Size Matters

[Ruoska]

The correct term for these "bands" is K Mart metal, or Wal Mart in America.

i have never heard these descriptions before...

But the minute you read them, you instantly know why they're called that

[markofcain]

hehehehehe......k mart metal.........love it..........its also called "SAFE METAL"....because you can listen to it and your parents wont get too pissed off.....but you can still retain that hard/troubled edge

[lamb_of_gods]

hehehehehe......k mart metal.........love it..........its also called "SAFE METAL"....because you can listen to it and your parents wont get too pissed off.....but you can still retain that hard/troubled edge

Safe Metal , good term.Although that misses the whole point of bands like Slipknot . 12 yr girls love it because they say shit and mummy thinks their evil. Oh and one time the drummer killed a guy on stage and then they all drank his blood.
To all Slipknot fans.Two Words "Stone Sour"

[jarek]

I just put on youtube my cover of See You Dead http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLWY4MU9vBs

[setvak]

I'd already listened to Meantime and Betty when I gave this album a listen, and at first I was a bit disappointed that Helmet had seemingly stuck to the same formula. But it wasn't long before I started to really appreciate this album. It's probably their most accessible so far, especially because of Page's vocals, they reach an emotional level that's different from the other albums. I'm actually working on singing Unwound, I can handle the verses without a problem but the chorus is just out of my range, which is just the kind of challenge I've been looking for vocally. Unfortunately I've had a bad cough for the last two weeks, which is wreaking havoc on my practicing.

[markofcain]

i really enjoy this album now...well i can do without the middle 3-4 songs...but the rest i really dig...love the production on this album too...you can hear every instrument sing...

[bornannoying]

I love this album. I'd even rate a few songs (Surgery, Last Breath) as some of my favourite Helmet songs. I think it suffered in many ways: to some extent the production bothers people, it weathered the whole "yeah great, but it's not really Helmet, is it" debate; there was the issue of it using arguably inferior renditions of songs demoed for Gandhi; there was the "what the fuck! He's actually singing now" thing; also the "hey, what's with these lyrics about chicks and stuff?"....on and on. Some valid criticisms, some not. Either way, I guess a little distance from all those issues has allowed the songs to stand or fall on their own merit with most fans.

I've never really bought the idea propounded by some critics that they've essentially recycled the same idea ad nauseam. Superficially, yes, it's the same musical aesthetic, but I think each successive album shows a considerable refinement of the original idea. If you take, say, Bad Mood from Strap It On, you can hear a fairly crude version of the characteristic contrast between quite monotonic riffing deliberately taken to the Nth degree with primarily rhythmic interest, and more harmonically complex and melodic chorus sections. Go forward through the catalogue and you'll find increasingly more sophisticated applications of that idea.

[eht13]

I've never really bought the idea propounded by some critics that they've essentially recycled the same idea ad nauseam. Superficially, yes, it's the same musical aesthetic, but I think each successive album shows a considerable refinement of the original idea. If you take, say, Bad Mood from Strap It On, you can hear a fairly crude version of the characteristic contrast between quite monotonic riffing deliberately taken to the Nth degree with primarily rhythmic interest, and more harmonically complex and melodic chorus sections. Go forward through the catalogue and you'll find increasingly more sophisticated applications of that idea.

Very well said.

Regarding Size Matters, it's ironic that this is coming up here now because I recently realized that the album has grown on me more too. As markofcain said, there are a few songs near the middle that I could do without, but overall it's actually very good. Size Matters, Monochrome, and Aftertaste are now all an even tie with each other in my personal ranking of Helmet albums:

1. Meantime
2. Betty
3. Strap It On
4. TIE: Size Matters/Monochrome/Aftertaste
5. Born Annoying

[couch X slouch]

I finally listened to SM today after a few months and I still feel the same... the middle 4 songs are just sort of there. The record has 4-5 real bangers and combined with the 4-5 bangers from Monochrome that would've been a Helmet record that's as good as any other Helmet record i.e. on par with 'older stuff'. Page should've done an EP and held out a little longer and he would've had a masterpiece on his hands.

[markofcain]

this seems to be a recurring theme with all of helmets albums post betty...not well recieved at first...but over time and plenty of listens they seem to really grow on you...i think its just getting your head past the whole "its not meantime" thing and take the album on its merrits...

[IFutureman]

I might be the only one alive who thinks this, but "Enemies" is a really incredible song. I love the slow, sinister grind and the buildup to the wrenching solo, the vocal HARMONIES underneath the solo... It's in my top ten Helmet songs for sure. It was a real departure for Helmet too, I think it's probably their slowest song, and one of their longest.

[jarek]

I might be the only one alive who thinks this, but "Enemies" is a really incredible song

Ohh Enemies is one of my favorite song , specially Gandhi version

[eht13]

Yup, I love "Enemies" too.

[CrashingFCars777]

this is my fav. Helmet CD, Crashing Foreign Cars and See You Dead are my fav songs on there, Page is my hero

[CrashingFCars777]

Size Matters tends to be spoken of poorly, but I really enjoy it. The production on the album is amazing. Sonically, it is the best "sounding" album that Helmet put out. I also think Page really shined on vocals. Both his singing and yelling were very well done. I also really dug the tunes. A fine return after a long hiatus.

yea i agree I notice a lot of people saying that Size Matters was no good but I think its the best cd they have