Track Listing

1. In The Meantime
2. Ironhead
3. Give It
4. Unsung
5. Turned Out
6. He Feels Bad
7. Better
8. You Borrowed
9. FBLA II
10. Role Model

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #98663 in Music
• Released on: 1992-06-01
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Their best, and it's a classic
This was Helmet's second release on a big label, and their first big album - it made me an instant fan.

As any other reviewer will say, Helmet were one of the first bands to use drop-D tuning and the stop and go rhythm-based metal that inspired a number of seriously inferior nu-metal bands in the late nineties. It's a shame that this is true, because while Helmet did start that off, there simply isn't any comparison between your typical nu-metal band and Helmet. Intelligent lyrics, a "raw" production sound, aggressive, crunchy riffs, and hoarse screaming from jazz-trained Hamilton make this album a memorable one. If anything, I'd count this as having more to do with Pantera than any mediocre nu-metal group.

It's hard to find this in the UK, but you can get it shipped from the states, and if you like the nu-metal sound but didn't like the dopey lyrics and the turntables, you should check out this album.

Heavy, Clinical, New Yorks Finest
I first heard this album shortly after it's release in 1992, and to be honest had never heard of the band. I had heard recordings from other early Amphetamine Reptile based bands before this and had not thought much of them. However on purchasing this and listening for the first time, it was no wonder they were given a contract by US giants Interscope records. The Album contains 10 3min tracks of what i like to call 'clinical' rock/metal - and could be called the grandfather of numetal. The tracks are very tight with the guitars & drums playing off each other all the way. Singer / guitarist Page Hamilton being jazz trained, he uses this to the max with some crunching riffs and even weirder lyrics - but it all seems to fit. The follow up Betty, played on the weird card even more - for the genuine Helmet experience buy this album. A true classic.

Hugely influential hardcore
From the moment 'In the Meantime' comes crashing out of your speakers, it is clear you are onto a winner. To the casual listener, it is a raw, stripped-down slab of root aggression, topped off by unrelenting shouted vocals. Those who listen closely, though, will find that, built around the fantastic staccato guitar work that makes up the framework for the song, is a whole range of underlying noise and riffs that come in from different tangents.

It is not only the opening track where this attention to detail is evident. It is a recurring theme throughout, and is what really elevates Helmet to their near-legendary status as one the pioneers of the hardcore genre. Well, that and the masterful riffs that songwriter and frontman Page Hamilton is able to churn out with such conviction.

The hardcore genre has since reached new heights and extremes, and has spawned many sub-genres. However, Helmet still have so much skill and passion behind their own music that 'Meantime' acts as far more than merely a foundation or stepping stone to modern hardcore, but remains a classic in its own right. The band have now split, but 'Meantime' catches them at their very best.