intothewellsabyss

Jun 23, 20236 min read

Helmet — Meantime

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…

31 years ago today, an album that changed the landscape of modern Metal was released.

On June 23, 1992, Helmet released their second studio album and major label debut full-length studio album, “Meantime” via Interscope Records.

Despite initially only achieving moderate commercial success, peaking at number 68 on the Billboard 200 chart upon release in 1992, the album influenced multiple bands in its wake, and has been well received by music critics and is considered an influential album of the Metal genre. “Meantime” has continued to sell consistently well in the years since its release, and in 1994 was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album has sold over 2 million copies worldwide.

Helmet released two singles from “Meantime”, "In the Meantime" and "Unsung".

"Unsung" was a charting success on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart, and remains their best-known song.

A promotional only single was released for "Give It".

Music videos were also made for "Unsung", "Give It" and "In the Meantime".

Background:

After the release of their nine-song debut album “Strap It On”, the band found themselves at the center of a major label bidding war, eventually signing to Interscope for a reported budget of $1 million (US). In the wake of the Grunge band Nirvana's recent success, many touted Helmet as the next big thing. Regarding the band's label as "the next Nirvana", frontman Page Hamilton said "They were interested in us before Nirvana even broke. And that's good, because we're obviously not it. I actually had an A&R guy at one label tell us that we were the next U2. At a certain point it just becomes ludicrous."

The Guardian reflected in 2004 that Helmet played a "heavier, more metallic" style of music than grunge bands coming out of the Pacific Northwest in the early 1990s.

Darren Cahr of the Chicago Reader wrote in 1992, "this is a band that, despite lacking the basic pop appeal that brought Nirvana such a huge audience, crosses all borders." Cahr pointed out that their music was getting played on both Headbangers Ball (a metal program) and 120 Minutes (an Alternative program).

Recording The Album:

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”.

Album Art & Layout:

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 (shown here) with a white-on-red Helmet logo, and the other has a red background with a white-on-blue Helmet logo (shown on the upper level of this page).

Touring In Support of Meantime:

To support the album in 1992, Helmet opened for Faith No More, a band which, like Helmet, would later be credited with influencing the Nu-Metal movement. These shows came about since the members of Faith No More wanted to have Helmet on their tour. In some promotional photos from 1992, Faith No More's bassist Billy Gould can be seen wearing a Helmet shirt.

The band played their first shows in Peter Mengede's home country of Australia in January 1993 at the Big Day Out festival. He departed Helmet the following month, after disagreements with Page Hamilton over their songwriting process. Their 1993 show in Melbourne, Australia was released on “Live and Rare” in 2021, which was Helmet's first official live album.

Commercial Performance:

“Meantime” was originally scheduled to be released in April 1992, 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.

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 USA 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”.

Critical Reception:

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."

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."

Kerrang!'s Steffan Chirazi defined the album as "a wall of angry, bitter and agonised New York street cries", giving it maximum ratings.

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." 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."

The Legacy of Meantime:

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.

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".

In 2003, Kerrang! ranked “Meantime” as 48th on their list of the "50 Most Influential Albums of All Time", while Rolling Stone ranked it 54th on their 2017 list of "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".

Alex Ogg wrote in the 2003 book “The Complete Guide to Rock” that it is "one of the great hard-ass intensity records", and that "parts of it make Rollins look like a longue singer".

Stereogum in 2021 remarked that it featured, "some of the toughest riffs ever recorded".

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."

In 2022, REVOLVER Magazine also included it on their list of "20 Great Albums from 1992". 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."

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)”. The track listing for the compilation was chosen by Page Hamilton. 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).

Links to Artists, Albums, and Music Videos:

Click this link to listen to the “Meantime” via Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/meantime/1440915669

Click this link to follow Helmet on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HelmetMusic

Click this link to watch the official music video for “In the Meantime”: https://youtu.be/9346rQ1d8ik

Click this link to watch the official music video for “Unsung”: https://youtu.be/jBfygUiS50g

Click this link to watch the official music video for “Give It”: https://youtu.be/KM3UnxDCkKQ

Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells

Helmet — Meantime

Background:

Recording The Album:

Album Art & Layout:

Touring In Support of Meantime:

Commercial Performance:

Critical Reception:

The Legacy of Meantime:

Links to Artists, Albums, and Music Videos:

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