Strap It On
Studio album by
Helmet
ReleasedOctober 1990
Recorded1990
StudioFun City, New York City
Genre
Length30:49
LabelAmphetamine Reptile
ProducerWharton Tiers, Helmet
Helmet chronology
Strap It On
(1990)		 Meantime
(1992)

Strap It On is the debut album by American alternative metal band Helmet. It was first released in October 1990 through Amphetamine Reptile Records, and later reissued through Interscope Records in January 1993.

Critics considered the album innovative for its explosive, propulsive, and often staccato riff style which greatly exploited Drop D tuning. It has since become a cult classic in the post-hardcore genre and even influential on the metal scene.

Background and recording

Helmet was formed in 1989 by vocalist/guitarist Page Hamilton after he left the alternative rock group Band of Susans. Hamilton would recruit guitarist Peter Mengede (originally from Australia), bassist Henry Bogdan, and drummer John Stanier.[1] Having not settled on a name yet, Mengede's then-wife Reyne Cuccuro suggested the Germanic name of "helmuth".[2] Having misinterpreted her, Hamilton thought she was referring to the helmet protective gear. Thinking it was "a pretty cool name for a band", Hamilton went with the Anglicized spelling and the band was named Helmet.[3]

The band was quickly noticed by Halo of Flies guitarist Tom Hazelmyer, who signed Helmet to his label Amphetamine Reptile Records; the band would release its debut 7" single, "Born Annoying", later in 1989.

In total, $2,500 dollars were spent on making the album.[4] The album was produced by Wharton Tiers and the band.

Release

Strap It On's original release came through independent noise rock label Amphetamine Reptile Records in October 1990.[5] In January 1993, it was re-released by their new label Interscope Records.[6]

Reception and legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal7/10[8]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[9]
MusicHound Rock[10]
Q[11]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[12]
Select[13]
Sounds[14]
Spin Alternative Record Guide6/10[15]

The album received positive reviews, with critics praising the band's fresh, raw and innovative sound. In September 1992, the original Amphetamine Reptile release was estimated to have sold 10,000 copies.[5] By February 1995, this figure had increased to 40,000.[16] Amphetamine Reptile Records founder Tom Hazelmyer would later state that Strap It On kept the label going throughout the 1990s.[16]

AllMusic's Jason Birchmeier wrote in his review "The nine-song album is a brief one, clocking in around a half-hour, but even such brevity proves wonderfully exhausting by the time you near the last couple songs. In fact, by the time you make it past 'Sinatra', one of the album's highlights and also the halfway point, slow fatigue threatens as the riffs continue to hammer away unrelentingly and vocalist Page Hamilton's sometimes-tuneful, oftentimes-bellowing shouting grows seemingly further agonized. The overall relentlessness should be a sheer pleasure to those who enjoy the intensity of metal without the clownish clichés yet, at the same time, enjoy the originality of alt-rock without the pansy passivity."[7] In 1994, The New York Times labelled Strap It On as "relentlessly noisy."[17] In 2006, Pitchfork labelled it and Meantime as one of "the metal band's two triumphs."[18] Future guitarist Chris Traynor was a fan of the album, and considered it to be "one of the most important rock records ever."[19]

Kerrang! ranked the album at No. 19 in their list of "The 50 Best Albums From 1990", and stated that the album is "balanced on the centre-point between alt.metal, noise rock and post-hardcore."[20] Stereogum named the track "Sinatra" as one of the "30 Essential Noise Rock Tracks", and the album as "rough-hewn post-hardcore" and groove metal.[21]

In 2004, the songs "Repetition", "FBLA", "Bad Mood" and "Sinatra" appeared on the compilation album Unsung: The Best of Helmet 1991–1997.[22] The track listing for the compilation was chosen by Page Hamilton.[23] The Sacramento-based alternative metal group Deftones covered the song "Sinatra", with it appearing on their 2005 compilation album B-Sides & Rarities.[24] The song was also covered by the band Livver on the 2016 Helmet tribute album Meantime (Redux). The album further included covers of "Bad Mood" by Blackwolfgoat and "Blacktop" by Heads.[25]

Track listing

All music and lyrics by Page Hamilton.

No.TitleLength
1."Repetition"3:00
2."Rude"4:13
3."Bad Mood"2:15
4."Sinatra"4:31
5."FBLA"2:40
6."Blacktop"3:20
7."Distracted"3:12
8."Make Room"3:28
9."Murder"4:03
Total length:30:49
Japanese bonus track
No.TitleLength
10."Impressionable"2:04
Total length:32:53

Accolades

Year Publication Country Accolade Rank
1995Alternative PressUnited States "Top 99 of '85 to '95"25[26]
1998Alternative PressUnited States "The 90 Greatest Albums of the '90s"12[27]
"*" denotes an unordered list.

Personnel

Band

Technical

References

  1. ↑ "Helmet Biography". AllMusic.
  2. ↑ "Interview - Rolling Stone". bluecricket.
  3. ↑ "Interview - Rolling Stone - Helmet". bluecricket.
  4. ↑ 1992 Bring The Noise magazine Interview
  5. 1 2 Greer, Jim (September 1992). "Major League". Spin. Vol. 8, no. 6. SPIN Media, LLC. pp. 78, 116.
  6. ↑ Clark, Randy (January 16, 1993). "Music Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 57 (19) – via worldradiohistory.com.
  7. 1 2 Birchmeier, Jason. "Strap It On - Helmet". AllMusic. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  8. ↑ Popoff, Martin (2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 195. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  9. ↑ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). "Helmet". Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 4 (4th ed.). MUZE. pp. 233–234. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4.
  10. ↑ Scanlon, Christopher (1999). "Helmet". MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. pp. 540–541.
  11. ↑ Columnist. "Strap It On". Q. May 1995. pg. 125, cited March 18, 2010
  12. ↑ Kot, Greg (2004). "Helmet". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 374. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  13. ↑ Perry, Andrew (August 1993). "Helmet: Strap It On". Select. EMAP. p. 108.
  14. ↑ Lawton, Ian (February 9, 1991). "Playback" (PDF). Sounds. United Newspapers. p. 40 – via worldradiohistory.com.
  15. ↑ Walsh, Jim (1995). "Helmet". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 181–182. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  16. 1 2 Clark, Rick (February 25, 1995), "Give Them One Good Region: Local Labels Congregate In Cities Where Talent Gathers", Billboard, p. 114, retrieved April 19, 2015
  17. ↑ Strauss, Neil (July 24, 1994). "RECORDINGS VIEW; an Earful of Noisy Sludge from Three New York Bands". The New York Times.
  18. ↑ "Helmet: Monochrome". Pitchfork.
  19. ↑ "Post-Gazette.com". Nl.newsbank.com. August 29, 1997. Retrieved February 21, 2013. (subscription required)
  20. ↑ Law, Sam (July 8, 2020). "The 50 Best Albums From 1990". Kerrang!. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  21. ↑ Terich, Jeff (November 28, 2018). "30 Essential Noise Rock Tracks". Stereogum. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  22. ↑ Kellman, Andy. "Unsung: The Best of Helmet > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  23. ↑ "Helmet best-of to be released in January". www.punknews.org. December 27, 2003.
  24. ↑ "Discography". Deftones. Archived from the original on May 7, 2010. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  25. ↑ "Various Artists – Meantime Redux". October 4, 2016.
  26. ↑ "Alternative Press - Top 99 Of '85 to '95". Alternative Press. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
  27. ↑ "Alternative Press - The 90 Greatest Albums of the '90s". Alternative Press. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
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