Aftertaste (album)

Aftertaste
Studio album by Helmet
Released 18 March 1997
Recorded July–November 1996 at Capitol and Hollywood Sound in Los Angeles and RPM in New York
Genre Alternative metal, post-hardcore
Length 40:42
Label Interscope
Producer Dave Sardy and Helmet
Helmet chronology
Betty
(1994)		 Aftertaste
(1997)		 Unsung: The Best of Helmet (1991–1997)
(2004)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Rolling Stone [2]
Pitchfork Media (8.4/10)[3]
Entertainment Weekly (B-)[4]
Alternative Press [5]

Aftertaste is the fourth album by Helmet, released in 1997 on Interscope. This proved to be Helmet's final album with original members John Stanier (drums) and Henry Bogdan (bass). Guitarist Rob Echeverria, who appeared on Helmet's previous outing, Betty, left the group to join Biohazard. Subsequently, the album was recorded as a three-piece, with Page Hamilton covering all the guitar parts. Guitarist Chris Traynor (formerly of Orange 9mm) came on board for the supporting tour.

Aftertaste harkens back to Helmet's earlier, rawer sound, omitting some of the experimental/jazz tendencies of Betty. The album met with a lukewarm critical and commercial response and went out of print in 2006.[6]

This album along with Meantime and Betty is considered a definitive text in post-metal.[7]

Contents

Track listing

  1. "Pure" – 3:32
  2. "Renovation"† – 2:55
  3. "Exactly What You Wanted" – 2:36
  4. "Like I Care" – 3:19
  5. "Driving Nowhere" – 4:19
  6. "Birth Defect" – 2:31
  7. "Broadcast Emotion" – 2:44
  8. "It's Easy to Get Bored" – 3:26
  9. "Diet Aftertaste" – 3:16
  10. "Harmless" – 2:58
  11. "(High) Visibility" – 2:41
  12. "Insatiable"† – 2:31
  13. "Crisis King" – 3:54
(All tracks by Hamilton, except † by Bogdan/Hamilton/Stanier)

The Japanese release has one extra track, "Complete", which had also appeared on the soundtrack to the 1995 movie Johnny Mnemonic.

Chart positions

Album

Year Chart Position
1997 The Billboard 200 47

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
1997 "Exactly What You Wanted" Mainstream Rock Tracks 19

Personnel

Band

Guest Musician

Production

References

  1. ^ Aftertaste (album) at Allmusic
  2. ^ 3/6/97
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ "No Title". Ew.com. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,287153,00.html. Retrieved 2011-10-05. 
  5. ^ 4/97, p.74
  6. ^ "helmet aftertaste". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=helmet+aftertaste. Retrieved 2011-10-05. 
  7. ^ "HELMET Rediscovery". X-Press Online. 2007-03-28. Archived from the original on 2007-08-31. http://web.archive.org/web/20070831112757/http://www.xpressmag.com.au/archives/2007/03/helmet_rediscov.php. Retrieved 2007-03-31. "Albums such [as] Meantime (1992), Betty (1994) and even Aftertaste (1997) eschewed the traditional concept of heavy music, trademarked the drop-d power-groove in 5/4, and pioneered a whole new trend in music. Even now, these albums stand on their own as definitive texts in post-metal." 
Helmet
Page Hamilton • Dan Beeman • Kyle Stevenson • Dave Case
Peter Mengede • Rob Echeverria • Chris Traynor • Henry Bogdan • John Stanier • Frank Bello • John Tempesta • Mike Jost • Jeremy Chatelain • Jimmy Thompson • Jon Fuller
Studio albums
Strap It On • Meantime • Betty • Aftertaste • Size Matters • Monochrome • Seeing Eye Dog
Other releases
Singles
"Born Annoying" • "Bad Mood" • "Blacktop" • "Unsung" • "Give It" • "In the Meantime" • "Primitive/Born Annoying 1993" • "Just Another Victim" • "Milquetoast" • "Biscuits for Smut" • "Wilma's Rainbow" • "Exactly What You Wanted" • "Like I Care" • "See You Dead" • "Unwound" • "Smart" • "Gone" • "Monochrome" • "Money Shot" • "Revenge Destroys Everything"
Labels
Related bands
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