11-09-2010, 11:21
released Sept 7th, 2010
![[Image: o25031a8cms.jpg]](http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/dro200/o250/o25031a8cms.jpg)
from the album - LA Water
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhMsoeTBLpc
from allmusic
Bio
Like many influential bands, Helmet was born out of an unusual set of influences. Oregon-born guitarist and founder Page Hamilton had actually moved to New York City to study jazz, but found inspiration in the late '80s through post-punk acts Sonic Youth, Killing Joke, and Big Black, and envisioned a group that combined then-unusual tunings (particularly dropped-D) with uneven and jazz-like time signatures and harmonies. The result was Helmet, the East Coast's answer to Seattle's then-underground sensation Soundgarden. Hamilton recruited bassist Henry Bogdan from Oregon, along with Australian guitarist Peter Mengede and Florida drummer John Stanier for the group's first incarnation. Helmet's independent label debut EP, Strap It On, showcased the group's raw power â both instrumentally and in Hamilton's growling vocals â through tracks like the mocking "Sinatra" and rocking "Bad Mood." Signed to the Interscope label soon thereafter, the same lineup released its breakthrough 1992 CD Meantime. MTV aired three videos by Helmet, then the only band close to the Seattle grunge sound on the East Coast, in "Give It," "In the Meantime," and the distorted, stop-and-start showcase "Unsung." Hamilton, Bogdan, and Stanier collaborated with Irish rap group House of Pain on "Just Another Victim," for the 1993 film Judgment Night, after Mengede left the band. The popular soundtrack (with its unorthodox mix of rappers and alternative bands like Ice-T and Slayer, Sir Mix-a-Lot and Mudhoney) created even more of a demand for Helmet's next CD. Replacing Mengede with guitarist Rob Echeverria on 1994's Betty, Hamilton crafted an album even more versatile â and at times even heavier â than Meantime. The song "Milquetoast" appeared on the soundtrack to the hit film The Crow; Stanier's unrelenting drumming drove tracks like "I Know," and Hamilton's jazz background showed on the cover of Dizzy Gillespie's "Beautiful Love." Yet Betty proved to be a critical success but a commercial failure, its versatility relegating it to the cutout bins. Echeverria left Helmet in the mid-'90s to join Biohazard, and the band bought time to refocus by releasing the Born Annoying collection of B-sides in 1995. Hamilton played all the guitar parts for 1997's Aftertaste â but his vocals sounded like his heart just wasn't in a group in which he couldn't keep a rhythm guitarist, and the album proved a disappointment. After touring with Orange 9mm's Chris Traynor on guitar and much deliberation, Helmet disbanded in 1999. But the Helmet influence was heard throughout rock, whether by Hamilton's involvement with industrial groups (Nine Inch Nails) or indirectly through metal acts (System of a Down), and even the atonal distortion of rap-rock hybrids such as Korn and Limp Bizkit.
Helmet returned in 2004 when Hamilton recruited Traynor and a new rhythm section consisting of drummer John Tempesta (Rob Zombie, Testament) and bassist Frank Bello (Anthrax). Signed to Interscope, the group released Size Matters in October. They switched to Warcon/Fontana for 2006's Monochrome.
Album Review
In Helmet's twenty years over a dozen musicians backed up Page Hamilton, and with the exception of Chris Traynor, who played bass for Helmetâs previous two albums, Seeing Eye Dog boasts another new lineup. Yet, with every shift, it seems Hamilton distances himself from the bandâs golden years in the early â90s. Now with guitarist Dan Beeman and drummer Kyle Stevenson, the group sounds heavier and angrier. Those looking to hear the classic sound clash of alt-metal and post-punk that gave the band roots should stick with the first three records (especially when the 2010 deluxe edition of Betty offers bonus tracks). Even so, in this new incarnation, when Helmet sidesteps the typical drop-D Modern Rock that makes up the majority of Seeing Eye Dog (as well as Size Matters and Monochrome), there are some interesting twists. Shoegaze and power pop are slipped into "LA Water," the Foo-Fighters-esque âIn Personâ focuses on tight melodies, and a sweeping string instrumental titled âMorphingâ shows off Hamiltonâs abilities to craft moods as a Hollywood composer. Most of the album stays sludgy though, and Seeing Eye Dog tends to drag more than it hits. The inclusion of a mediocre cover version of âAnd Your Bird Can Singâ might be telling.
Track Listing
1 So Long Hamilton 3:12
2 Seeing Eye Dog Hamilton 4:03
3 Welcome to Algiers Hamilton 4:21
4 LA Water Hamilton 4:09
5 In Person Hamilton 3:06
6 Morphing Hamilton 3:17
7 White City Hamilton 3:25
8 And Your Bird Can Sing Lennon, McCartney 2:14
9 Miserable Hamilton 3:24
10 She's Lost Hamilton 6:30
from the album - LA Water
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhMsoeTBLpc
from allmusic
Bio
Like many influential bands, Helmet was born out of an unusual set of influences. Oregon-born guitarist and founder Page Hamilton had actually moved to New York City to study jazz, but found inspiration in the late '80s through post-punk acts Sonic Youth, Killing Joke, and Big Black, and envisioned a group that combined then-unusual tunings (particularly dropped-D) with uneven and jazz-like time signatures and harmonies. The result was Helmet, the East Coast's answer to Seattle's then-underground sensation Soundgarden. Hamilton recruited bassist Henry Bogdan from Oregon, along with Australian guitarist Peter Mengede and Florida drummer John Stanier for the group's first incarnation. Helmet's independent label debut EP, Strap It On, showcased the group's raw power â both instrumentally and in Hamilton's growling vocals â through tracks like the mocking "Sinatra" and rocking "Bad Mood." Signed to the Interscope label soon thereafter, the same lineup released its breakthrough 1992 CD Meantime. MTV aired three videos by Helmet, then the only band close to the Seattle grunge sound on the East Coast, in "Give It," "In the Meantime," and the distorted, stop-and-start showcase "Unsung." Hamilton, Bogdan, and Stanier collaborated with Irish rap group House of Pain on "Just Another Victim," for the 1993 film Judgment Night, after Mengede left the band. The popular soundtrack (with its unorthodox mix of rappers and alternative bands like Ice-T and Slayer, Sir Mix-a-Lot and Mudhoney) created even more of a demand for Helmet's next CD. Replacing Mengede with guitarist Rob Echeverria on 1994's Betty, Hamilton crafted an album even more versatile â and at times even heavier â than Meantime. The song "Milquetoast" appeared on the soundtrack to the hit film The Crow; Stanier's unrelenting drumming drove tracks like "I Know," and Hamilton's jazz background showed on the cover of Dizzy Gillespie's "Beautiful Love." Yet Betty proved to be a critical success but a commercial failure, its versatility relegating it to the cutout bins. Echeverria left Helmet in the mid-'90s to join Biohazard, and the band bought time to refocus by releasing the Born Annoying collection of B-sides in 1995. Hamilton played all the guitar parts for 1997's Aftertaste â but his vocals sounded like his heart just wasn't in a group in which he couldn't keep a rhythm guitarist, and the album proved a disappointment. After touring with Orange 9mm's Chris Traynor on guitar and much deliberation, Helmet disbanded in 1999. But the Helmet influence was heard throughout rock, whether by Hamilton's involvement with industrial groups (Nine Inch Nails) or indirectly through metal acts (System of a Down), and even the atonal distortion of rap-rock hybrids such as Korn and Limp Bizkit.
Helmet returned in 2004 when Hamilton recruited Traynor and a new rhythm section consisting of drummer John Tempesta (Rob Zombie, Testament) and bassist Frank Bello (Anthrax). Signed to Interscope, the group released Size Matters in October. They switched to Warcon/Fontana for 2006's Monochrome.
Album Review
In Helmet's twenty years over a dozen musicians backed up Page Hamilton, and with the exception of Chris Traynor, who played bass for Helmetâs previous two albums, Seeing Eye Dog boasts another new lineup. Yet, with every shift, it seems Hamilton distances himself from the bandâs golden years in the early â90s. Now with guitarist Dan Beeman and drummer Kyle Stevenson, the group sounds heavier and angrier. Those looking to hear the classic sound clash of alt-metal and post-punk that gave the band roots should stick with the first three records (especially when the 2010 deluxe edition of Betty offers bonus tracks). Even so, in this new incarnation, when Helmet sidesteps the typical drop-D Modern Rock that makes up the majority of Seeing Eye Dog (as well as Size Matters and Monochrome), there are some interesting twists. Shoegaze and power pop are slipped into "LA Water," the Foo-Fighters-esque âIn Personâ focuses on tight melodies, and a sweeping string instrumental titled âMorphingâ shows off Hamiltonâs abilities to craft moods as a Hollywood composer. Most of the album stays sludgy though, and Seeing Eye Dog tends to drag more than it hits. The inclusion of a mediocre cover version of âAnd Your Bird Can Singâ might be telling.
Track Listing
1 So Long Hamilton 3:12
2 Seeing Eye Dog Hamilton 4:03
3 Welcome to Algiers Hamilton 4:21
4 LA Water Hamilton 4:09
5 In Person Hamilton 3:06
6 Morphing Hamilton 3:17
7 White City Hamilton 3:25
8 And Your Bird Can Sing Lennon, McCartney 2:14
9 Miserable Hamilton 3:24
10 She's Lost Hamilton 6:30