Hey,

I think the summer is ending. No, no, really. So imagine my annoyance to discover a really great rock club right here in this hole of a town. I mean, seriously, I'm walking in, and Trivium are on. Then it slowly gets slower, more punky, more poppy, until it descends into some "crowd-pleasing" indie. There was no need for indie, the room was full of rockers. I didn't even realise there was such a large community here. They also played some ska. I don't get ska. Why are they all so happy? Why do they make you want to bounce and smile so? Who said they could make songs that are sunny and cheerful? Fuckers.

Anyway, at one o'clock, they play the first Slipknot song. Then they play Killing In The Name Of. Then, fuck me, Davidian by Machine Head, and a massive pit explodes. We get more of the 'knot, a Hatebreed track, and some other proper metal, I loosen my neck verterbrae, irrepairably damage my ears and hop off home happy.

But to find something more interesting, I got into a conversation with someone when Papa Roach came on. My point was that even though I would never listen to that metal anymore, I basically owe any interest I have, for the past five years to them, and other nu-metal bands like them. If I hadn't heard "Last Resort" or Korn's "Got the Life" (or, *ow ow ow* Limp Bizkit) on MTV, I would probably never have starting for looking for other bands to listen to, and realise that there was heavier, more accomplished, purer metal out there and become the fan I am now.

On the way home, I was considering all this. I guess with all sorts of music, there must be some who break through to the mainstream. Often, these are inferior bands who can be marketed and managed and used by record label executives, and that's a shame. But, it must also create a load of music fans who demand more, and find it. A kid get's interested in Eminem, and eventually find Staight Outta Compton. Someone else likes Green Day, and ends up listening to Bad Religion and the Clash. Millions of people listen to albums by the Killers and Franz Ferdinand and the Kaiser Chiefs every day, so one day, probably, one of them might develop the ability to think for themselves and stop thinking that just because the DJ said it's good doesn't mean it actually is.

I also got to thinking, the reason some people never get past the mainstream is because there's too much of it. So maybe, what the world really needed was only five nu-metal albums, and because I'm a list freak, I worked it out.

1. Korn "Korn"
2. Deftones "Around the Fur"
3. Papa Roach "Last Resort"
4. Drowning Pool "Sinner"
5. Staind "Break the Cycle"

The first two are great albums. The third one is the one that probably draws you in in the first place. The forth is because that's what every album after that point is going to sound like, so we may as well just be done with it on one CD. The fifth one is to remind people that we've tried to mix rock with pain and introspection, and it really hurt.

We are done here. Love.