Right this is another undertaking which I have taken upon myself which may leave me infuriated and tearing my hair for making the right choices but I thought I would do a list of what I think are the best Helmet songs. You may say.... who the hell are they???? Well Helmet are one of my favourite bands and they just so happen to actually be playing this week at the Cathouse in Glasgow but I personally don't have a ticket (alas!).
Anyways Helmet were founded back in the late 80's by a jazz musician named Page Hamilton and with the band he created a unique blend of hardcore rock, metal and jazz-ed themes which added up to some amazing music. The line up of the band has changed over the years but the original line up was always considered the best with Page on lead guitar and vocals, Henry Bogdan on the bass and John Stanier on the drums and they had several rhythm guitarists along the way. Together these guys created some incredible stuff which was filled with off-kilter riffs, staccato tempos, jazz influenced chords and above all just some great music. They aren't to everyone's taste but Helmet are unique heavy rock band which are well worth checking out if you are into rock, metal or whatever.
So I have yapped on enough about that so let's have a look at my countdown of the best Helmet songs and I will start with the first half from 30 down to 16....
30. Repetition
OK I thought I would kick off with the first song on Helmet's debut album, Repetition, which is an incredible track which pulls you right in with its unusual time signature, fuzzy sounding guitar and John Stanier's off-beat drumming. The song burst into life and then maintains its strange staccato rhythm throughout with Page's stark loud vocal yelling out "Sit there so pathetic! Admire myself, pass offers of great sex! No threat the evil goes!". The song also has a typically wild guitar solo from Page in the mid-section before it carries on and explodes into the main riff again before it ends on a raw note. This is your intro to Helmet, and if its the first track you ever heard, its a good one (but then again other people might think its just a hideous cacophony of noise, which it is, but its still rocks).
29. Its easy to get bored
This is quite a catchy song off Helmet's Aftertaste album, which was the last album they made with the original line up before the split. Its easy to get bored is pretty repetitive in its main riff as it runs throughout the song but its actually pretty good and Page's passive vocals kick in over it well "If I'm half informed, sympathise cos its easy to get bored. I don't have time to waste, I'm too busy cultivating useless good taste" as the song goes into its verse and it builds up as Page's lyrics become more obscure and he sings "I'll spread some more good news, invented facts that you know you can use, sell them door to door with religious fervour that no one can ignore". And then it get's into the songs bridge which is really catchy before it leads into the final chorus of "Its so easy to get bored" which runs over and over again as the song ends. Its not one of their very best but its still a very good little track well worth placing on here.
28. Tic
Tic from Helmet's acclaimed album, Betty, is an unusual song, which in itself is actually nothing too unusual when you come to think of it with Helmet but its a song which still grabs you with its slow and compelling style. Page puts in a more shouty vocal this time as he shouts the opening lines "Tic begins, where's the manner end?! The climate change will never get in, silent and strong and prepossessed! You never need to make your own mess!" just before it moves into its great chorus which features one of the most bizarre guitar chords you will hear in any song accompanied by Bogdan's great winding bass line. The song also has a bridge that sounds strangely akin to "Give it" from Helmet's Meantime album and the song itself ends great with the heavy crunching D5 chord and a few noises thrown in that make it sound like a track from Metallica's Master of Puppets album. Tic adds up to one of Helmet's more unusual and experimental rock-metal tracks and for that I thought it deserves a place on here.
27. Throwing punches
At 27 is a track from Helmet mark 2.0 as this was the new Helmet, which saw only the return of Page Hamilton along with some new band members, although the band's touring guitarist Chris Traynor from the Aftertaste tour makes an appearance on this album playing bass along with The Cult's drummer, John Tempesta and they recorded Size Matters, which this track is on. Throwing punches isn't the best track on Size Matters but it certainly saw Page try to capture a more tuneful sound than he had before with Helmet and here he makes a pretty good stab it. Lyrically he has fun with the idea of a girl throwing punches rather than a guy as he alludes to in the lyrics "Darlin was a hit! She started throwing punches! She connects, she never get's what she wants, and she wants" and then "She's unhinged, swears now that was then, just a little glitch! Patch it up again!". And it leads into one of the best choruses the band have created with Page singing "So far I don't understand this! There's no misunderstanding, there's nothing here to get! She wants more than my attention, she's not above invention and I don't really care!". The song then leads nicely into its bridge section with Page singing "you don't know what you want or how far you'll fall when you're unhinged! Coming back for more, I was only horny". And after that the chorus which ends the song on a good note and leaves you with a fine song that is worth putting on the list.
26. Birth defect
At 26 is this song, Birth Defect, which is a straight out aggressive heavy crunching song with an attacking riff which grabs you by the scruff of the neck. This song is on Aftertaste, which is easily perhaps their most underappreciated album of the original line up of the band, but its another fine example of just how much Helmet can rock out hard. This song also features a pretty good vocal performance from Page, who is by no means a great singer but he uses his voice well and here he barks out the lyrics from the start "All the good that you discover in people that you hate! Draw them close and pencil thin so they are easy to erase!". Then this is followed by perhaps one of my favourite Helmet lyrics "You've got it down just feed them lines and watch them starve to death! Keep them crowded and short of air then you can take their last breath!". Admittedly the chorus line is a bit naff with Page half-singing "I'd rather be insulted by you than someone I respect. If I don't share the same view, its just my birth defect!" but its let off the hook by the song's driving riff and it leads into a great interlude before it heads back into the chorus and then finishes on a jazzed power chord, which sees Birth defect sitting well on the list as its both crunchy, heavy and appealing as a song.
25. On your way down
Sitting at 25 is On your way down, which is on Monochrome (which could well win the award for naffest album cover!) and is another great little track that has a very nifty winding riff then moves up and down to suit the song. Page's vocals are quite good here as he sings a bit softer and more tunefully and again it appears he is having a go at successful people who make it to the top as they look down on everyone else. And this is reflected in his lyrics where he sings "You have worked your way up to the top! Thought that you would make the whole word stop. Up to Venus, Mars and Jupiter, bet your feet don't even touch the Earth". And it goes into its chorus where "on your way, on your way down" the guitar power chords move up and up and then they go down and down. Then the song goes into its bridge with Page singing "are you lying to yourself? There is no right or wrong, no heaven or hell. Now you're losing all your friends to surround yourself with all those dull "yes" men". After this we get a cool solo from Page and then song soon ends on its chorus again as it slows down at the last moment nicely and overall On your way down is another fine track from the new Helmet.
24. Vaccination
I'm wondering if this song from Betty should be further up the list because its such a good track but given they have done so many good ones I thought Vaccination should sit around about here at 24. The song itself is another pretty unusual one and the riff is in a funny time signature which is pretty cool and it features what I can only call Page's "neutral" singing style for the verse and he yells on the chorus. Page starts off "Petty news, its only your bad ear, it might be worth it, to watch what you hear. Feeling great now you expand your view, you can't forget somebody hates you". And then it goes into its very cool and heavy pre-chorus riff, followed by the chorus and pretty cool bridge section and then the song finishes as Page starts to yell "Humble groans! Bad nutrition! Rely on me, there's one condition! Imitated, so adored! The wind picks up, my suit get's torn!". Then the song finally ends on a mental freakout as Page yells and the guitars and drums go wild and it suddenly stops. Admittedly the ending of the soon is a bit untidy and I was never keen on Page's yells right at the end as they do sound a bit lame, but that aside Vaccination is mighty good track.
23. Renovation
So at 23 we have Renovation which for me is perhaps Helmet's most upbeat and catchiest song ever written, even though its not a top 10 song in my opinion its still more than good enough to warrant being here. The song itself from Aftertaste kicks off with the riff from Bogdan on the bass and then the drums kick in and then the guitar as Page sings "When its time to leave this place, I'll follow what comes easy, elude the human race, discover what still feeds me". The chorus is also very good and probably comes to as close to a Beatles or Foo Fighters-esque chorus as you will get from Helmet as Page sings "And I know I might be wrong, but I'm sick of pretending, I've listened to you too long and nothing's ever mended". The song lacks a proper jazzed solo from Page, in fact Aftertaste itself is pretty devoid of any typical Page guitar solos, which perhaps hinders the songs a little, as I think Page on Aftertaste was trying to go for more tuneful songs than musical experimentation. Regardless of that though Renovation is still an excellent Helmet track and it ends on a good note as Page sings the line "and nothing's ever mended" as it fades out.
22. Biscuits for Smut
At 22 we have Biscuits for Smut, another track from the Betty album (always liked the cover of the album with the pretty girl holding a basket of flowers, which totally contrasts the style of the album itself) Smut was in fact I believe Page's dog at the time. BFS is one of the band's more experimental tracks as it employs a funny drop A tuning on the guitar as the bottom string tuned wayyyyy down and it lends a pretty heavy feel to the song, but its also quite a funky track as well. Page's vocals are for once flangered and he starts off "Served up in the backyard, cooked too long on high, flying out the window, even dogs have passed them by. Didn't know she was tied up, better fed than forced, time to meet the protagonist, boy he never showed remorse". The song is also on here because it has one of the best bridge sections of any Helmet song as the riff takes a funky turn and John Stanier provides some of his very best drum fills, which are so creative and original in themselves. The song soon ends with Page singing "Come on smut, you might have stayed" and the guitar makes its last twang as the A note is bended on the detuned E string to end one of Helmet's most unique songs.
21. LA Water
One of the newer Helmet songs at 21 is LA Water, which features on their most recent album, Seeing eye dog. LA Water is another more experimental sounding track which features a really cool atmospheric guitar track which runs throughout the song. The song's lyrics probably aren't among the band's best but it does feature a pretty good vocal from Page as he begins singing "In LA sun shines all the time you know you might get burned. I haven't found now for a while the weather here is always warm". The lyrics do improve in the next verse though as Page continues "And in the end the sun never rains, I'm not the only one evaporated in the heat, I don't need oxygen no need". And the chorus line is "And if you notice what you are, you know how to get it, you know you will get it". The song then features a bridge that is accompanied by an orchestra, which strangely really adds to the track very well and it succeeds in expanding the band's sound and the track soon ends with Page humming along with the orchestra and the guitars echo in the background. Overall LA Water is easily one of the new Helmet's best tracks which again is faily unique and was a welcome breath of fresh of air from their usual yet effective formula.
20. Give it
Off the Meantime album, at 20 is Give it which for me overall isn't one of the very best songs of Meantime, but given how good an album Meantime is that's actually not really meant as an insult its just there are other songs that are even better. Anyway Give it is still an excellent track which starts off great with Bogdan's windy bass riff and then the guitars kick in along with Stanier's snare drum and the song itself has a strange swing tempo feel to it but that's what makes it work. Page's passive vocals then come in "Killing hurts, has to be done, peace and love and who's number one. The right to give, learn to be bleed its free, pain is outside, lift it up to see" and then it goes into what is really the song's chorus even though it actually lacks a proper one with Page singing "confidence" and then we get the riff rising up really well. This eventually actually leads into the guitar solo and then the riff carries on rising until the end where it builds into a noisy crescendo, which all adds up to a very satisfying song which sits nicely on the list.
19. Everybody loves you
Next is Everybody loves you which features on Size Matters and its a pretty bitter sounding track from Page but its a great one aswell and it features a great riff which involves bending the strings to create an interesting effect. Page's vocals are also pretty good here and his lyrics are as well as he starts off "It all went out the window in a breeze outside. You got so far when you realised everything looked promising, now you're uninspired, you're giving up what you want just to be admired". And the chorus is great as it features Page's bitter lyrics "And everybody loves you, everybody loves you, you're adored" and the song also has a good bridge section where it quietens before it goes back into its aggressive riff and Page finishes the song by singing venomously "Everybody loves you, everybody loves a shameless liar!" and again the song builds itself up to a climax and ends on a single note. Everybody loves you is definitely one of the best songs on Size Matters and its also one of Helmet's most tuneful songs as at times Page's success in moving the band toward being a more direct songwriting group didn't always pay off but here it does with this fine track.
18. Clean
Ahhh Clean, great song from Betty, Clean is deceptively simple sounding song with its guitar riff but underneath its also quite complex structurally, particularly John Stanier's amazing drumming, which must be really difficult for any drummer to pull off and its just testament to what a great dummer he is. The song itself is only about two and a half minutes long but its still a standout track (or else I wouldn't have bothered putting it on here!). The song starts off great with the guitars and Stanier's very complex drum track and Page's passive sounding vocal coming in "Spread your mind the fish feed, don't ignore my speech my heart bleeds. Make yourself the passing butt, some passing thought I don't know what". And the chorus (or first chorus lyrics) where Page sings "don't remind me, I'll take what I need" and later "You're right behind me and mouth all I read" which leads into the bridge section then back to the chorus and it ends pretty quickly. Again Page's lyrics are pretty obscure but they work well enough even if you have no idea what he's on about here, but it doesn't matter so much when a track such as Clean is this good.
17. Insatiable
Another great song from Aftertaste, Insatiable slots in at 17 here and it has to be one of the most intense and heavy songs Helmet ever recorded. Its another song that is deceptively hard to play and get right given its riff and again it features some great drum work from John Stanier. Page's vocals are about as aggressive as they ever got here as he really spits out his words with real bile and he starts out "Its never easy being ignored! When you're worshipped and adored! Attention starved, inflatable, an ego that is insatiable!". And then it goes into the song's very intense chorus where Page's voice becomes on the verge of hysteria and he screeches "I need somebody to hate! I need someone that I can imitate! The attention that I crave, its self esteem I can almost save!!". And the song has a quiet and dark interlude where the guitars crunch in the background and then it builds up again into its ferocious chorus, which I have to say features one of the most tricky Helmet riffs to get right, which again highlights the neat details the band put in their music, which you need to listen closely to at times. So that's it with Insatiable firmly sitting at No.17 as its a great track full of intensity right from the start.
16. Enemies
This is another great track from Size Matters, which for ages I didn't really listen to but in recent times I had watched some live videos of Helmet play it and it quickly grew on me and it really is one of my favourites from the revived band. The song starts off well with its aggressive screeching guitars as it plays low Db5 power chord and then it goes all quiet and the guitars play quietly without distortion as Page almost whispers the songs first lyrics "You never rid the butterflies, the hate you feel, you can't disguise. It's animal, it's chemical, it's only human to hit so low". After this it bursts into its loud chorus with the distorted guitars coming back and Page sings "I know what you need, I can tell you lies" and its this part where the chorus works so great as the chords take an unusual turn and Page carries "We'll be enemies, so dissatisfied!". After this it goes into its second verse and then back into the chorus and it builds yet again towards it finish, making Enemies one of Helmet's most underrated tracks and very worth of being put on the list.
Rrrrrrrrrrrright so that's it for part 1 (which was fun, a bit more so than the Smashing Pumpkins one but I don't know how many views this post will get given quite a few of you might go "Who the hell are these guys???") and I will soon get on to part 2.
See you soon!
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