embryo

No. I simply like this album a 3 and a half. It may be their masterpiece, but I like it this way and I have also explained why. Amen.

No, I don't understand where the problem lies. Simply put, I think this album could be their best record, but it’s not a masterpiece. Just a good album, that’s all. Whether the others are better or worse is not my concern. I like this album 3 and a half. So be it. Amen.

Better than prophecy for sure. They've become a bit repetitive but they're still very enjoyable anyway. And then live, they really kill it.

Good job, DaveJon

Oh, but is it possible that you can't detach yourselves from the nu metal cliché = rap + metal?! Nu metal is not just Limp Bizkit or Papa Roach because they rap; there are a myriad of nu metal bands with different styles! Even Deftones don’t rap, for that matter. If nu metal were only this, the bands would be counted on two hands at most. And then Omeganex, in my opinion, it's this way: I'm not talking about shitty bands like Linkin Park, Crazy Town, and others who are the most shamelessly commercial, but I think Korn, Deftones, and others, regardless of the value of their music (Korn has made some very mediocre albums, for example), have still wanted to simplify the canons of metal, resizing or eliminating solos and various virtuosity in favor of greater expressiveness. I take as a comparison power and prog bands, for example, which IN MY OPINION have very little expressiveness (ultra-technical music and lyrics that talk about epicness, battles, wars, and death). If you think that Blind Guardian, Helloween, or Dream Theater are more expressive than Korn, Deftones, and SOAD, you are free to believe that, but for me, it’s not the case. If you believe that the first Korn album is commercial and was a clever ruse to sell and get onto MTV, you're free to think that; for me, it’s not like that.

In my opinion, there’s both beauty and ugliness in every genre, and Korn have done great things (their first album is unparalleled). Just like Deftones and SOAD. I believe that without certain nu-metal, we’d be quite lost. It had the merit of making metal a more expressive and accessible music after long years of hyper-fast solos and themes often self-serving. While bands like Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, etc., are great, I think metal has never had such an existential dimension. Which I don’t think is a small thing. With nu-metal, metal may have lost in technique and spectacle, but it gained in intensity. And come on, you’re not really going to tell me that “Blind” by Korn and “Be Quiet and Drive” by Deftones are bad songs!

Anyway, Fidia, it's you who doesn't know. Go read the chart data from that period and then, if you dare, tell me that in 1989 Louder Than Love or Superfuzz Bigmuff sold as much as Nevermind in '92!

Kosmogabri, with all due respect I ask you: are you really sure that if Nevermind hadn’t existed, the bands I mentioned would have had the same success? I don’t believe so. It was Nevermind that elevated grunge from an underground and niche phenomenon to an international level. There’s nothing to say about the artistic stature of the other bands, which have nothing to envy of Nirvana, but Cobain and the others managed to achieve with Nevermind what the others couldn’t before them. Before Nevermind, Screaming Trees, Mudhoney, Alice In Chains, even Soundgarden and Nirvana themselves had only a few thousand admirers; after Nevermind, they all had millions of fans. Right? :-)

Album of absolute and transcendental beauty. I agree with silian: discreet reception.

I'm sorry, but I completely disagree with what you've written. 1) Bleach is grunge par excellence, precisely because grunge is, to use your terms, a coagulation of punk, metal, and other rock subgenres. 2) Defining Nevermind as commercially-driven to the core is truly harsh: it's true that it is much more accessible than Bleach, but it remains a great album that has had the merit of elevating the underground to a global level. The fact that it became an enormous success, in my opinion, is not a flaw. It may be true that over time grunge became a trend, especially thanks to Nevermind, and produced a rather unfortunate series of clone bands, but without it, we probably wouldn't know wonderful bands like Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Screaming Trees, etc. 3) It's not necessarily true that someone who loves Nevermind can't like Bleach: for example, I discovered them with Nevermind and ended up preferring Bleach. Those who are interested in easy listening music might not appreciate Bleach, but those who admire Cobain appreciate all of his music, both Nevermind and Bleach.