Customer Reviews

Aftertaste

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Most long-time Helmet fans (and I count myself as one), when this album was released in 1997 pointed to what they saw as flaws - a concious effort to make the album accessible, a (slight) tempering of the ferocity the band displayed up to and including "Meantime," and the simple fact that they didn't remake the same album over and over. Guess what? "Aftertaste" might be their most consistently enjoyable disc.

While I pretty much enjoy any and all of Helmet's albums (okay, "Size Matters" isn't that great...), I can ALWAYS throw "Aftertaste" in and get into it. The songs hit with the melodic sensabilities of a band like Foo Fighters without losing the crunch Helmet was known for. I think this set of songs stands out more than their breakthrough "Meantime" or their older material, generally favored by fans that want to put forth the image that they weren't late to the Helmet party. The drums on this disc are particulary noteworthy, with John Stanier turning in his always-reliable hard-hitting drumming, this time augmented with better production. The songs (all of which, I think, were written by Page Hamilton) are better than anything he's written before or since, minus a handful of tracks. The lyrics are better than anything before or since - take lines like "I'd rather be insulted by you than someone I respect" for instance.

I know this review will irk some long-time fans, but it's time to hang up your elitist attitude and admit that just because a band breaks through to the mainstream, it doesn't mean their best work is behind them.

This is the greatest straightforward metal album of the mid '90s. Page Hamilton has an amazing ability to come up with truly heavy, catchy riffs. He keeps a good variety in the songs as well, and the soft parts come out right. This album is excellent for playing along with and is required material for any serious metalhead's collection. All thirteen songs are good.

Helmet is a perfect example of why we have all these weak, insignificant pop bands and the mass sheep of our consumers continue to buy those albums instead of listening to real geniune amazing bands like helmet. these guys were so ahead of there time its insane. this is one of the best albums ever made and so are there other ones. they continued to push the envelope and expand there sound while keeping true to there hardcore roots. if it wasnt for helmet there probably wouldnt be the hardcore bands that are out there today so buy this ablum and listen to one of the best albums you will ever hear.

I am probably in a minority here with my opinion, but to me, this is Helmet's second-best work. It encompasses everything they had done up to this point- the harshness of Strap It On, the more focused assault of Meantime, and the diversity of Betty- in a series of thirteen songs that are catchy, pummeling, or both.

The first 2/3 or so of the record showcases a somewhat new sound for the band. There had been a push towards more verse-chorus styled songs on Betty, but that was just a part of that record's experimentation with the Helmet sound. Here, more conventional pop structure is wielded as a powerful tool, and it makes the first seven songs GREAT!!! These songs are just the right mix of aggressive and catchy that defined this new approach to Helmet, and nary a single one has even a weak moment. "Renovation", "Driving Nowhere", "Broadcast Emotion"... these are some of Helmet's best songs, period. The riffs are menacing, the choruses are strong, the lyrics are wonderfully bitter, and the rhythms slam with force.

Then the record grinds to a screeching halt with the somewhat aptly named "It's Easy To Get Bored". Pretty weak track there- could've easily been left off. Not too exciting.

Then- WOW! The remaining five songs mark a return to the old Helmet sound- the production even changes noticeably to reflect this. The preceding songs had a sort of alterna-metal crunch to their sound, but beginning with the title-plus track "Diet Aftertaste", the production loses its sheen. "Diet Aftertaste" KILLS, by the way, as does the next track, "Harmless". "Harmless" would've fit easily on Meantime, or at least as a B-side to a single from that era, but I'll be damned if it isn't all the better for it. "(High) Visibility" has some cool rhythmic stuff, as does "Insatiable", which is angry and harsh like the days of yore. Finally, "Crisis King" concludes the record with a great vocal hook ("You'll never go down fighting... you'll just go down!") and a killer riff to match.

By the way, this was the last record with the phenomenal rhythm section of Henry Bogdan and John Stanier, the loss of whom the band would never fully recover from. Helmet has yet to feature a bad bassist or drummer, but they're now basically session guys and don't function as a team the way those guys did. Easily rivals Helmet's somewhat-peers the Jesus Lizard and their legendary Sims/MacNeilly duo.

In conclusion, BUY THIS RECORD! You can find it ridiculously cheap (I paid $2.99) and it's so good! If you've mainly listened to old-school Helmet, it will have to grow on you, but at the very least tracks 9-13 will have your head banging. This is one underappreciated record, for sure.

as a fan and long time listener of intelligent nyc hardcore such as the swans or sonic youth and more "experimental" composers such as glenn branca, i have followed hamilton's career with great interest. if you have listened to branca's work (hamilton was a member of one of the manifestations of his guitar orchestras, i believe) and band of susans and have some knowledge of where he is coming from aesthetically, hamilton proves himself yet again as a great song writer. i disagree strongly with the reviewer who said hamilton has sacrificed emotion in his lyrics for a bombastic vocabulary. there is emotion in every song, a decidedly more jaded and misanthropic set of lyrics than the previous alblums. hamilton's intelligence shows through in his brevity, yet well contructed phrasing. helmet comes from a much different place than rage against the machine, korn, pantera etc. the fact that he is an excellent jazz guitarist puts him structually above these bands and his minimalism shouldn't be confused with simplicity....in short, this is a great alblum and anyone who enjoyed the last three, or hardcore that breaks the mono-syllabic barrier, should buy it.

It's a shame that Helmet isn't popular. They can crush your bones with heavy metal anger like no other. Strap it on and Meantime were both raw and based on rocking out instead of melody crooning. On Betty, Page Hamilton experimented with singing instead of attempting to rip is vocal chords in half by screaming into the microphone. Aftertaste skillfully combines these two elements presenting both melodic and heavy sides of the band. The opening tracks, "Pure", "Renovation", and "Exactly What You Wanted" pound strong riffs into your skull, but are not too brainless or misled. Efforts such as "Driving Nowhere" and "It's so Easy to Get Bored" calm down the listener by subjecting melodies into one's head that will stay there all day. My one and only complaint about the album is that the lryics hold no emotion. Page tries too hard to impress with long words and well-structured sentences. Overall though, Aftertaste is Helmet's most focused sounding album.

I personally thought this was their best CD. Dark, and rugged. Thick production with vocals a bit in the background. Better than the 2 cds since reforming as well.

OK, it's time to live up to my name. Helmet is/was my favorite band for most of the 90's. They are responsible for me receiving a ticket in my Jeep for noise disturbance (thank you very much, I enjoyed it completely...) Strap It On = 100% balls. It is the bomb dropped from nowhere. "FBLA" cannot be equaled by any other band and when they played this live...forget it!! ... The title song rules, is my favorite Helmet song ever. "Unsung" is actually my least favorite of this one (it was re-recorded for the album; the original indie single was better). Betty was a letdown for me because I could not get into the duller-guitar / bass-heavy sound of producer T-Ray (carried over from the "Judgment Night" sdtrk). And the Page-in-experimentation-mode just did absolutely zero for me (skip button, please...).

Which brings us to the long-awaited, oft-delayed Aftertaste. This is a very good-sounding record & a nice rebound from Betty. Page's guitar is back in-your-face again but yet without covering up Henry's phat bass & John's trademark whip-cracking drums. Also a little resurgence of the Strap It On-era shouted vocals, which I actually prefer to the monotone singing they had fallen into. You can feel Page's emotion much more when he just lets it out.

For track highlights, check "Exactly What You Wanted", "Broadcast Emotion", "Diet Aftertaste" (classic Page stop-start riffing & swinging rhythm section), "(High) Visibility" (mean-sounding bass intro), & "Insatiable" (the most vicious song here & one of their most vicious ever). "Birth Defect" is intriguing because it starts off rather loping and dull but, man, does it pick up near the end: Page lets loose with an incredible, bursting, sick high-on-the-neck guitar solo, if I can call it that. It is more like demonic possession with fingers moving spastically all over the strings. And the final track "Crisis King" simply steamrolls until all is destroyed in its path - a fitting end.

The reason for 4 (& not 5) stars is because Aftertaste does not quite match up to Meantime & Strap It On - not quite as cohesive in the overall skull-crushing domination dept. But still recommended over Betty. ...

Also, in general, the lyrics here are old ground and not exactly spellbinding. This is indicative that maybe things were winding down for Page in this particular configuration. The good/evil thing with Helmet is that Page was THEE undisputed dynastic control freak ruler of the band - which means you get the music the way it is but you also get the burnout factor taking effect with him & the other band members. This album was actually recorded & then re-recorded two complete times (more or less) until Page was finally satisfied with it. It may say D. Sardy as producer, but you know who ran the show. In addition, Page is responsible for virtually all the recorded guitar parts, as the band was between rhythm guitarists at the time (a common theme).

Even though I was HEART-BROKEN, I now feel it was the correct decision (by Page) to disband after this record. I don't know if he could have come back again with yet another Herculean effort in the studio - because it has to be that way with him. He embodies sonic greatness, but it does not come easy. I am afraid of what the next Helmet record could have sounded like and, I believe, so was he.

So I look back fondly at this last piece of music from Helmet and it is a fine slab of riffage, indeed. It was underappreciated because it took so long to come out, but you could do a whole hell of a lot worse for your fix of raw, aggressive, energetic, hard rock music. I recommend it (maybe w/ some aspirin) to all!!

After reading some crazy reviews saying this album is no good, I had to jump in. I've been a fan since Meantime. This is the best album they have ever put out...period. Every track is sick. The writing is perfect. The lyrics are perfect. The beats and the bounce, perfect. Sounds so good even to this day. I put this in on the way to work today for the first time in a few years and OMG, still fresh. Anyone that says this album is not as good as Meantime or Betty is crazy. It is their most mature and well-rounded album. Wish the original line-up would finally reunite. The newer albums are just so lost compared to Aftertaste and earlier works.

Aftertaste by Helmet, compared to Betty and Meantime, is more hook and chorus driven. The cool riffs are still there, albeit they're not quite as good, in my opinion, but the experimentation with time signatures is diminished some. Also, Page Hamilton does more singing (opposed to screaming/growling) on Aftertaste than before, which is good but sometimes doesn't match the music.

Although not as memorable as Meantime or Betty, Aftertaste has its moments. Still, I could have done with just Meantime and Betty in my small collection of CDs.