Sam Dunn
VH1 Classic
All Access Review: B+
Durst, unapologetically, remembers things differently.
Expressing little, if any remorse, Durst recalls the Bizkit Woodstock ’99 show
as the “greatest concert ever.” And then, showing a little of that adolescent petulance
that Durst is infamous for, he sulks about how nobody ever wanted Limp Bizkit
playing in the same sand box as the nu metal children. The rap guys didn’t want
to be lumped in with metal and the metal guys didn’t want anything to do with
hip-hop, continues Durst. That’s too simple of an explanation of why Limp
Bizkit has been ostracized from the music community since the violence at
Woodstock’99. Battles with other bands, the departure of guitarist Wes Borland
and lukewarm albums in the aftermath of Three
Dollar Bill Y’All and Significant
Other all combined to doom Bizkit, and to his credit, Durst admits to Dunn
that this monster that he created called Fred Durst could have handled things
better. Clearly, some anger management counseling would have done him a world
of good. Or, maybe he just needed to grow up a little.
The story of Limp Bizkit dominates much of the second half
of Dunn’s look at “Nu Metal,” and with good reason. Bizkit blew up in the late
‘90s on the strength of Significant
Other’s massive single “Nookie.” As crazy as it sounds, considering his
explosive temper, Durst even became a label executive at Interscope Records –
that fact escaping Dunn, along with the failure to mention that Bizkit’s
Woodstock ’99 performance came a day before the disastrous riots. Still,
there’s something unsatisfying about placing so much emphasis on Limp Bizkit,
especially considering there are far more influential nu metal bands Dunn could
have spent more time on. Ah, but perhaps that’s just a personal preference,
even though you get the feeling from “Nu Metal” that Dunn – who plainly admits
to not being a big fan of nu metal, while also reluctantly admitting that it
does, indeed, have its place in the history and developmental of heavy metal –
also wish he could give more attention to the Sepulturas, the Korns, and the
Rage Against The Machines of the world.
All of them get their moment in the sun in “Nu Metal,” and
this is where Dunn gets it right. Where the Limp Bizkit segments seem to focus
too much on the controversy surrounding the band, when the subject turns to
Pantera, Rage, Korn and Sepultura, Dunn digs his fingers into the
groundbreaking nature of nu metal. With Pantera, Dunn’s interest lies with the
band’s adherence to deep grooves and an unyielding devotion to what Phil
Anselmo refers to as the “money riff.” As for Rage, it’s the combination of
music and message that gets top billing, with guitarist Tom Morello also talking
about the band’s meshing of ‘70s hard rock riffs, thick grooves and his own
role as a sort of DJ bringing his six-string “eccentricities.” And Korn’s
Fieldy and Davis discuss at length about the band’s Sacramento origins and its
innovative use of detuned strings.
But, it all goes back to Anthrax and the band’s monumental
summit rap-metal summit with Public Enemy on their collaborative 1991 reworking
of “Bring the Noise,” and Dunn starts his exploration of “Nu Metal” there
before moving on – at Scott Ian’s request – to Faith No More. Even if nu metal
has its detractors and those who aren’t so sure that the integration of metal
and rap was done as artfully as it could have been, there were, and still are,
bands that do it well. Dunn’s interviews nicely hone in on what was crucial to
the rise of nu metal, and his dexterous use of concert images and video
footage, as always, is on display here, as is Dunn’s singular ability to make
you feel as if you are accompanying him on this journey and that his interest
in the subject matter is genuine and sincere. Time, again, is his enemy.
There’s only so much a filmmaker can pack into an hour’s program, and Dunn’s
fills to the brim with insightful commentary and well-paced storytelling.
Woodstock ’99 may have been nu metal’s Altamont, but as Dunn shows, it didn’t
end there. And neither does the story of heavy metal.
-
Peter Lindblad
Metal Evolution Nu Metal
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