Size Matters

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"Drug Lord" (2004)
30 second sample of the Size Matters track "Drug Lord".
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Music and lyrics

Many of the album's lyrics were inspired by Hamilton's year long relationship with actress Winona Ryder in 2003. [4] Hamilton has since commented that Ryder was a fan of Helmet and that she has heard the album, saying in 2007 that she didn't like their next album Monochrome because "it didn’t sound like her favorite song on Aftertaste, or her favorite song on even Size Matters." [5] "Smart" (a.k.a. "Opportunity"), "Enemies" and "Unwound", were originally recorded as Gandhi tracks, Page Hamilton's previous band.

Artwork

The album cover features a black and white photo of a young girl holding a magnifying glass. The photo was taken by Frances Murray. [3] Regarding the cover, Page Hamilton said in a 2005 interview, "the initial attraction was that it was a beautiful photo, this sort of innocence and open mindedness that kids have about things. She's got a magnifying glass up to her eye so you can see her eyeball enlarged. Kids I believe start out with a natural inquisitiveness and a natural open mindedness, and they will do the right thing. Eventually if we continue to fill them full of shit they will be swayed." [6]

Release

The album was scheduled to be released on September 14, 2004, but was pushed back to October 5 after Hamilton broke his collarbone in a mountain biking accident, delaying the band's touring schedule that was supposed to begin three days after the planned release. [7]

The album debuted at #121 on the Billboard 200, selling 9,723 copies in its first week. [8] Size Matters had two singles; "See You Dead" and "Unwound". The track "Throwing Punches" was also included on the film soundtrack for Underworld , and "Crashing Foreign Cars" was featured in the video game Need for Speed: Underground 2 .

Critical reception

Size Matters
Helmet-SizeMatters.jpg
Studio album by
Helmet
ReleasedOctober 5, 2004 (2004-10-05)
RecordedMarch–June 2004
Studio Cello Studios, Hollywood, California
Genre Alternative metal
Length39:35
Label Interscope
Producer
Helmet chronology
Unsung: The Best of Helmet (1991–1997)
(2004)		Size Matters
(2004)		 Monochrome
(2006)
Promo cover
Sizematterspromo.jpg
Cover of the promo version of the album
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 52/100 [9]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Blabbermouth.net 5/10 [11]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal 7/10 [12]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [13]
Entertainment Weekly C+ [14]
Pitchfork 5.4/10 [2]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [15]
Rock Hard 6/10 [16]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [17]

Size Matters was met with "mixed or average" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, it received an average score of 52 based on eight reviews. [9] At Pitchfork writer David Raposa gave the album a mixed review. He criticized the band's change in sound writing, "Helmet attempt to diversify their portfolio, offering dynamics and approachable melodies and other types of listener-friendly capitulations one wouldn't associate with the folks that dropped Meantime and 'Unsung'." [2]

Johnny Loftus of AllMusic gave the album 3 stars and wrote in his review, "Size Matters emphasizes for the bloated alt-metal elite what it means to have craft and a little self-control. It isn't necessarily memorable, but as an exercise in measured, even artistic rage, it's classic Hamilton." [10] Josh Zanger of LAS Magazine explained, "Size Matters seems to come up a little short in certain areas though. The overall sound is a bit too polished and loses some of the raw power edge that previous albums rode to critical success. This slickness also makes the weaker songs forgettable and bland, and a few of the choruses are forced into overextensions. At times, elated melodies contradict the darker pounding force of previously established riffs and sound like unnatural ideas that never fully blossomed." [18] In Music We Trust also noted the more polished sound, in addition to the lineup changes, stating in their review, "Page Hamilton has embarked on a comeback with Size Matters, but, like Dave Mustaine, he keeps the band name yet changes the entire lineup sans himself. Armed with Frank Bello (Anthrax), John Tempesta (White Zombie), and Chris Traynor (Orange 9mm), the '04 Helmet lineup reads like the New York Metal All-Star team." [19]

In a review with Rolling Stone , Christian Hoarde gave the release 2 stars out of 5, explaining, "On their first disc in seven years, the manicured riffs remain, but the sludge is so overbearing that anyone born during the Eighties will wonder what once made them special." [17] Scene Point Blank wrote in their November 2004 review that, "On one hand, we have songs such as 'Smart', 'Everybody Loves You', and 'Throwing Punches'. These songs find Hamilton utilizing his 'red-neck truck driver' voice. Musically, these songs feature the more aggressive riffs and fast-paced drumming that rekindle thoughts of Helmet material found on Strap it On . On the other hand, we have 'Crashing Foreign Cars' and 'Unwound' that feature the softer and more accessible Hamilton. As a whole, these types of songs are much more prevalent on Size Matters." They concluded their review by stating, "while it's nice to have a solid rock band like Helmet around again, the cohesion from albums like Meantime and Betty is lacking on this latest effort. But despite the sub par return endeavor, Helmet still executes alternative metal superior to that of the 'nu-metal' parade that they involuntarily influenced." [20]

Legacy

In 2011, Decibel Magazine gave the album a critical reappraisal, and claimed "Size Matters was not only a more cohesive and confident return from the break-up than some of their contemporaries (looking at you, Prong, [and] lame-o supergroups), but also offered some killer live shows with Frank Bello on bass. It was and is a natural sequel to Aftertaste and a valiant fuck-you to the emo foppishness and Maidenesque fret-wankery that was invading metal at the time, despite it sharing emo’s preoccupation about women ruining your life." [4]

Shortly after the release of their eight album Dead to the World , Page Hamilton reflected in an interview, "I would say that I like the first four albums best, Strap It On (1990) Meantime (1992), Betty (1994) and Aftertaste (1997), because they were created with the original line-up in a natural way. I still like those albums a lot. The comeback album, Size Matters, was also a great experience for me, but we had a lot of pressure on us because it was the first Helmet album after eight years." [21]

Frank Bello has since spoken positively of his brief stint with Helmet. In a 2014 interview with Louder Sound , Bello reflected, "I went to go jam with Helmet for a year and a half of fucking the best fun. Page Hamilton, John Tempesta and Chris Traynor, we had a ball. Great musicians in that group — absolutely great musicians. And you know what? I think it made me a better bass player. It made me dig in with a pick, and it was a different form of playing for me. And I really enjoyed it." [22]

Norma Jean vocalist Cory Brandon picked "See You Dead" and "Throwing Punches" as among the ten best Helmet songs in an article written for Louder Sound in 2017. [23]


Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Smart"Page Hamilton3:44
2."Crashing Foreign Cars"
  • Hamilton
  • Rob Nicholson
  • John Tempesta
  • Chris Traynor
2:31
3."See You Dead"Hamilton3:48
4."Drug Lord"Hamilton3:24
5."Enemies"
  • Hamilton
  • Charlie Clouser
5:00
6."Unwound"
  • Hamilton
  • Chris Bjorkland
  • Mike Conlin
  • Jeff Craig
  • Christopher Scheidel
4:12
7."Everybody Loves You"Hamilton3:27
8."Surgery"Hamilton3:14
9."Speak and Spell"
  • Hamilton
  • Clouser
3:31
10."Throwing Punches"
  • Hamilton
  • Clouser
3:44
11."Last Breath"
  • Hamilton
  • Tempesta
  • Traynor
3:03
Total length:39:35
Japanese edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
12."Black Light"3:40
13."Just Like Me"4:42
Total length:47:56

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal [24] and liner notes. [25]

Chart positions

YearChartPosition
2004 Billboard 200 121
YearSingleChartPosition
2004"See You Dead" Mainstream Rock Tracks 29

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Helmet on road with new lineup". Deseret News. October 29, 2004.
  2. 1 2 3 "Helmet: Size Matters | Album Reviews". Pitchfork . November 29, 2004. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  3. 1 2 Size Matters booklet. Interscope Records, 2004.
  4. 1 2 "Justify Your Shitty Taste: Helmet's "Size Matters"". Decibel Magazine. January 12, 2011. Retrieved February 26, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Page Hamilton interview". Markprindle.com.
  6. ↑ "'Helmet' Page Hamilton & Eric Blair talk Bowie ,Bono & music biz 2005" – via YouTube.
  7. ↑ Billboard Staff (August 23, 2004). "Injury Forces Helmet To Revise Tour". Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  8. ↑ Sharpe-Young, Garry (2005). New Wave of American Heavy Metal. Zonda Books Limited. ISBN   978-0-9582684-0-0.
  9. 1 2 "Metacritic Review". Metacritic . Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  10. 1 2 Loftus, John. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic . Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  11. ↑ Blabbermouth (November 3, 2004). "Size Matters". Blabbermouth.net . Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  12. ↑ Popoff, Martin; Perri, David (2011). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 4: The '00s. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 215. ISBN   9781-926592-20-6.
  13. ↑ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). "Helmet". Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 4 (4th ed.). MUZE. pp. 233–234. ISBN   978-0-19-531373-4.
  14. ↑ Ross, Dalton (October 8, 2004). "Music: Helmet". Entertainment Weekly . No. 787. p. 114.
  15. ↑ "Helmet: Size Matters". Q . December 2004. p. 137
  16. ↑ "Size Matters". Rock Hard (Vol. 209) (in German). September 21, 2004. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  17. 1 2 Hoard, Christian (October 28, 2004). "Rolling Stone Review". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on November 30, 2007. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  18. ↑ Zanger, Josh. "LAS Magazine Review". LAS Magazine. Archived from the original on November 6, 2004. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  19. ↑ "In Music We Trust - Helmet: Size Matters". Inmusicwetrust.com.
  20. ↑ "Helmet – Size Matters | Review". Scenepointblank.com. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  21. ↑ [ dead link ]
  22. ↑ Stef Lach (December 17, 2014). "Bello: Helmet made me better bassist". loudersound.
  23. ↑ "The 10 best Helmet songs, as chosen by Cory Brandan". loudersound. November 13, 2017.
  24. ↑ "Credits - Size Matters - Helmet". Tidal . Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  25. ↑ Size maters Liner notes (Image).
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