Helmet - Strap It On Review

Helmet Strap It On

dig it

full review

Tracklist:
1 Repetition
2 Rude
3 Bad Mood
4 Sinatra
5 FBLA
6 Blacktop
7 Distracted
8 Make Room
9 Murder

Release Date: 1990

user rating

3.7
great

Chart.

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On 4 Lists

5.0
classic

sj_2150 USER (5 Reviews)

2005-12-06 | 15 comments | 952 views

1 of 2 thought this review was well written

Page Hamilton was walking home one night at 2am. While he walks down he has a crazy riff stuck in his head. He arrived at his humble abode and wrote down the tab while he tried to play it. Without being able to hit that deep note he desired, he dropped the E string to a D. “It wasn’t soon afterward that the songs started popping out of me" Page recalls. Later, Hamilton founded the four piece Helmet.

The band quickly made a name for themselves and recorded their first release STRAP IT ON on a very small label called Reptile. After the album, the band received much attention by fans and huge record labels. Helmet was snatched up by Interscope records and was named “The next big thing". However although their second release in 92, MEANTIME went platinum, the band never seemed to break through in the mainstream, possibly because of their very off beat, non-commercial, experimental and heavy sound. They then released BETTY in 94, an extremely experimental album that fused rock, jazz, blues and metal (probably even more genres) together. BETTY wasn’t as big as MEANTIME, but the two are usually said to be Helmets best. The band went trough many problems with each other as line-ups constantly changed in the band. In 97 Helmet released their (what was to be at the time) final album AFTERTASTE, which was great, but seemed not to satisfy fans with what was expected. The band toured in 98 and then split up.

Helmet was resurrected since then around 2003/04 with Page Hamilton being the only remaining original member of the band and released SIZE MATTERS. It wasn’t their best album but it was good for a comeback. Helmet just recently at the end of 05 was dropped by Interscope records due to poor sales of SIZE MATTERS, even though the record company didn’t seem to do their part in getting the album attention.

Helmet has been known to influence many huge bands. Silverchair being one of them, Ministry, Quicksand, Nine Inch Nails, Deftones and Sepultura, in fact on ex-frontman Max Cavaleras later band Soulfly, Helmets track “In The Meantime" is covered. The band is also known as the early inventors of nu-metal before famous bands such as the somewhat shameful display of metal acts in Korn, Limp Bizkit, Taproot, Chevelle etc. There would also be many jazz and blues bands influenced by them as well as many more genres.

TRACKS – Out of 5

“Repetition"
This was the song Page had in his head at 2am. The roar of a guitar starts the album and then proceeds to stop and have a bass riff repeat a few times. Page gives a quick scream which then bursts into a heavy riff and then moves into an unbelievably catchy groove. Page executes the vocals well. The lyrics are also very odd “Sit there pathetic, admire myself, pass offers of great sex, no threat the evil goes, Gone". There is a great bridge and solo that go with the song as well. This song shows a pure Helmet sound and gets ya dancing (how many metal songs can get you to do that?)
5/5

“Rude"
Starts off with a little drum beat until Page screams “RUDE". A one note riff follows and then turns into another riff. Pages voice poor in this rack though, it sounds as if he had a really sore throat when they recorded it. The chorus is a repetitive “Rude, Rude, Rude…"
Another great solo.
3/5

“Bad Mood"
One of the best songs on the album. It starts off with a noisy guitar and then is followed by the rest of the instruments. The lyrics are awesome and the chorus is an amazing high distortion sound that will make you reach for your air guitar. A weird feedback solo is truly badass. The song abruptly ends after a few rotations of the main riff and Page yelling “Die". The song only goes for 2 minutes and should have gone longer but it never bores you and is nice and racy.
5/5

“Sinatra"
This is yet another classic song. It has also been covered by Deftones and released on their b-sides album. The song is the slowest on the album with some more amazing lyrics. It’s as close to a ballad that the album gets. The songs lyrics are a reflection of people who are pessimistic. It’s also interesting that Hamilton would have the balls to make a song like this and refer to Frank Sinatra in it, which is so metal! “In Sinatra’s world, she just lives here, I hate everything as much as I hate me" wasn’t he worried he might end up with concrete shoes at the bottom of a river? Anyway…
5/5
(I know this review has many 5/5s but the album is actually THAT consistent)

“FBLA"
The song is yet another outstanding piece of work. There is also a sequel to the song on their 92 album MEANTIME called “FBLA II" and for the record; I have no idea what FBLA stands for. The song is about fake musicianship and Pages referral to the makers of hollow and uncreative music. The song is raging to begin with, and then turns into a riff with a large break between the riffs (it’s also really cool that you can faintly hear a countdown between the riffs, it very oddly makes the song even better). Page then screams “Fight!". The main riff proceeds, this time with drums between the break. The song then turns into the crazy tune that starts the song. Another cool solo in this song.
5/5

“Blacktop"
Finally! A more mediocre song! It is still a song to listen to. Cool little guitar jam at the start and turns into another one of those Helmet riffs, the song isn’t too heavy or too grove orientated though. The lyrics seem quite confusing in this song as well
3.5/5

“Distracted"
A really heavy song that goes heavy from start to finish, Page in the chorus screams “You Walk!" and it sounds absolutely killer. The rest of the lyrics are cool too. The song is about being distracted by something that leads you to forget about the more important thing at hand. The second verse he talks about getting it on and then pleading for forgiveness.
4/5

“Make Room"
The same riff repeats with a few variations of it for the chorus. Pages voice shines in this song as his voice is subtle and drifting, until he roars another one of his one or two word (but effective) choruses. The last thirty seconds of the songs kicks into a riff that would sound like it’s never been done before if you were to play it today.
4/5

“Murder"
Awesome feedback screeches from the guitar as the snare drum is being pounded slowly, and then builds up as it gets faster. Page yells a rather comical echoing “woo". An incredibly low riff rages after and then turns back to its feedback screech that started the song, and then back to the low riff. The song starts to go through a more staged approach as there are a lot more different riffs played in the song, as well as eerie careless guitar strumming in the versus. Vocals are Pages best on this song with plenty of powerful screams. No singing in, this just roars are used to express the amazing lyrics written. The song is of course about murder. There are too many great lyrics to paste any as id probably end up pasting all the song lyrics, but the end Page repeats “No one said, no ones safe". This song is the heaviest on the album and is a perfect way to end such an album
5/5

The album STRAP IT ON is one of Helmets best and is as raw as they come. The production is very bad, but the album really brushes past the quality side of things as the talent shines. A heavy crunch sound, powerful grooves and off-beat drumming gives this album a sense of carelessness for quality and puts shame to the public who make this band ever so underrated. This album is highly recommended to anybody who loves heavy music as well as any fan of any type of rock or alternative genre. The album doesn’t seem to be in large masses at record stores so if you see it, definitely buy it, you will not be disappointed.
5/5

Page Hamilton – Guitar, Vocals
Peter Mengede – Guitar
Henry Bogdan – Bass
John Stainer - Drums

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