Meantime (album)

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"Ironhead" (1992)
30 second sample of the Meantime track "Ironhead".
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Recording

Meantime was recorded by Wharton Tiers on a budget of $25,000. [13] Recording sessions lasted two weeks; Mengede recorded his parts "in an hour and a half or so of a morning." [14] The song "In the Meantime" was recorded by Steve Albini and later remixed by Andy Wallace. Wallace would make additional changes to the album; the contrast between his style of mixing, which involves (among other things) triggered samples and a cleaner, more polished sound (leading to the album's distinctive half-wood, half-metal snare drum sound), irritated Albini. Later, when in negotiations to record Nirvana's In Utero , he stipulated a clause be added to his contract stating that Wallace would not be allowed to remix the album, after he had mixed Nevermind , which was released nine months before Meantime.[ citation needed ]

Artwork

The album cover features an image of a man in a white protective suit shoveling some substance on the ground. It is taken from a photograph by David Plowden, "Puddler In Blast Furnace Cast House, Steel Mill, East Chicago, Indiana (1979)".

The album is available with one of two reversely-colored covers; one has a blue background with a white-on-red Helmet logo, and the other has a red background with a white-on-blue Helmet logo (pictured above).

Touring

To support the album in 1992, Helmet opened for Faith No More, [15] a band which, like Helmet, would later be credited with influencing the nu metal movement. [16] These shows came about since the members of Faith No More wanted to have Helmet on their tour. [17] In some promotional photos from 1992, Faith No More's bassist Billy Gould can be seen wearing a Helmet shirt. Later in 1992, Helmet toured North America with metal bands Ministry and Sepultura, where they were consistently playing in front of crowds of several thousand people. During the tour, drummer John Stanier suffered injuries in a road accident, which led to Stone Temple Pilots filling in for Helmet on some of these dates. [18]

In early 1993, the band went on a tour of the Pacific. They played their first shows in Peter Mengede's home country of Australia in January 1993 at the Big Day Out festival. Following this, they performed in Japan and Hawaii. [18] The Hawaii show would be Mengede's last with Helmet, as he departed the band in February 1993, after disagreements with Page Hamilton over their songwriting process. [19] Their 1993 show in Melbourne, Australia was released on Live and Rare in 2021, which was Helmet's first official live album. [20]

Reception

Commercial performance

Meantime was originally scheduled to be released in April 1992, [21] being delayed until June of that year. The vinyl release of the album was handled by Amphetamine Reptile, who negotiated with Interscope to retain the vinyl rights to the band. [22]

It became Helmet's breakthrough album, and upon release peaked at number 68 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart, and at number one on the Top Heatseekers chart. It also managed to chart outside of the US in 1992, by peaking at number 88 on the Australian ARIA Charts. It is still considered their most commercially successful release and, to date, it is the only Helmet album to go gold in the United States. Their follow-up album Betty charted in Canada, New Zealand and several European countries, in addition to charting at a higher position in the United States and Australia. However, it has sold a lower number of copies overall when compared to Meantime.

Andrew Earles of Spin that while Nirvana's Nevermind largely increased major label interest in alternative rock, Metallica's Metallica (1991) "pointed a fair amount of attention towards the commercial potential of heavier forms of rock, then the surprise success of Helmet's Meantime contributed to the same concern." [23] Earles added that while Nevermind "opened the primary floodgates", the surprise success of Meantime "thoroghly hypnotized Interscope", who in turn "extended the long arm of illogic" far enough to unmarketable albums like Claw Hammer's Thank the Holder Uppers (1995). [24]

Critical reception

Meantime
Helmet Meantime.jpg
Studio album by
Helmet
ReleasedJune 23, 1992 [1]
RecordedDecember 1991 – February 1992
Studio
Genre
Length36:56
Label
Producer Helmet
Helmet chronology
Strap It On
(1990)		Meantime
(1992)		 Betty
(1994)
Singles from Meantime
  1. "Unsung"
    Released: 1991
  2. "In the Meantime"
    Released: June 8, 1992 [5]
  3. "Give It"
    Released: 1992
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [7]
Chicago Tribune Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [25]
Christgau's Consumer Guide Five Pointed Star Solid.svg Five Pointed Star Solid.svg [26]
Entertainment Weekly B− [27]
Kerrang! Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [28]
The Philadelphia Inquirer Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [29]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [30]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [31]
Select Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [32]
Spin Alternative Record Guide 8/10 [33]

The album received positive reviews, John Franck of AllMusic labeled Meantime "arguably one of the most influential and overlooked rock records of the '90s". He praised the music "colored by Teutonic riffs, with only 'Unsung' hinting at a gasp of commercial accessibility." [6] [7] Entertainment Weekly writer David Browne gave it a B− in his August 1992 review, and remarked, "call Helmet alternative metal. The New York band plays tightfisted speed-thrash, but without the overblown melodrama of the metal scene. ('To die young is far too boring these days,' sings Page Hamilton at one point.) Helmet is fascinating in theory and can crank up the decibels ably enough to have landed the once independent-label band a million-dollar contract with a major record company." [27] Kerrang!'s Steffan Chirazi defined the album as "a wall of angry, bitter and agonised New York street cries", giving it maximum ratings. [28] Metal publication Hard Report wrote in 1992, "one thing that differentiates them from the standard pack of 'next big things' is that there's not just 'buzz' that surrounds this band. It's more like a solid wall of noise." [34] They further noted, "the alternative types have been grooving to them since their debut 1990 release Strap It On. It seems a bit odd that metal never seemed to take more than a passing interest in them until recently." [34]

Legacy

The sound of Meantime, with Page Hamilton's staccato riffs, jazz-influenced chords and solos, and dual-voice singing style, proved influential to nu metal and alternative metal bands. The album, along with Betty and Aftertaste , is considered a definitive influence in post-metal. [35] In November 1999, Iowa State Daily ranked "Unsung" 50th on a list of the "Top 90 Essential Songs of the 90's", labeling it an "alt-metal masterpiece". [36] In 2003, Kerrang! ranked Meantime as 48th on their list of the "50 Most Influential Albums of All Time", [37] while Rolling Stone ranked it 54th on their 2017 list of "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time". [38] Rock Hard ranked the album at number 157 on their list of the "500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time". [39] Alex Ogg wrote in the 2003 book The Rough Guide to Rock that it is "one of the great hard-ass intensity records", and that "parts of it make Rollins look like a lounge singer". [40] Stereogum in 2021 remarked that it featured, "some of the toughest riffs ever recorded". [41] The following year, Guitar World ranked Meantime 10th on their list of "The 30 Greatest Rock Guitar Albums of 1992", stating, "If you were to boldly claim that the importance of the (repetitive) riff replaced the significance of soloing in rock by '92, you could point directly to the sophomore effort by Helmet, Meantime. [Just] listen to guitarists Page Hamilton and Peter Mengede grind it out on such standouts as 'In the Meantime', 'Iron Head', and 'Unsung' – while Hamilton shouts most of his vocals a la an irate drill instructor – to hear the proof." [42] In 2022, Revolver also included it on their list of "20 Great Albums from 1992". [43] They stated that the band "did little to tone down their abrasive sound", further adding that, "single 'Unsung' has its poppy moments, but still culminates in a decidedly radio-unfriendly one-and-a-half minute instrumental outro." [43]

The songs "In the Meantime", "Ironhead", "Give It", "Unsung" and "Better" were included on the 2004 compilation album Unsung: The Best of Helmet (1991–1997) . [44] The track listing for the compilation was chosen by Page Hamilton. [45] Instrumental versions of "In the Meantime", "Ironhead", "Give It" and "Unsung" also appeared on a promotional 2003 release titled The Instrumental Music of Helmet (1992–1997). On September 16, 2016, Magnetic Eye Records released a compilation titled Meantime (Redux) that featured song-for-song covers of the original Helmet album by various artists including KEN mode, Fuck the Facts and Rosetta. Additionally, it also included six covers of songs from the band's other original 1990s albums (Strap It On, Betty and Aftertaste). [46] [47]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Page Hamilton

No.TitleLength
1."In the Meantime"3:11
2."Ironhead"3:23
3."Give It"4:17
4."Unsung"3:59
5."Turned Out"4:13
6."He Feels Bad"4:02
7."Better"3:09
8."You Borrowed"3:49
9."FBLA II"3:22
10."Role Model"3:31
Total length:36:56

Personnel

Credits taken from the CD liner notes.

Helmet

Technical

Charts

Chart (1993)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA Charts) [48] 88
U.S. Billboard Top Heatseekers [49] 1
U.S. Billboard 200 [50] 68

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References

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  2. ↑ Terich, Jeff (September 18, 2011). "The 90 Minute Guide: Metal, Part Two". Treblezine.com. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Classic Album Review : Helmet - Meantime (1992)". Dead End Follies. July 15, 2022. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
  4. ↑ Earles, Andrew (March 31, 2015). "The Revival of Cherubs". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
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  6. 1 2 3 "MusicMight :: Artists :: HELMET". Musicmight.com. Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
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  11. ↑ "Other pop". the Guardian. December 12, 2004.
  12. 1 2 "New pop order". November 5, 1992.
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  43. 1 2 "20 Great Albums From 1992". Revolver. June 6, 2022.
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