A genre of music that incorporates hiphop, decks and digital sound to metal music. Not to be confused with thrash or industrial, NuMetal bands tend to be more commercial than their underground counterparts and attract a certain subculture too.
Linkin Park are Nu-Metal.
by moonrat March 9, 2004
A much-hated subgenre of metal or hard rock, depending on how you view it, that started in the early 90s.
The main characteristics of nu-metal are as follows:
1. Rather short, simplistic songs with some sort of pop hooks
2. Lyrics about personal issues and feelings
3. Lack of guitar solos (if any solos are present, they are usually ahort or not very complex)
4. Many bands take in some elements of funk and rap and mix it with heavy metal music (early Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Korn, etc.)
5. Music which places more emphasis on lyrical meaning and image than technicality
While I agree that some nu-metal out there is quite terrible, a lot of nu-metal out there is hated for the wrong reasons. Some people hate it just because it's popular, some people hate it just because it has no solos, or some people hate it just because the lyrics are somewhat more emotional than lyrics of old-school metal.
Hating a band just because it's popular is like refusing to play a sport like, say, football, just because a lot of people love it. "No way, man! I'm TOTALEE underground and kvlt. I should not be doing any shit that more than 2 people are a part of. I must be DIFFERENT!1!" Honestly, no one cares if you're a rebel. No one is going to praise you or follow in your footsteps. Why must you try so hard to be different?
It's also pathetic to hate a song just because of the lack of technicality. "Ooo, look at me! I'm generic tr00 metal guitarist #628! I can wank off on a guitar and hit 6489789704 notes per second!!! I am so tr00 metal." Face it, some artists like Yngwie Malmsteen and Dragonforce may have a lot of skill and speed on guitar, but a lot of their songs get old REALLY fast. Speed does not always equal talent. There's more to songwriting than making sure that every song has more than 10,000 notes in it, and if you can't understand that, then you obviously know nothing about music.
Also, what's wrong with emotional lyrics? Even "real metal" bands like Megadeth and Dream Theater bring lots of emotion into their songs (Megadeth - Trust, or Dream Theater - The Glass Prison), but are they hated for that? No. Why should nu-metal be any different? It's sometimes pointless and dumb to write every song about random evil crap like Slayer just to prove how much of a "tough guy" you are. Everyone has feelings. Some people want to express them. Deal with it.
So, now that that's out of the way, once again, I'll agree with most of you that some nu-metal out there is definitely a false type of metal that's made just for money or mass appeal. These bands should be burned alive along with their music collections if they won't learn to make real music. But you should also know that some nu-metal out there can be really good. Don't just hate a whole genre to be "rebellious" and "different."
The main characteristics of nu-metal are as follows:
1. Rather short, simplistic songs with some sort of pop hooks
2. Lyrics about personal issues and feelings
3. Lack of guitar solos (if any solos are present, they are usually ahort or not very complex)
4. Many bands take in some elements of funk and rap and mix it with heavy metal music (early Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Korn, etc.)
5. Music which places more emphasis on lyrical meaning and image than technicality
While I agree that some nu-metal out there is quite terrible, a lot of nu-metal out there is hated for the wrong reasons. Some people hate it just because it's popular, some people hate it just because it has no solos, or some people hate it just because the lyrics are somewhat more emotional than lyrics of old-school metal.
Hating a band just because it's popular is like refusing to play a sport like, say, football, just because a lot of people love it. "No way, man! I'm TOTALEE underground and kvlt. I should not be doing any shit that more than 2 people are a part of. I must be DIFFERENT!1!" Honestly, no one cares if you're a rebel. No one is going to praise you or follow in your footsteps. Why must you try so hard to be different?
It's also pathetic to hate a song just because of the lack of technicality. "Ooo, look at me! I'm generic tr00 metal guitarist #628! I can wank off on a guitar and hit 6489789704 notes per second!!! I am so tr00 metal." Face it, some artists like Yngwie Malmsteen and Dragonforce may have a lot of skill and speed on guitar, but a lot of their songs get old REALLY fast. Speed does not always equal talent. There's more to songwriting than making sure that every song has more than 10,000 notes in it, and if you can't understand that, then you obviously know nothing about music.
Also, what's wrong with emotional lyrics? Even "real metal" bands like Megadeth and Dream Theater bring lots of emotion into their songs (Megadeth - Trust, or Dream Theater - The Glass Prison), but are they hated for that? No. Why should nu-metal be any different? It's sometimes pointless and dumb to write every song about random evil crap like Slayer just to prove how much of a "tough guy" you are. Everyone has feelings. Some people want to express them. Deal with it.
So, now that that's out of the way, once again, I'll agree with most of you that some nu-metal out there is definitely a false type of metal that's made just for money or mass appeal. These bands should be burned alive along with their music collections if they won't learn to make real music. But you should also know that some nu-metal out there can be really good. Don't just hate a whole genre to be "rebellious" and "different."
nu-metal hater #1: Man all nu-metal sucks! It's a bunch of guys with no instrumental talent making songs about their feelings that nobody cares about!! You should listen to REAL metal like (insert 80s bands here) because they make songs about Satan and play a billion notes per second!!
Normal Person: You, sir, are an idiot.
Normal Person: You, sir, are an idiot.
by Someone who likes metal June 16, 2007
I don't really know what's wrong with those people that hate nu-metal and nu-metal bands. Apart from LP, I don't listen to genres or artists, I listen to _songs_. Damn, if I hear a catchy melody in a Britney Spears song, I'd like it, still knowing Britney is a bitch. So you lame-asses stop whining, take off your f***in' poser masks, and listen to whatever music that you like. And, you could try looking at the lyrics of nu-metal.
Look at the "broken love"/other themes ratio of most genres. For pop, it's 90/10, for example, 80/20 goes for emo, hip-hop has almost no love, but that's another thing. You see, nu-metal DOES have love songs, but they are different from the masses, and the ratio is something like 40/60.
And why should people blame nu-metal for being mainstream-friendly? Why, in fact, is being "mainstream-freindly" bad? The mainstream is what most people currently like, and, even when its fashion goes away, there would people still listening to it.
And, who cares what kind of people are the musicians? Probably most famous classic music composers were mean bastards, but their music is still remembered. The Beatles were dope-heads, but they still are great. Understand it, nobody cares if Fred Durst is a poser. If you like LB, you like it. And if you don't, you don't.
So stop f***ing around and don't forget that music is made for people to have fun, not to argue. K?
Look at the "broken love"/other themes ratio of most genres. For pop, it's 90/10, for example, 80/20 goes for emo, hip-hop has almost no love, but that's another thing. You see, nu-metal DOES have love songs, but they are different from the masses, and the ratio is something like 40/60.
And why should people blame nu-metal for being mainstream-friendly? Why, in fact, is being "mainstream-freindly" bad? The mainstream is what most people currently like, and, even when its fashion goes away, there would people still listening to it.
And, who cares what kind of people are the musicians? Probably most famous classic music composers were mean bastards, but their music is still remembered. The Beatles were dope-heads, but they still are great. Understand it, nobody cares if Fred Durst is a poser. If you like LB, you like it. And if you don't, you don't.
So stop f***ing around and don't forget that music is made for people to have fun, not to argue. K?
There was this really good example here, it was like, "dude listen to this" - "it rocks, what is it?" - "korn" - "it sucks". If you like some music, listen to it, dammit! Enough hipocrisy.
by Dreben_2097 August 27, 2005
A new genre of music pioneered by the early 90's band, KoRn . Alot of people bash this style of music, saying its for possers and junk. Even going as far as to say the lyrics of these songs have no actual meaning, and the genre is just a "happier" metal, which just isnt true, and example would be KoRn's song from their first album, called "Daddy". The singer, John Davis, is cleary speaking about when he was raped by his neighbor. Oh yeah, thats real fucking happy people. Comparing Nu-metal too traditional metal is apsolutly stupid, it is not that kind of metal. Theres Metal, Heavy metal, and Death Metal, and now we have Nu-metal(probably some other types too). The genre is primarily a merging of rock, punk, rap, metal. Having generally very dark lyrics, sometimes extremly heavy rthymes, and sometimes not so heavy...its not about making the heaviest music they can....this genre was given birth by KoRn, while they were experimenting to find their bands sound. All you you bums that bash the genre need to have more respect. And no, they do not use special studio sound equipment to make it sound good, all the sounds are made by the band memebers, with the same tools any other band uses, and sound just as good live, as they do on their cd's. I'm not saying you gota like the genre, but give it the respec it deserves, and bash this Emo bullshit, and emocore or what ever....now that stuff is crap.
Nu-metal is not a true metal, it is an entirely different genre, that was simply given birth by Metal, to compare the two is entirely inaccurate.
KoRn is a great band, origanly a metal band, but gave birth to Nu-metal in their garage while experimenting with their sound.
KoRn is a great band, origanly a metal band, but gave birth to Nu-metal in their garage while experimenting with their sound.
by Buch Nasty August 25, 2005
A modern, mainstream and watered down form of metal, often mixed with elements of another style, often rap/hip-hop. Famous bands include Korn, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park and System Of A Down. Some bands were more tolerable than others, but on the whole pretty much any band was played beyond the point of annoyance.
Nu-metal's marketing points are it's apparent 'coolness', songs structured with very simple musicianship (in keeping with grunge philosophies), the angsty lyrics, a marketable style which mostly fuses sportswear with grungier, baggier styles, and the feeling of being an outsider or one of the un-cool kids (this is quite ironic as most people who jumped the nu-metal bandwagon at it's height were popular people or became popular as a result). It is one of many fads employing the 'anti-cool' philosophy. Most people who adopt this lack the intelligence to see the irony.
Nu-metal gradually phased out as predicted, and the very same idiotic crowd would be seen later jumping on the emo bandwagon, which is popular at the time of writing. The style would drastically change from stupid baggy jeans to horn-rimmed specs, lip piercings, etc. Whatever fad, though, most scenesters have a LiveJournal account.
Nu-metal is reviled by dedicated metal purists, particularly classic metal and death/black metal fans. This is because it is seen as a false type of metal. Whether this is true or not, the point is defended by the fact that nu-metal was the epitome of crass commercialism. Tragic also, is the fact that nu-metal is the predominant perception of metal as a whole, which has led to would-be real metal fans writing off an entire genre of inventive and inspiring music.
Nu-metal's marketing points are it's apparent 'coolness', songs structured with very simple musicianship (in keeping with grunge philosophies), the angsty lyrics, a marketable style which mostly fuses sportswear with grungier, baggier styles, and the feeling of being an outsider or one of the un-cool kids (this is quite ironic as most people who jumped the nu-metal bandwagon at it's height were popular people or became popular as a result). It is one of many fads employing the 'anti-cool' philosophy. Most people who adopt this lack the intelligence to see the irony.
Nu-metal gradually phased out as predicted, and the very same idiotic crowd would be seen later jumping on the emo bandwagon, which is popular at the time of writing. The style would drastically change from stupid baggy jeans to horn-rimmed specs, lip piercings, etc. Whatever fad, though, most scenesters have a LiveJournal account.
Nu-metal is reviled by dedicated metal purists, particularly classic metal and death/black metal fans. This is because it is seen as a false type of metal. Whether this is true or not, the point is defended by the fact that nu-metal was the epitome of crass commercialism. Tragic also, is the fact that nu-metal is the predominant perception of metal as a whole, which has led to would-be real metal fans writing off an entire genre of inventive and inspiring music.
by TimFS December 26, 2005
corporatized, lobotomized, watered-down mainstream answer to the grind/death/crust music of the late 80s and early 90s crossed with elements of hip-hop, but lacking any of the things that made either form of music music great- i.e. guts, thoughts, belief, intensity, passion, speed, technical ability, a real reason to be angry. Nu-metal encourages kids to buy CDs at the mall, spend their money on stupid accessories at Hot Topic, and rebel against their parents when they should be rebelling against the system that built the mall they're shopping at.
by chthonik May 13, 2004
Poser1:Yo, I'm this music is so raw, its like saying "fuck you" to the corperate world
Poser2:Your cell phones ringing
Poser2:Your cell phones ringing
by Dnite April 15, 2003