I never knew "nu-metal" was a derogatory term.

Because Nu Coke.

That was the generation when Godsmack, Disturbed, Static X, Korn, POD, System of a Down, Nonpoint, etc. etc. were in their prime. It was from 1999-2005ish. That genre takes a lot of flack because it is radio friendly or "mall metal".

I love all of those bands because they really do bring me back to my roots. I never would have gotten into "harder" bands if it wasn't for them.

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That genre takes a lot of flack because it is radio friendly or "mall metal".

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I can see this. It's a melding of my two favorite genres of music: Metal and Rap.
Both genres are anti-establishment and I was the first generation to be entirely raise on rap. Run-DMC and Aerosmith were walking their way all over MTV.
I figured it was a great mashup. Then came "Bring the Noize" and I went crazy for that shite.

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Godsmack, Disturbed, Static X, Korn, POD, System of a Down, Nonpoint,

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There is some undeniably great music in there.

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When I think Nu Metal, I think POD, Korn, and Limp Bizkit. Those are bands I am content never hearing ever again.

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I wouldn't say that about Korn. I enjoy their unique loose string/heavy bass sound. Though, their "Paradigm Shift" album when they experimented with dubstep was pure dogshit.

Because it's aggressively awful and more to the point, stupid and mean-spirited. It's anger without direction. Hey, I like some angry music, but Public enemy was literally calling for a revolution. They weren't just aimlessly mad at Everyone for Everything.

But I do admit I hate nu metal more than I actually hate it because it is the death knell of 90s grunge and alt-rock. there was a genuine attempt in the early 90s by mainstream artists to make earnest, socially conscious music. And year, earnestness never ages well, but within just a few years, the dominant rock music was angry, humorless, and just mean. There was a brief era there were girls could go to shows without getting groped, but now we're back to trying to get women to show their tits on the jumbotron. It's embarrassing. And there was a sudden backlash to "****s" and "bitches". When just a few years earlier, everyone was invited in the big Loser tent together.

Anyway, a lot of my feelings can be summed up in this article:
LINK

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Grunge wasn’t just dead; its body was being chopped up so close friends and relatives couldn’t identify it. For the next several years, a new wave of bands systematically wiped away the gains alternative rock had made in the early ’90s. Grunge was consumed by a new beast, and vomited back up with the most rank, least edible chunks of metal and hip-hop. Whether it was called nü-metal or rap-rock (or far worse epithets by those that couldn’t fathom the ugly blitzkrieg of belching fury suddenly coming at them from the fleet of bright yellow muscle cars rapidly taking over Main Street in every American town), this was music that took the sludge and the self-pity of early-’90s rock and turned it into something leaner, meaner, and nefariously empowering.

Nü-metal became the overture for what was about to come down in the ’00s, its inarticulate roar simulating the jet engines of George W. Bush’s America firing up and incinerating the grungy Clinton ’90s. Political correctness was the new establishment, and dismantling it became the first item on rock’s to-do list. Treating women like “bitches” and gays like “****s” in song lyrics was now an acceptable form of rebellion, not to mention an easy way to get a rise out of bleeding-heart squares. Making money—and flaunting it—was okay again. Nü-metal beat grunge at its own game; you could feel sorry for yourself without worrying about other people. In fact, other people were the problem. It was the perfect state of mind for the American teenager bored with the comfort and affluence of the late ’90s, and resentful of bands pushing them to Rock The Vote and support Amnesty International. Soon, everybody wanted what nü-metal was selling, in all its various guises.

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But here’s the thing: Over the years, I’ve stopped being the protagonist in this story. It’s clear to me now that I was the antagonist all along. I’m the bad guy that got his comeuppance. I was criticizing something I didn’t understand; this music didn’t communicate with me because it wasn’t supposed to communicate with me.

I’ll never get Korn and Limp Bizkit. I’ll always consider nü-metal a symptom of the nihilism, self-absorption, and arrogance percolating in American culture in the late ’90s, before it flowered into something really ugly a few years later. I find nothing inspiring about this music. I feel that I am right about this. But I suspect this opinion is meaningless, because I’m just playing the role nü-metal wanted me to play. I was the adult now. The '90s were almost over and they put me right back where I started, on the outside looking in.

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It was the death knell of "Alternative Nation" and similarly, my youth. And no one likes to see their youth die so quickly or in such an ugly fashion.

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Its a pretty shitty genre overall.

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If I never hear another Korn tune as long as I live I'll die a happy man.

I actually don't mind Static X. I thought WDT was a cool album.

WDT was a good album -" I cant believe Im letting you do this to me"

Dont let these punk/indie rock guys fool you. Some good music did exist inside the genre. How it is viewed NOW vs THEN is completely different. Prespective always changes with age.

Id be lying if I told you I didnt jam Korn. I use to love that "angry" music because I was infact angry. Then I grew up and it just doesn't carry the same weight for me. This was at a time when the internet was not what it is now. Circus magazine was how I found tons of music. Back then Nu metal ruled the day thus the music scene.


Looking back at what bands like Modest Mouse, Radiohead,TOOL, QOTSA(take ya pick) it certainly is easy to shite on that genre

Nu-Metal took a more modern metal sound and mixed it with Frat Bro mentality. What's not to hate?

I graduated HS in 2001. I was there when Nu Metal began. And I hated the genre even then. Mainly I think because of the idiots I went to school with.

But I was the weird high schooler who had a cd collection that included the likes of MxPx, Dave Matthews Band, Dream Theater, Phish, and Oasis. I didn't have very many friends.