1998 family values tour
Though some would rather forget about the history of rap-metal collaborations, the interest from both sides was sincere at the time. It’s a sometimes thrilling, occasionally uncomfortable compromise between alt-metal and hip-hop sensibilities. 1998’s Follow the Leader brought them into the mainstream, cleaning up their sound with mixed results. Korn not only survived, they achieved two Platinum albums, largely through touring and word of mouth - with little support from radio or the press. In Korn’s world, nothing made sense - all they could do was channel a lifetime of pain into one record.īut as it turned out, nothing made sense to many of the nation’s teenagers, too. The Bakersfield, California five-piece’s self-titled debut was wildly original: Jonathan Davis sang and scatted about self-loathing and abuse, while his band played dissonant, down-tuned funk rhythms. In 1994, Korn sounded like the end of music. Have we forgotten what made nu-metal appealing in the first place - the music? Do these albums still hold up today? And how did August 18, 1998, perhaps the biggest day in nu-metal history, influence the next 20 years of hard rock? News and hype traveled more slowly back then, and the broader cultural impact of the three LPs wouldn’t be felt until early 1999. Few would have bought all three - at least, not on the day they were released. They didn’t sound that much alike - if nu-metal was high school, Korn were the weirdo stoners, Kid Rock the class clown, Orgy the goth theater kids. Tuesday Augsaw the release of three definitive nu-metal albums: Korn’s Follow the Leader, Kid Rock’s Devil Without a Cause, and Orgy’s Candyass. We may look back on nu-metal as a cultural punchline, the soundtrack to our not-so-fond memories of frat parties and Napster - but it started as a genuine musical movement. In the late ‘90s and early 2000s, the likes of Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park brushed shoulders with Britney Spears and *NSYNC on the Billboard charts, TRL, and even the Grammys and VMAs stages. Nu-metal was dark and nihilistic, but grew surprisingly catchy. Was there a more uniquely late ‘90s phenomenon than nu-metal? In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, alternative and funk metal bands - Faith No More, Jane’s Addiction, Red Hot Chili Peppers - fused genres in a way that felt thrilling, but organic.īut using the same template, nu-metal bands borrowed shamelessly from hip-hop and electronic music, with little regard for good taste, respectability, or rock’s traditional values. He looks back at three pivotal nu-metal albums, all of which dropped on the same day in August of '98, and how through their varied approaches, they combine to demonstrate both the best and the worst of what the genre was capable of. This week, Billboard is celebrating the music of 20 years ago with a week of content about the most interesting artists, albums, songs and stories from 1998.