Top 7 Rap Metal or Nu Metal CDs

Is rap metal the same as nu metal? Yes? No? Kind of? I would say kind of, I would say nu metal for sure started off as rap metal, then perhaps some nu metal became harder to indentify as rap metal e.g. it only used rap metal style beats and riffs, or the raps became more alternative rock-like.

Before anyone tells me, "Nah dude, nu metal started off with Korn's first album blah blah blah" to quote Seth in Dusk Till Dawn, "That's a matter of opinion and I don't give a fuck about yours."

Oh yeh I decided to do a Top 7 for this one. Why the hell not?

1. Rage Against The Machine debut album

Yeh I had to put this in at number 1 really, everyone knows this is an excellent album. As far as any rap-rock list goes, this should probably always go in at 1. Every track is really good in some way or another, except for maybe track 8 Fistful of Steel (despite having a cool name). Not only a testament to fantastic rap rock but also a really amazing album for it's time. It came out in 92 but the production was quite excellent, and sounds just as good as music put out today. The actual music on the album too still sounds quite fresh to this day e.g. the 7th track Wake Up (which was used for film The Matrix), still sounds hip and rockin' today! OK maybe some of the lyrics don't quite sound quite so contemporary, but they're still relevant in my opinion, with some simple adaption.

All of RATM albums are very good tbh, though they only had 4 of them so I suppose it's not a totally incredible feat. IMO it's better a great band only have few albums, 5, 4 or even 3 and they're very good rather than embarrassingly put out consistently bad or mediocre albums.

2. Limp Bizkit 3 Dollar Bill Y'all

OK Fred and his band picked up their clown reputation around about their 3rd album (which actually wasn't that bad). Their second album was good, though I've chosen their first album here, which I thought was a really good rap metal album.

Rap metal I'd say is pretty hard to do well consistently which is why I'll say that this album unfortunately did have 1 or 2 filler songs which I can't even remember how they go looking at the track list. They must have been pretty bad as to have eradicated them from my memory, but also looking at the back cover track list I must say I've listened to this album alot and enjoyed the songs very much.

3. Deftones Around The Fur

Yeh OK, here is where the term 'Rap Metal' gets stretched some. If you were looking for some 'purist' rap metal, you probably wouldn't find what you were looking for in this album. This album is excellent though. It's very alternative sounding, but you could definitely say the lead singer Chino is kind of rapping on many of the songs. Alternative Rap Metal? Why the hell not, it sounds great.

A song to pluck as an example is the track that featured Max Cavelera (I'd bet that maybe these nu-metal guys got the idea to feature fellow peer musicians maybe from rap artists that worked with each other alot around this time). Kind of a hardcore style of rap-rock rapping at the beginning of the song. "We're rocking through this world!" an apt quote from the song :D

4. Korn Issues

Yeh I guess the 'rap' from rap or nu metal goes out the window on this entry (I had to put it in there though). Everything else, save the vocals, on this album are funky and hip hoppy, blended incredibly well with heavy metal. Kinda like Korn's massive hit 'Freak on a leash' from their album before this one, kinda like they took that song and remade it a bunch of times to make this amazing album. Did that sound negative in any way? It shouldn't as this is Korn at their funkiest best.

5. Papa Roch Infest (Special Edition)

This was like a Top 10 (possibly even no. 1) album when it came out, I don't think I need to say much about it. I had to add it though, even I'd admit it was really pretty good. You have to get the Special Edition version though (released in UK and I think in other parts of Europe)! The extra song Legacy is up there with the many great songs of the album, and the live track is good too.

6. Cypress Hill Skull and Bones

Only half (well, more like a third really) of this album was rap metal (the rest was simply rap, which tbh wasn't that good). But it was awesome enough of course to top off the list.

Their albums one before and one after this had one or 2 rap metally songs on them too. Actually I'd say their album before this (called IV) is maybe their best album, it was pretty cool.

7. Bloodhound Gang Hooray for boobies

I recently saw a guy doing Mope at a kareoke (weird I know), and I was impressed. To me it sounded like ICP, and when I heard the song for real it also reminded me of ICP (which I'm also a fan of). I guess this is more kinda weird rap rock than rap metal. I only knew em before for their Chasey Lain and Discovery Channel songs heh.
But yeah I since went and bought the album, it's dope as hell.


Runners-Up
Linkin Park - almost but not quite
Slipknot - first album was hardcore, perhaps too hardcore to put on this list
Machine Head - I used to think their Burning Red album was really good I guess, there album after (Supercharger) also I thought was pretty good
Twiztid - Freek Show album, ICP affiliates really rocked it with this album