spot for this. i would often smoke pot with some hippie kids in my highschool and my choices for tunes were generally this, or phish, id choose this. in the process i think i took a liking to it.

eminem-slim shady lp-marshall mathers lp
if eminem didnt make any records besides these, he wouldnt make it on this list, instead hed be on the list of "the most hilarious, disturbing, gifted, and most amazing mc's of all time". i mean, i read an interview with the gza a few years back, around the time of eminem's dominance, and the gza himself said eminem was the best mc around. nuff said right there.

u2-the joshua tree
yes, we all know how stupid this band and their self righeous singer have become, but ill be damned if youve never been driving around and "with or without you" was on the radio, and you starred blasting it right at bono's vocal "whoaoaoaooa" part and been like, hot damn! and posiibly even tried singing along. but you cant, because the dude is waaaaay to fucking good at singing. this record had it all, amazing songwriting, incredible vocals, pitch perfect production coutresty of mr. eno and the prettiest guitar melodies this side of smiths johnny marr. pop masterpiece.


i could probably think of a ton more, but these imediatley came to my head. i was gonna say stuff like the markers' boss and aids wolf's lovvers lp but then i realized those bands have plenty more time to make good music, so one record wonders, and bands who have made way more shit than they have good all count for this. please, add to this list.

All Deftones records are great.

Static-X - Wisconsin Death Trip
Hilarious, energetic, and entertanining "death disco". Actually managed to take Ministry's sound and do something interesting with it.

Slipknot - Self-Titled
They actually do something with the 9 members on some of these songs. At times, it approaches (no kidding) SYMPHONIC NOISE ROCK. Other times, not so much... but yeah, the early stuff didn't sound like a Biohazard wannabe.

Spineshank - Height of Callousness
See above.

NOFX - The Decline
I absolutely fucking hate this band... yet there's something about an 18 minute punk song that I think is pretty cool. There's actually a few decent parts on here, so it mostly wins and is worth a listen.

V/A - Short Songs for Short People
Okay, I'm kind of cheating here, but there are so many awful bands on this compilation of 101 bands, but they're each doing 30 second songs. And, let's face it, it's hard for a punk band to write a shitty 30 second song. Features the only songs I've ever liked by Pennywise and Green Day, not to mention Bad Religion's best song! Ridiculous.

System of a Down - Self-Titled
One of the best records of all time. I don't understand your Mr. Bungle comparison, but ... anyway, "Soil" is an amazing, amazing song.

Chevelle - Point # 1
There's loads of good songs on here, even though the guy is trying his hardest to rip off Tool. Steve Albini produced, haha.

Fantomas - Director's Cut
Fantomas are a band who just try too hard and have a bunch of songs that don't do anything at all except make you wish you were listening to Naked City instead. Though I appreciate them changing a bit on every album, I don't tnink they have any really good songs -- especially not when you see the talent that comprises the band. HOWEVER, this album is really good.

KoRn - KoRn/Life is Peachy
A double whammy. 2 great records, even though this band has, what, 9? Loaded with dark production, insane guitar "riffs", and AWESOME drumming.

Limp Bizkit - 3 Dolla Bill Y'All$
Entertaining from every angle with dark production and actual decent songwriting.

Ween - The Mollusk
Features about 3 decent Ween songs, more than any other record.

Eminem - Slim Shady LP/Marshall Mather LP
Both are hilarious.

Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
This band is awful, but there are about 3 or 4 really cool songs on here.

Rage Against the Machine - Evil Empire
This band is AWFUL and embarassing, but I can't deny that the songwriting is original and the riffs are pretty crazy so it's an entertaining enough record...

AMEN - complete discography
I think this is one of the lamest bands I've ever heard, yet I really enjoy their records. All their lyrics and ideas are silly as fuck... but they have some really interesting riffs and amazing drumming.. I dunno. They're lame... but their records are cool...

That's all I can think of.

Suicidal Tendencies first lp .
I don't know the other material much , though...

Korn's first LP wasn't that bad.

Shame they got rich and fat and completely lost their goals..

co-sign.

i dont know how you can think spineshank and static x are worth two shits and totally hate rage against the machine, who are really just a really really loud hip hop group, i mean i like all their ablums to an extent, especially their cover record and battles of la.

i also like the first fantomas record as well.


suicidal tendencies was great up untill about 95 when the whole band was gone.

the soad/mr bungle comparison is from the fact that they both operate within a thrashy metalish sound but add in a flurry of other genres like funk, jazz, hiphop, prog, etc... the point being that soad did so to be get on the radio, bungle didnt.

deftones-around the fur is pretty cool, good riffs anyways. but i hate the rest of their stuff.

Everything that came after that, especially White Pony, is a lot more credible than Around the Fur. I like that record though, so I don't know why I'm complaining.

Missing Foundation.1933

Haha, Spineshank and Static-X are both hilarious and got some really cool songs. "Trance is the Motion" is amazing. I don't think they're necessarily GOOD, I just think they're very very listenable. Rage I think is just embarassing and ridiculous, but I like a lot of Tom's guitar shit.

I still don't see the comparison between SOAD/Mr. Bungle. Mr. Bungle doesn't have a genre at all, SOAD are just a nu-metal band with a few wacky parts and funny voices. They really don't sound anything alike, and I don't think a person into one would like the other. Mr. Bungle does have a few songs that go into metal parts, but even those aren't the drop-D nu-metal shit SOAD does...

The only Deftones album I don't like is self-titled. All the rest are solid.

front 242s off album

That Green Day record from '96...?

Weezer's first two albums (aka, the pre-shit era)

well, i remember thinking the static x vid for "pushit" was kinda funny, this goofy akward tall guy with a can of hairspray in his head screaming awful lyrics over some ministry meets pantera goofball rythums. so yes they are funny indeed. i like rage, always have. i think just seeing them as a hip hop band with rock instruments instrad of a rock band with a rapper makes them easier to dig. some of their songs had some huge sounds too.

daisy chainsaws eleventeen and the 3 singles off it..

everything else they put out sucked to high heaven.. because the gorgeous katie jane garside left em!

I agree, Katie Jane is a god to me, but the other records are still quite strong...

Oh fuck, totally forgot Weezer! I also kinda like Bikini Kill's "reject all american" and a few Jack Off Jill songs! Let's not forget the humor factor of stuff like Coal Chamber as well. "LO-CO! LO-CO!"

Foo Fighter's first album rocks. It's essentially a Dave solo album.

weezer made some great tracks, but never a fill record. say it aint so is still nerd pop at its absolute best. i fucking love that song.

full record*

i've got eleventeen on tape, i listened to that a lot back in those days, when Love Your Money was a semi-hit. i've never heard any of their other records though. I saw Queen Adreena play live once about 8 or 9 years ago, and it was OK, but nothing more.