6) “Blank Generation”
[youtube]https://youtu.be/yyprXVobddk[/youtube]
Yeah. Now we’re in the thick of it. By and large, at the time of its release, Supercharger was just a lame duck. The American backlash against mainstream heavy music in the wake of 9/11, combined with the band’s most overt attempt at radio success just left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. I think if this record had come out in 1998, things would’ve panned out quite differently. Sometimes the world just takes a shit on you, man, and in retrospect, that’s what Supercharger feels like. The album has a few good cuts, some of which still make the live show (I, for one, love “Bulldozer”), but most of these songs have been relegated to the “best forgotten” dumpster. I went with “Blank Generation” because it’s got a cool atmosphere, some textured instrumentation, and it’s a master class on the “end riff” refrain style that nu-metal so heartily embraced. You know what I mean… after the verses and chorus have made their mandatory two passes, it’s time to switch shit up for a down-tuned, clunky precursor to the metalcore breakdown, thrash shit out for a bit, then come back around to that sweet-ass chorus one. Last. Time. And, scene. The formula of “Blank Generation” is as predictable as it gets, but it’s still a fun tune, and it contains my favorite Supercharger lyrics, “So we give back a little bit of what the world’s given us / Givin’ back a bit of never givin’ a fuck” (this is closely followed by Supercharger b-side “Ten Fold,” in which Flynn proclaims, “I wouldn’t piss in your ass if your shit was on fire.” Fuckin’ wrap your head around that one).
7) “Five”
[youtube]https://youtu.be/4-E4_jfV5-s[/youtube]
Child abuse in nu-metal was a big thing. I never dug too deep into Robb Flynn’s background (at least not as far as verifying any of this song’s lyrical content, being as it’s, you know… not my fucking business), and I didn’t have any kind of experiences of my own to link to it, but when I heard The Burning Red in high school, none of that mattered. Back then, and still today, “Five” is this album’s heaviest moment; it’s the closest the guys got to succeeding anything from The More Things Change… on that album’s terms. But the heaviness isn’t all that makes it outstanding. Ross Robinson’s production hasn’t always aged well; in fact, in a lot of cases, albums that guy made sound like shit now. But Robinson’s organic approach pushed Machine Head to new territory for the record, and it’s territory they’ve yet to subsequently revisit. There’s an intimacy to “Five” that, when combined with the nature of the lyrics and the style of the music, resonates on the same primal level as Sepultura’s best Roots cuts (defending Roots is a battle I’ll also fight, but not today, son. Not today). And followed by the ethereal title track, it’s a genuinely cathartic end to an effort that’s, on the whole, somewhat misaligned.
8) “Negative Creep”
[youtube]https://youtu.be/U5WeJeYSsgY[/youtube]
Another killer cover. While I loved Nirvana as a pre-teen, a lot of my admiration for the band dwindled after I found more extreme music. But that doesn’t mean I don’t grin a little when I hear a heavier take on one of their songs. “Negative Creep” is my favorite track from Bleach, and on the Take My Scars single, Machine Head really did their thing with it. It’s interesting to see how the song lends itself to the style MH were exploring at the time, especially since I feel like it worked better than the covers that made the import version of The More Things Change. Those, if you’re curious, were the well-worn Discharge classic, “The Possibility of Life’s Destruction,” and Ice T’s “Colors.” The band didn’t fuck with the tempo, didn’t throw in any unnecessary embellishments to “metal it up.” They just added some beef and let it fly.
An old friend of mine absolutely despises this band. I mean, he fucking hates them. And he always has. But I think, in a way, that kind of polarization can be part of the hallmark of a band that matters. Especially in 2015, it’s hard to arouse that kind of ire without resorting to Emmure-esque attention whore theatrics or Varg-style militant white nationalism. Sure, Robb Flynn’s been known to run his mouth in the press from time to time, but that’s called rock & roll. They still deliver live, they’re 100% committed to staying in touch with their fan base, and according to Flynn’s most recent online journal entry, they’re in the best place “business-wise” they’ve ever been. In other words, Machine Head isn’t going anywhere. They’ve got the track record to prove that wherever they land, no matter who else populates the territory, before long, they’re probably going to end up owning everything around them. It also doesn’t hurt that their material is well-crafted and served up with an honesty that, despite throngs of motherfuckers decrying the band as trend-jumpers, is unflinchingly authentic. GIVE. RE. SPECT.
