{Feature} Steve Stred’s Tunes From The Crypt #8

Now – I’m not going to say that I’ve always had a great taste in music. What others like isn’t always what I like. Saying that – there’s a number of bands that I’ve loved who I don’t even really listen too much anymore. Some bands, I loved when they came out and now can’t stand them.

Here’s a grouping of bands that I loved at some point, but can’t listen to much now for one reason or another.

System of a Down

I remember when System of a Down erupted out of nowhere. I can’t remember how I got my hands on a demo of their first album in CD form, but someone went to a show in California, grabbed a demo disc they were handing out and it made its way up to me in Canada. I really dug them at first, but now can’t handle much of their music and have lost all care as to if they ever release new stuff again.

Sugar

Chop Suey!

Godsmack

Man, when Godsmack first arrived I was blown away. At that time, they were different. No one else was doing stuff like them and I really dug their riffs. But then they turned into a generic band and once the US Army began to use their song as its recruiting tune in commercials, I lost interest. The over-saturation became too much for me.

Keep Away

Voodoo

Disturbed

Disturbed is another band I really dug when their first album came out but then just petered out in my interest. It’s exciting to see how massive some of these bands have become, which means that they get more folks into heavy music, but in this case Draiman and Co, just grind my nerves now.

Down With the Sickness

Stupify

Slipknot

Don’t know what to say here with Slipknot. Never been a fan. They have a few good songs and I dig how intense they are, but overall just not a fan. If you are, great, no offence, just not my cup of tea.

Duality

Before I Forget

Static – X

This is a band I still dig. Saw them live and they were a fun live band. It sucks to see how things have played out and then when Wayne died, I assume they were dead and buried.

Now, with the anniversary tour and the “zero” singer (Edsel Dope has been confirmed) I think it’s a nice tribute but not sure it should continue with new albums or music. At least it’s not a hologram.

Push It

Cold

POD

POD (Payable on Death) is an interesting band. They are still around and still delivering music, but for the most part, they’ve fallen away from their massive sales days. I didn’t mind some of their stuff, but for the most part they never really grabbed me. Youth of a Nation is still such a topical song. My favourite tune from them though is their song from The Matrix soundtrack.

Sleeping Awake

Youth of a Nation

Methods of Mayhem

Yeah, yeah. I know. I actually was excited when MoM came out. I always dug Tommy Lee’s drumming and I like when musicians take risks and try new things. While MoM were supposed to put out a third album, that ultimately became a Tommy Lee solo album, that disc contains one of my fav hard rock songs ever with ‘Hold Me Down.’

Get Naked

Hold Me Down

Crazy Town

Another band that burst out of nowhere to massive sales and then faded away. Known for their single ‘Butterfly’ they did have some solid hard/metal songs, but I think overall, too much was focused on image and not enough on substance. Crazily – they’re out on tour for the 20th anniversary of Butterfly!

Drowning

Butterfly

HED PE

HED PE is a band I was introduced to by my wife. I wasn’t that big of a fan, but they had a few good songs. They are still out there releasing stuff, but I haven’t heard anything in a while.

Bartender

Renegade

American Head Charge

Another band the wife introduced me too was American Head Charge. I think I only liked a few of their songs. They tragically lost a guitarist on tour, passing away in his sleep. The band was inactive for some time, but I believe they’ve now reformed or regrouped.

Just So You Know

Loyalty

Dope

Dope is one of the 90’s metal bands that got their start off of a cover. That seemed to be a frequent trait amongst a number of bands. Orgy, Dope, even Marilyn Manson all broke out after their covers of famous songs became hits. I still enjoy listening to Dope, although I haven’t listened to any of their most recent stuff. The first few albums were on heavy rotation for years.

Spin Me Round

Everything Sucks

Mudvayne

The second to last band I’ll discuss in this edition of Tunes is Mudvayne. These guys are another band to storm out of nowhere. Their LD50 album caught a lot of people off guard and their makeup and extreme stage presence helped push them to massive heights. They underwent a few changes over the years; different makeup/alien masks etc, before going on hiatus when Hellyeah formed.

I don’t really care if they make new music, nor do I listen too much of them anymore, but they do have a few good songs.

Dig

Not Falling

Drowning Pool

Drowning Pool. The band with maybe the biggest case of “what could have been.” They rode out of Texas, on the back of Dave Williams, reaching massive heights with their hits “Bodies,” “Tear Away,” and “Sinners.” Then, on tour, Dave didn’t wake up.

They’ve gone through a number of singers since, most notably Ryan from Soil. Personally, I really enjoyed their second album, their first with Jason Jones singing.

I don’t listen to them much anymore, but it’s a strange case to think about just how big this band could have been.

Tear Away

Step Up

Alright! That’s all for this edition!

We’ll see you next time where I dive into some tunes from some industrial style bands!

Steve Stred

Steve Stred writes dark, bleak horror fiction.

Steve is the author of the novels Invisible & The Stranger, the novellas The Girl Who Hid in the Trees, Wagon Buddy, Yuri and Jane: the 816 Chronicles and two collections of short stories; Frostbitten: 12 Hymns of Misery and Left Hand Path: 13 More Tales of Black Magick, and the dark poetry collection Dim the Sun.

On September 1st, 2019 his second collection of dark poetry and drabbles called The Night Crawls In will arrive. This release was specifically created to help fund the 1st Annual LOHF Writers Grant.

Steve is also a voracious reader, reviewing everything he reads and submitting the majority of his reviews to be featured on Kendall Reviews.

Steve Stred is based in Edmonton, AB, Canada and lives with his wife, his son and their dog OJ.

You can follow Steve on Twitter @stevestred

You can visit Steve’s Official website here