Essential Listens

Essential Music That You Must Hear

These albums are what we here at Smother.Net dub as "essentials"; albums that you absolutely cannot miss out on.

Slayer - Reign In Blood
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Thrash metal was defined by “Reign in Blood”. Forget any other album, if you want to know what thrash is all about, then Slayer’s “Reign in Blood” is the starting point. Guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman twist and heave huge solos and massive riff shreddage, combining efforts to define a generation of metal music. Producer Rick Rubin really cut his teeth on this one becoming one of the most sought-after producers for years to come. While they were not the first thrash metal band, they were the ones that brought it popularity and they pulled the rug out of bands like Metal Church and made the genre all their own. Fast and huge drumming by maestro Dave Lombardo is but the tip of the iceberg on this balls-to-the-wall album. This was THE metal album of the ‘80’s. You can’t be a metal fan if you don’t own this album. Now you can get the re-issue with some additional songs not on the original too.

- J-Sin

Machinehead - Burn My Eyes
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“Burn My Eyes” was perhaps one of the most dominating metal albums in all of 1994. With thrash’s ferocious pace, the album single-handedly ushered in a new wave of extreme metal. Logan Mader’s guitarwork was astonishingly brilliant and Rob Flynn’s vocals swayed from crooning to growling to yelling. Drummer Chris Kontos destroyed the mix with huge fills, massive tom-toms, and thunderous double bass. Unfortunately while on tour, Kontos had some issues with health and the band decided to finally kick him out. That marked the beginning of the end for Machinehead—they never matched the intensity or songwriting of “Burn My Eyes”. Beyond simply fast, this album roared from the gates and never took a look back.

- J-Sin

Korn - Korn
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When Korn first burst onto the scene they just unleashed a flurry of similar bands that would follow in their footsteps for the next decade. Their self-titled debut originally released in 1994 was also the first real introduction to producer Ross Robinson who was more or less just as responsible for the generic sound that bands like Amen, Vanilla Ice’s foray into nu-metal, Phunk Junkeez, Sepultura, Machinehead’s horrid album, and Soulfly, among many others. Indeed many would credit Korn with defining the entire genre of nu-metal alongside the likes of Deftones and perhaps Limp Bizkit. They also helped popularize the notion that bands could market clothing with their Adidas and later Puma contracts showing the band’s members wearing their products and if you look back at all their pictures from Metal Maniacs and all of the grocery store music magazines you’ll see their product marketing genius. But let’s get back to the music. Korn used bass heavy hard rock that smacked of hip-hop and metal and bizarre vocals (see: “Balltongue”) with lyrics from Jonathan Davis that were dark and perfect for the angsty teens anxious for a step away from grunge. “Shoots and Ladders” used fairy tale melodies amid cathartic screams and crunching guitars. “Blind” was their big single and helped launch their career with its music video airing late at night—now you’ll find them all over MTV stuck between the latest Mariah Carey fodder and Nickelback. Korn’s start brought about the demise of grunge and moved the music world on after Kurt Cobain’s tragically controversial suicide.

- J-Sin

Nirvana - Nevermind
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In the early to mid ‘90’s the word grunge was banded about in the media as the savior of rock from hair metal. Nirvana’s multi-platinum and highly influential “Nevermind” was the cornerstone piece that helped usher in grunge. Firmly placing the Seattle sound as the forefather of the grunge movement, “Nevermind” catapulted the careers of Kurt Cobain and his wife Courtney Love as well as Dave Groehl who would go on after Kurt’s death to forge his own music with The Foo Fighters. Encased within “Nevermind” was twelve outstanding pop-rock crunchers that ate raw distortion and sub-human wails of angst and spit out hit after hit. With a rabid fanbase and influences far and wide following every breath Kurt Cobain took, he eventually took his own life scattering that brilliant brain to the wind with the shotgun blast heard around the world. In his wake he left many incredible songs but none more important to the world of music than what was contained within his opus “Nevermind”.

- J-Sin

Front 242 - 05:22:09:12 Off
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Front 242’s “Off” is quite possibly the best techno album ever made. With incredible vocals and eerie backdrops, the crushing blow of beats would call out to even the naysayers of techno. The synths are simply stunning and amazingly creative with perhaps two of the world’s most renowned programmers in Daniel Bressanutti and Patrick Codenys. Female vocalist Christine Kowalski adds her own twist to several of the tracks, lending it a feel not often felt on Front 242 caustic electronic, techno, and industrial albums. Since ’93, there has not been a better techno album. If you’ve never given techno a chance, start with this album as it is simply stated: essential.

- J-Sin