Strap It On

Strap It On is the debut album by American alternative metal band Helmet. Originally released in 1990 through Amphetamine Reptile Records, it was subsequently rereleased by Interscope in November 1991.

For the song by Anthrax, see We've Come for You All.
Strap It On
Studio album by
Helmet
ReleasedMarch 1990
(re-released November 1991)
Recorded1990
StudioFun City, New York City
Genre
Length30:49
LabelAmphetamine Reptile, Interscope
ProducerWharton Tiers, Helmet
Helmet chronology
Strap It On
(1990)		 Meantime
(1992)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[2]
Q[3]

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. The moody, atmospheric "Sinatra" differed from most of the fast-paced, metal-influenced songs on the album; its lyrics featured a paraphrasing of Dean Martin's famous line about the crooner, "It's Sinatra's world/We just live in it."

Reception and legacy

The album received positive reviews, with critics praising the band's fresh, raw and innovative sound. 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."[1] Future guitarist Chris Traynor was a fan of the album, and considered it to be "one of the most important rock records ever."[4]

The Sacramento-based alternative metal group Deftones covered the song "Sinatra," with it appearing on their 2005 compilation album B-Sides & Rarities.[5]

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."[6] Stereogum named the track "Sinatra" as one of the "30 Essential Noise Rock Tracks", and described most of the album as groove metal.[7]

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[8]
1998Alternative PressUnited States "The 90 Greatest Albums of the '90s"12[9]
"*" denotes an unordered list.

Personnel

Band

Technical

References
  1. Birchmeier, Jason. "Strap It On - Helmet". AllMusic. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  2. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. p. 374. ISBN 978-0-74320-169-8.
  3. Columnist. "Strap It On". Q. May 1995. pg. 125, cited March 18, 2010
  4. "Post-Gazette.com". Nl.newsbank.com. August 29, 1997. Retrieved February 21, 2013. (subscription required)
  5. "Discography". Deftones. Archived from the original on May 7, 2010. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  6. Law, Sam (July 8, 2020). "The 50 Best Albums From 1990". Kerrang!. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  7. Terich, Jeff (November 28, 2018). "30 Essential Noise Rock Tracks". Stereogum. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  8. "Alternative Press - Top 99 Of '85 to '95". Alternative Press. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
  9. "Alternative Press - The 90 Greatest Albums of the '90s". Alternative Press. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
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