martindavey87 By 2002, nu metal had peaked. With world domination accomplished, the only way forward was down, and with that, so many bands that were “on top of the world” found themselves quickly discarded and back down from massive festivals to small clubs. And while a handful of groups, most notably Linkin Park, were able to outlive the subgenre, one of the bigger casualties was Californian quartet, Papa Roach.

The Roach’s 2000 major label debut, ‘Infest’, saw the band at the forefront of the scene, with a number of major hit singles, in particular, ‘Last Resort’, transcend the metal genre and branch out to casual radio listeners. In 2000, Papa Roach were arguably one of the biggest bands on the planet. But by the time they released 2002’s follow-up, ‘Lovehatetragedy’, nu metal was in decline, and unfortunately so was the group’s popularity.

Which is a shame, because ‘Lovehatetragedy’ isn’t a bad album, but it’s a clear reflection of where the subgenre was headed. There’s just something about the record that doesn’t quite have the same punch as before. It’s like ‘Infest’ made a huge statement, and now they’re just coasting the waves. Perhaps all the lyrical themes were already passé, or the lack of rapping and more focus on radio-friendly rock took away some of the edge of what originally made the band stand out?

Still, for what it’s worth, this release has its merits. There’s some catchy, hook-laden tracks, and vocalist Jacoby Shaddix has improved as a singer, especially with more melodic-based vocal lines. There’s some nice guitar work too, though metal fans quickly tired of nu metals repetitive, de-tuned riffs, I personally think there’s some nice, tight playing here. Songs like ‘Black Clouds’, ‘She Loves Me Not’, ‘Time and Time Again’, ‘Life is a Bullet’, ‘Born With Nothing, Die With Everything’ and ‘M-80 (Explosive Energy Movement)’ are all decent tracks that show that the subgenre still had lots of potential left, even in its dying days.

And while Papa Roach will never reach the same heights they did in 2000, this album shows that they’re actually not as bad as most people will make them out to be.

siLLy puPPy PAPA ROACH formed in Vacaville, CA in 1993 and then released a few EPs as well as their debut album “Old Friends From Young Years” on their independent label Onion Hardcore but for all intents and purposes those early albums were all but forgotten when the band got signed to the DreamWorks label where they debuted with the most successful album of their career called INFEST. During the millennial change the alternative 90s were still going strong and PAPA ROACH hit the right note with a Nirvana inspired grunge sound that incorporated Korn infused nu metal elements as well as the predominately rapped lyrics that were made popular by Rage Against The Machine. Add to that INFEST had a funky vibe too that seems to have taken a note or two from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

While many nu metal bands were cranking out the albums around this time, PAPA ROACH had a knack for crafting extremely catchy songs that had heavy metallic hooks and a dynamic production that made the tracks on INFEST utterly irresistible to many but as much love PAPA ROACH was finding success on the charts with an album that would eventually sell 3 million albums, the backlash against this nu metal style from traditional metalheads was fierce. Love em or hate em the floodgates opened once the band’s single “Last Resort” hit the airwaves. The track perfectly summed up the angsty turn of the clock millennial feel accompanied by a groovy bass heft, heavily distorted power grunge chords and Jacoby Shaddix’ youthful energetic style that was capitalizing on the current hip hop metal hybrids which were all the rage (against the machine).

INFEST is the culmination of personal tragedies represented in the lyrics along with extremely well placed tracks that were polished with excellent production techniques that were used as another instrument. The tracks are all quite different from each other with extremely melodic hooks as the common denominator. While other bands like Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park had a similarly styled mix of disparate sounds that were a grab bag of what the alternative 90s offered, PAPA ROACH actually pulled off an album that kept each track interesting enough to stand on its own outside of the context of the others and yet the album had an incredible flow that kept the listening experience vibrant from the opening title track to the closing “Thrown Away.” While many a metalhead was giving this band a heaping pile of hate, the band was laughing all the way to the bank as INFEST shot up to #5 on the Billboard charts and launched the band into a successful touring schedule.

As a Bay Area resident, “Last Resort” has been a staple on alternative rock radio for years and to be fair has been played to death and i never really bothered to check this album out since nu metal wasn’t exactly my favorite style either, however as a fan of Korn and a few tracks here and there by other bands i finally decided to check out this album and i was quite surprised at how much i loved it. Every track is infectious and although it comes off as a teenage angst rap metal marathon, more careful listening will reveal a highly developed sense of rhythmic layers and everything flows together quite perfectly. The album is quite heavy although the guitar chords are heavily distorted and sound more like grunge. There are clever uses of echoes, syncopations and the production is just perfect. The album ends a little strangely with clean vocals and a reggae rock ending that sounds more like Sublime, another 90s phenomenon. Haters will hate but when an album is this great i can’t help but love it.

martindavey87 We all remember these days, don't we? The new millennium is kicking in, and nu metal has taken the world by storm. Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach and Linkin Park were all at the top of the charts, and heavy metal was getting a much needed rejuvenation. And one of the biggest hits of the time? The profanity-ridden anthem about depression, self-harm and suicide, 'Last Resort' by Papa Roach.

Now, of course, achieving mainstream success and having a hit single that transcends all genres and appeals to everyone is pretty much a huge metal no-no, so obviously a lot of "real metal" fans hated Papa Roach and their brand of rap rocking. But behind the chart-topping four-piece are some solid chops and a knack for catchy songwriting.

'Infest', which was the bands major label debut (they had one self-released album prior to this), was released in 2000 and was the perfect soundtrack to the youth of the day. Hard, gritty and edgy. Lyrical themes that tackled issues on a personal level helped the music reach out to a whole generation of disgruntled youths.

Besides the aforementioned megahit 'Last Resort', there's 'Between Angels & Insects' and 'Broken Home' which also charted worldwide, as well as songs like 'Blood Brothers' appearing in multi-platinum selling video games, Papa Roach were on top of the world. And there's an abundance of great songs that get lost amongst all of that, such as 'Dead Cell', 'Never Enough', 'Revenge', 'Binge' and hidden track 'Tightrope'. While the musicianship isn't flashy, what the band lack in technical prowess they more than make up for with competence and enthusiasm.

Papa Roach will always live in the shadow of 'Last Resort', and while they have changed style quite a bit over the years, shunning casual fans and not winning over any metal ones, the bottom line is that 'Infest', if you can look beyond the hit singles, is a solid album that defined a generation and further established nu metal as a worldwide phenomenon.