I like me some good 70's funk, but that Helmet track rules.

losthighway wrote: Mon Sep 06, 2021 8:11 pmDang! How do you like Quicksand (r&b goddesses aside)?

When Slip came out I thought it was kinda ho-hum, but I had nothing against it. It wasn't for me. For a major label release, it still retained some decent recorded bass, guitar, and drum sounds which was a plus. I thought the conception and purpose of their project was thought through and solid enough- it felt whole at least. It was decent but didn't do anything for me. Their next album was god-awful and I don't think I've paid attention to them since.

For me, Meantime/Betty era Helmet was horrible and irritating in both concept and execution. The band's best element (the propulsive, methodical grind) was borrowed from, and better exemplified by other bands of the time. The other stuff- from the cheese-dick metal guitar (are those rackmount distortion effects?), to the rhythm section playing Uplift Mofo Party Plan outtakes- flat out sucked. Then there were the blunt, dumb lyrics (that were pushed front-and-center in the mix for some reason), the disappointed coach/angry coach vocals, the half-assed Sonny Sharrock solos, the fussy banality of the drumming (the guy has to be a Neil Peart fan!) and on and on and on. Every element of Helmet seemed to point at cross-purposes, leading to a muddled outcome. In my opinion they were a slapdash band without a center, propelled by heapin' helping of bad taste. It surprises me they still have a following. I thought time would have weeded them out by now.

Oh this is literally BD? I though her name had been coopted by a noise act.

Anyhow, Helmet are fucking terrible and one of the few bands on which I have walked out. They were not bad enough to be funny. Mark of Cain were bad enough to be funny.