The P.O.D. Kast: Recent Episodes
Bryan Quinby & John Cullen
Keep on rollin', baby. It's a monthly podcast where Bryan Quinby (Street Fight Radio) and John Cullen (Blocked Party) dissect a classic nu-metal album and wonder why they just can't give up thinking nu-metal is good. Probably because it really, really is.
For just the second time in the show's history (and perhaps the last time), we are covering our namesake band, as we dive into the P.O.D. well once again to review their major-label debut, "The Fundamental Elements of Southtown". I'll say this: we like it a heck of a lot more than we did "Satellite". Doesn't stop us from finding lots to chew on here though, as Bryan remembers grappling with liking this album when it first came out with the fact the band was Christian, and we wonder how much that affected the general populace's enjoyment of them as well, as it's hard to like a Christian band in front of your friends. In 2023 without that context, there's quite a few great songs to be had, but it's also pretty front-loaded and limps to the finish line. We also take a look into Sonny's Christian missionary work, learn far too much about the "Miss Rocklahoma" Pageant, and we end the episode by discovering two of the most insane articles we've ever found doing this show, written by a devout Christian who spends roughly 30,000 words wondering just how Christian P.O.D. indeed are.
If you want to become a more devout follower of this show, you can head on over to patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4/month gets you access to THREE bonus episodes every single month. Last month, Josh Gondelman joined us to discuss the soundtrack to the weird Canadian animated sci-fi movie "Heavy Metal 2000", and for the first time ever, we introduced the $7 tier, which gets you VIDEO of that very same episode. It was a great time. The $7 Tier also comes with a bunch of other cool perks, and at any tier, you get access to our entire back catalogue, which comprises over 100 episodes. Don't miss out!
It was perhaps an inevitability that we got around to covering one of the most maligned albums in the "nu-metal" genre, when the biggest metal band of all-time dips their toe into the nu-metal waters about 3 years too late. It's Metallica's "St. Anger", the one that wrought the most cursed snare tone of all-time and the documentary "Some Kind of Monster" upon the world of music. We grapple with this album's legacy as we discuss the often bizarre production choices, the lyrics-by-community, the lack of guitar solos, and the absolutely punishing length. And of course, the band weighs in on everything from this time period from James' sobriety and strict working schedule to Lars' emergence as an art collector. It's a wild ride reviewing this time period from a band of this magnitude's perspective, and we get into all of it. We even consider joining their fan club.
If you want to join OUR fan club, you can head on over to patreon.com/thepodkast, where things are a-changin'! We are making our first tier add in 4 years of doing this show, as bonus episodes will now be available IN VIDEO, you'll get to vote in an exclusive, members-only Poll, increased merch discounts, and lots of other goodies for just $7/month. But don't worry: $4/month still gets you the best deal in podcasting: access to THREE bonus episodes every single month! Last month, we were joined by Cran from Nu-Metal Agenda to discuss "Angermeans" by early-90s hardcore band Strife, and you also get two singles episodes for your money. PLUS! As always, you can pay us to review YOUR favorite album or single. It's a fun place to be, so check it out today!
American Head Charge's reputation in the online nu-metal community is very strong, with some critics putting this album amongst the very best in nu-metal history. But does it come across that way for us? With neither John nor Bryan having extensive history with this album, we dig into all of its lore 20 years later, from the flag burning and shotgun blasts to the literal nonsense lyrics, as every interview with every band member has them broadcasting their complete nonchalance with the whole thing. We marvel at how good the production is, a pinnacle of Rick Rubin's career, how good the musicianship is, and how we just kinda wish the singing wasn't so...well, so dour. We also attempt to grapple with exactly where it stands in nu-metal history and if it deserves all the flowers it gets. Plus! We have actual nu-metal news to discuss, as the Sick New World festival got announced and we have some thoughts about how it's all shaping up.
If you want to hear more of our sick thoughts, you can head on over to patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4/month gets you THREE bonus episodes every damn month. Last month, comedian Ryan Williams joined us to dissect the Judgment Night soundtrack, as we finally cover the seminal classic album that some say helped to launch nu-metal as a concept and a genre. Plus you'll get access to our Discord and merch discounts (we have shirts!) over at merch.blockedparty.com. Get into it!
In what will likely be the last Incubus record that could be considered nu-metal enough for the show, John and Bryan dig in to Incubus' third album, "Make Yourself", one that's highlighted Brandon Boyd's "introspective" phase that spits out some of the weirdest lyrics ever committed to paper but backed, as usual, by some incredible music. The two of us debate whether or not Incubus is responsible for a second "Bryan's Perfecto", a tag he's only ever given out once on the show to the other Incubus album we covered, "S.C.I.E.N.C.E." and we both reminisce about how this album made us feel a lot of feelings. While talking about how he listened to this album while living in a mobile home with 3 other people, Bryan realizes that this could've been the record that helped 21 year-old, partying Bryan become friends with 15 year-old, weirdo nerd John. It's truly an album that unites generations of nu-metal fans, and we get into all of it right here.
If you want to unite with other nu-metal fans, you can donate to the show at patreon.com/thepodkast and join our Discord. And that's not all you'll get for $4/month, you also get THREE bonus episodes every month, two short singles episodes and one full-length review. Last month's full-length episode was a special one as Nolan Sykes from Donut Media joined us to discuss nu-metal's history with cars and Limp Bizkit's "Rollin'" from just about every angle. It was a really fun one that you don't wanna miss! We also have merch! The first-ever P.O.D. Kast shirt is now available at merch.blockedparty.com. Check it out!
You can be a nu-metal fan but not be constantly engaging with the classics, particularly a band's--by their own admission--rushed second album. We know about the legacy of the self-titled. We know about how many copies Follow the Leader sold. But where does "Life is Peachy" fit into Korn's legacy as a band, and the legacy of nu-metal as a whole in 2022? Well, it turns out that both Bryan and John were very pleasantly surprised by how much they liked it still. It completely whips, and we have fun getting into all of it. We discuss Ross Robinson's "improved" production, why exactly Jonathan Davis is so mad at Mr. Rogers, what a song consisting of the most vile words the English language has is doing on the album, and why there's two covers over the span of 3 songs. It's a testament both to Korn's excess at the time, but also the limited scope and budget with which they had to operate that excess. It's an album that has some of Korn's absolutely best songs, and some of their most baffling decisions, but ultimately stands the true test of time. And of course, we dig into the interviews and get more of these dumb guys saying very dumb things. It's Korn, what do you expect?
What you can expect over on our Patreon is THREE bonus episodes every single month for the low price of $4. Head on over to patreon.com/thepodkast and you'll get one full-length bonus, like last month's review of Edgewater's "South of Sideways" with Producer Dan, and two mini singles reviews every month. Plus, you can tell us what to review for a bonus episode and we've got a very cool and fun Discord. It's all there, check it out and support this show!
It's an episode that begins with us talking quite frankly about our balls (and our strength), and you might need a lot of strength to get through almost two hours on an album that just doesn't quite get to where it thinks it's going, as the risks hardly ever pay off and at the end of the day, its biggest song is still a cover. But WHAT A COVER IT IS. We discuss what it means to have a cover hit huge, how we perceived it then and now, and whether or not "Movies" can hold a candle to "Smooth Criminal" as the album's first (and third!) single. We also learn that Alien Ant Farm really wants you to know they're good musicians, actually, and it took us 36 episodes but we also figure out that every band categorized as "nu-metal" in the early 2000s could actually be divided into one of two groups: Ozzfest or Warped Tour. And finally, we wax poetic about skaters and "skateboard bands" and Dryden Mitchell's "write the words, worry about what they mean later" strategy of songwriting.
If you want to learn a lot more about songwriting strategy and support the show at the same time, you can head on over to patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4/month gets you access to THREE bonus episodes a month. We do two short reviews of nu-metal songs and one full-length episode much like this one, as last month we had Bryn Nieboer from Stay Inside on the show to discuss The Mad Capsule Markets' classic, "OSC-DIS". There's nearly 80 episodes in the back catalogue to choose from and you get access to our Discord too. What a deal!
BIG TRUCK! BIG TRUCK! After literal years of trying to get this album to win a Poll, Bryan's dream finally comes true and the boys cover Coal Chamber's debut, self-titled album and it does not disappoint. Perhaps the first nu-metal band to recognize the inherent silliness of the genre, from the lyrics to the interviews, we also recognize that this record absolutely kicks ass. It's clearly inspired by Korn's first record in all the right ways, with gritty production, chunky riffs, and a great rhythm section holding it all down. Bryan talks about loving this album as a kid and John loves it now, and it's got one of the genre's best album covers too. Just a real "great job, gang!" situation all around.
If you want to be part of a great gang, you can head on over to our Patreon at patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4/month gets you access to THREE bonus episodes every month. Last month, we covered The Crow soundtracks with Lorin from Roach Koach, and we've also got a fun Discord and lots of other cool stuff, so head on over there to check it out. It's the best deal in podcasting!
It's a truly wild episode of the POD Kast this month, as Bryan talks about the first time he did acid...at the age of 12. It sets the tone for the entire episode, as we discuss Neighborhood Jesus, Mick Thomson's "sense of humor" and just how it became that a very heavy metal band made a very heavy sophomore album and still managed to capture the hearts and minds of people everywhere. Of course, this was also right around the time Slipknot began to take themselves VERY seriously, and John wonders if borrowing some of Corey Taylor's recording techniques, like smelling animal remains and puking and pissing everywhere while recording might make the podcast better (it won't). Slipknot also loves to tell you how much they hated making this album and we get into one of the most egregious examples of a band giving Rolling Stone exactly the type of coverage they would want from them, and Rolling Stone eating it all up with a giant, masked spoon.
If you want to be spoonfed more content from us, you can head on over to patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4/month gets you access to THREE bonus episodes every single month. Last month, we covered Linkin Park's "Reanimation" with our good friend Chris James in an episode a lot of people are calling an "all-timer", and on a singles episode, we recoil as we cover the Metallica/Ja Rule monstrosity that might be the single worst song we've ever covered. Plus, you get bonus posts from us, access to our Discord, and more. So check it out!
It's time for one of the most puzzling albums we've ever covered on this show, a pure nu-metal album that came out in the complete dead zone of 2013 from a bunch of guys who don't seem interested in anything other than trying to be famous. From a "club banger about football" to a myriad of ballads to songs about drugs and killing everyone, this album literally has it all. And it's all bad. So of course, Bryan loves it! We dive into some of the more questionable lyrics on the album, why they love lions so much, and how you can possibly write songs when everyone in the band is a singer and they don't seem to have worked out any sort of writing process. Oh, and their old lead singer definitely made up a story about them jumping him after a show, they're all Scientologists, and they've worn more masks than any other band in history. It's a wild ride.
If you want to be taken on more wild rides, check out our Patreon and support the show over at patreon.com/thepodkast, where we review two nu-metal singles and one album every month for just $4. Last month, we covered the Matrix Reloaded soundtrack with our pal Randee Neumeyer, and we have more awesome stuff on the way. Plus you get access to our Discord, you get a monthly listening list so you can prepare for the episodes, and MORE!
We finally get to talking about the band responsible for the best artist biography in the business, Mushroomhead. Covering their most popular album, "XIII", we take a read of the infamous bio as well as the "News" portion of their site, which we find is just as fluffily written as the biography is and purports their albums to be "a collection of anthems". The album is...ok. We discuss the songs and how they try to find nu-metal's middle, as we find out that turntablist Stitch is a haunted house aficionado, and gives the longest interview answer of all-time. Plus, John becomes a Crocs guy, the band just can't help continuing to compare themselves to Slipknot even though they insist there's no bad blood, and Bryan comes up with his latest hot take just one day before the Machine Gun Kelly debacle: there is no such thing as a bad cover.
If you want to hear us talk on a lot of covers (and other fun stuff), you can head on over to patreon.com/thepodkast and support the show. In exchange for your donation, you'll get THREE bonus episodes every single month, where we review nu-metal singles and albums suggested by you, the listener. You can donate to decide on what you want us to cover on those episodes over on the Patreon, and you can also hear last month's main bonus show, where we watched Anime Music Videos with OK Fox of the Art and Labor podcast. It was a good time! We also have a Discord, you get a listening list every month before we record the episodes, and more goodies. So check it out.
It's the first time that Bryan & John have been forced to tackle a band that isn't a nu-metal band, but greatly influenced a vast majority of the bands we've covered on this show. Named the Most Influential Album of All-Time by Kerrang! in 2003 (a list we investigate...it has some holes), it's easy to see how many bands of the nu-metal era were inspired by this record, even if they really didn't want to be seen as the progenitors of the genre. We get into the weirdness of Mike Patton, some of the more bizarre musical elements, and Bryan is blown away by the covers on the record. And just to ease a lot of listeners' concerns...we didn't hate it.
If you want some more stuff you won't hate, donate to the show at patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4/month gets you THREE bonuses every month. You'll get two mini-reviews of nu-metal singles and one full-length bonus episode, including last month's bonus episode where HolidayKirk joined us to discuss French nu-metal stalwarts Pleymo. And of course you can't get access to our famous Zoom live shows without being a patron, and our next one is coming up March 21st, as we are gonna review a series of anime music videos with the Art & Labor podcast. So don't delay!
30 episodes and 4 poll nominations later, Drowning's Pool magnum opus "Sinner" finally gets a review and it turns out it's not a moment too soon, as this one is a banger. Amidst talk of Bryan undergoing a personal rebrand, the boys do a rebrand of their own as they talk about originally disliking "Bodies" and realize during the work for this episode that no, it's actually one of the best nu-metal songs ever. And the rest of the album follows suit, as we thoroughly enjoy it all and it makes us realize Dave Williams was a true talent lost too soon. He seemed like a hell of a cool guy, too. That said, at least we have this record still and it packs a wallop and we dissect it all.
If you want some more of us two cool guys, you can head on over to patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4/month gets you access to THREE bonus episodes every month. Last month, Steve Sladkowski from PUP joined us to talk about one of the truly bizarre contributions to the nu-metal canon, Fieldy's solo instrumental album "Bassically". Yeah, that's the real title. It was a ton of fun and we also have a great Discord and two short singles episodes every month, so check it out!
It's another episode Bryan absolutely did not want to do, as his attempt to juice the poll in favour of Far went sideways and we are forced to cover Hoobastank's major-label debut album. And what a debut album it is, as it sounds an awful lot like Incubus and we try to figure out what the drummer means when he says they were destined to sound the same because they grew up 5 minutes from each other. We also get into Doug Robb's attempts to be a "funny guy" in interviews, how good the singles are (very good), and Bryan reveals that he actually likes "The Reason" a great deal. PLUS! It's huge nu-metal news as Disturbed frontman David Draiman is back on Twitter and we find out live on the show that he blocked us.
If you want to show your moral support for the block, you can head on over to patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4/month gets you access to THREE bonus episodes, one of which is a full-length album review and the other are two mini song reviews. And you can even donate at a certain level to tell us what to cover! It's a wonderful thing. Last month, we reviewed Darke Complex's 2016 nu-metal debut "Point Oblivion", and had their lead singer, Vincente Void, on to discuss it with us. He was very candid and it was an awesome episode, so be sure to check it out. Plus we also have a Discord and other fun perks so donate today!
It's therapy time for Bryan as John and Bryan get personal on this one, as talking about our dads leads into Bryan's history with drug use and ends with some extreme talk about...pole vaulting. Bryan's insistence that he could very quickly learn how to pole vault turns contentious, and we swear we find some time to talk about this album eventually. And what an album it is, exploring Papa Roach's mammoth smash "Infest", as Bryan learns that he actually quite enjoys this album after nearly two decades of just assuming he hated it. We discuss Papa Roach's general corniness as dudes as John fills Bryan in on the Wye Oak incident and we read some interviews where Jacoby Shaddix comes across as a little cloying. Luckily the album is anything but, as we both love it and fawn over the 4 indisputably great singles, the bizarre yet confessional lyrics, and how it was a perfect album for the time.
If you want some more great singles, you can head on over to patreon.com/thepodkast, where for $4/month, you can hear us review TWO singles and ONE full-length piece of content, every single month. I say "piece of content" because last month, we watched the Disturbed rockumentary "M.O.L." with the guys from blink-155 and it was...something. We've got over 50 episodes in the back catalogue and they're all at your fingertips with a donation, so get into it! Rock on!
We don't think it's because of the album we were covering, but Bryan made it down to the Street Fight Studios just in time to vomit and then immediately record this episode. Bryan said that while he powered through, he doesn't remember most of the recording, but the takes are good and hot as we go deep on the album that broke 311, a melange of influences that is mostly pleasant to listen to but whose lyrics leave a lot to be desired. We get into their infamous Rolling Stone interview that's all about how much weed they smoke, Bryan once again takes aim at the Billboard Heatseekers Chart, we learn who guns are for (pussies), and we find out what exactly a "brodel" is. Plus, we include a mini-review of the new Limp Bizkit album "Still Sucks", and introduce a very special poll just in time for Christmas.
If you want to give yourself an early Christmas gift, you can head on over to patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4/month gets you access to THREE bonus episodes every single month. Last month, we went back to our rockumentary roots as we watched Fear Factory's "Digital Connectivity" with Ryan Williams, and it was a doozy. Plus, you get two additional singles reviews each month AND access to our Discord. It's the best deal in podcasting, so check it out!
This album might not be exactly nu-metal, but it's the perfect fit for October as we discuss Rob Zombie's unique ability to invent his own genre that combines rockabilly, nu-metal, and good old-fashioned rock into something almost wholly unique (if you sort of ignore what he did before that with White Zombie). But does that make it any good? We break it all down from the three supercharged singles to the disappointing back half of the album, as we get into Rob Zombie's inability to name things well, as well as his seeming inability to get along with most people. Plus, we dive into the new Limp Bizkit single "Dad Vibes" and create our own Rob Zombie-style characters for ourselves.
If you want more of us being characters, you can head on over to patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4/month gets you THREE bonus episodes every single month. Last month for our full-length episode we did another live show with our pal Jesse Farrar as we took a look at Mudvayne's music video history and the VOD is up now, which you won't wanna miss. Plus you get two singles reviews thrown in for good measure, so support the show today!
It's an album that contains multitudes this month, as the storylines are aplenty around PM5K's breakthrough album. The lead singer is Rob Zombie's brother. He's obsessed with science fiction (or so he says). The album contains almost no emotion whatsoever in a genre known for its ability to capture the feelings of youth. It's supposedly a loose concept album, but there doesn't seem to be a concept other than vague lyrics about space and martians. Simply put, there's a lot going on and we tackle it all, from their breakthrough on the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater soundtrack and an early Ozzfest album, to Spider-One's perplexing interviews that paint a picture of a guy who might not be all that into science fiction after all, especially for a guy who never stops talking about it. This is also our two-year anniversary show, and we reflect a little bit on what has changed in the nu-metal landscape since we started in 2019 and how the podcast has meant a lot to the both of us.
If you want even more of that very same podcast, you can head on over to patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4/month gets you THREE bonus episodes every month. You'll get one full-length bonus, and two mini bonuses where we review individual nu-metal songs. Last month, we covered a playlist of nu-metal covers with our friend Libby Watson, and as you might expect, it ran the gamut from great to terrible and everything in between. We also have another special live show coming up this month and it's all gonna be great, so hop on over now and support the show!
It's been almost two years since we covered a Korn album, and so the boys get down to business on what is likely the most important album in nu-metal history. It might have aged a bit weirder than you remember though, with some clear gimmick tracks mixed in with the bonafide hits and wonderful deep cuts you love. And we do too. This album absolutely rules. We discuss it all, from the funniest song on this album somehow NOT being one of the gimmick ones to the absolutely maximalist production to even more evidence that the guys in Korn just simply aren't all that bright. Bryan also shares the song on this album that he thinks is the greatest nu-metal song of all-time (and it's not what you think) and the guys give each other sweet gifts in the Challenge. Plus, we include a mini-review of the new Woodstock '99 documentary.
If you want some more mini-reviews, you can head on over to patreon.com/thepodkast, where we do 2 mini-reviews and one full-length review every single month. Last month, we were solo for a bonus episode as we reviewed Spike 1000's "Waste of Skin", a nu-metal album that seemed prime for stardom but never quite got there, and this month, we've got a review of some nu-metal covers with a very special guest you won't wanna miss. It's only $4 for 3 bonus episodes a month and YOU can pay US to listen to a single or an album of your choosing over there too. So check it out!
It's the best-selling album we've ever covered on the show and it might hold that record for a very long time, as we review Evanescence's Fallen, a record that sold an absolutely staggering 17 million copies worldwide, won two Grammys, and set numerous Billboard records. But is it any good? Bryan's convinced he's going to hate it, but on the strength of some very good singles and some very good backstory, Bryan finds himself enjoying it more than he thought he might. We learn all about the very messy break-up of the two founding members of the band and we also learn about two of the greatest letters in nu-metal history: the open letter written by Ben Moody 7 years after he left the band, and the one sent by Wind-Up Records to Christian bookstores telling them to stop selling "Fallen". This episode packs a lot in and we love it all.
Speaking of things you might love, you should head on over to patreon.com/thepodkast for all of our bonus content. For just $4/month, you get access to THREE bonus episodes every month: one full-length episode about a nu-metal album and two shorter episodes focused on nu-metal singles. Last month's big bonus episode was a doozy as we were joined by Max Collins from Eve 6 to discuss "Take a Bite Outta Rhyme", a compilation where nu-metal artists tackled hip-hop songs, and we got more great stuff on the way, so join now!
It's our longest episode to date, as we tackle an album that Bryan feels was the first to ever accurately describe his life, Kid Rock's "Devil Without a Cause". We take a look at how Kid Rock's early career shaped himself for success with this album, his fourth, and how the key to all of it was him apparently believing that making a Korn song was "easy". Of course, we delve all into Kid Rock's wild persona, from his current political leanings to his raising a son in the midst of the peak of his fame. Bryan also talks about seeing Kid Rock live before he hit it big and we both ponder the legacy of the song, "Black Chick White Guy".
If you want to experience more of the POD Kast's legacy, you can donate to the show at patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4/month gets you access to THREE bonus episodes every month. Last month, we sat down with Tony Boswell to review the Freddy v. Jason soundtrack, and this month, we have a super special guest planned that you won't wanna miss!
It's the first time we've ever chosen an album because of our bonus singles episodes, as we put up 4 bands in our monthly poll whose singles we loved and much to Bryan's chagrin, Flyleaf won out. A band that seemed to take their nu-metal cues from Linkin Park more than Korn, this 2005 release comes right at the very tail end of nu-metal, bridging the gap between that genre and screamo in a way that John likes but Bryan decidedly does not. The disagreement aside, we talk about our first concerts, the song Bryan lost his virginity to, the production choices on the album, and we learn an awful lot about how much this band loved Jesus.
If you want to do some worship of a different kind, you can donate to our Patreon at patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4/month gets you THREE bonus episodes every month. Last month, we covered a truly bizarre MTV documentary about the making of a Korn video, and this month, we have an interview with the Korn fan who won the contest to direct that video AND we review the Freddy v. Jason soundtrack. Plus we review singles and we take donations from you to tell us what to listen to! It's all there, so check it out.
A band that certainly hoped to be all things to everyone, we're reviewing Godsmack's debut album that's a little bit Metallica, a little bit Creed, and a lot angry. Featuring songs with varying themes such as, "leave me alone", "I would like to be left alone", "stay away from me", and "I am a practicing witch", this is Sully Erna's album and it shows. We cover all of the bases here, from the aforementioned Wiccan affiliation of the band's lead singer to the Boston Music Awards to the lasting legacy of a band that's still doing this same thing over two decades later.
If you want more of this same thing we're doing, you can head on over to patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4/month gets you access to THREE bonus episodes every month. You'll get a full-length episode and two mini singles episodes, AND, if you donate enough, you can tell us what to cover for an episode. It's very fun. This month, we have our second-ever live show coming up, where we review MTV's "The Making of...Alone I Break", as we get a glimpse into the truly unhinged making of Korn's "Alone I Break" video. It's on April 20th and you won't wanna miss it!
One of the more surprising entries in the nu-metal canon if you knew nothing about the band other than what you heard on the radio, the album that features "Fly" is indeed a nu-metal album. We learn that Mark McGrath basically wanted to mimic Korn with this record, but it turns out they were ready to mimic any band they thought might make them popular, as this album is a weird pastiche of songs that wear their influences so proudly they could almost be considered covers. We also hear one of the worst songs we've ever listened to on this show in the form of "Stand and Deliver", and we ponder just how popular this band would be if Mark McGrath wasn't so damn hot.
Speaking of hot, we've got a ton of hot content over at patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4 a month gets you access to THREE bonus episodes every single month. Last month, we reviewed a bizarre compilation called "Loud Rocks" with Bryn Nieboer of Stay Inside, where nu-metal bands covered rap songs to varying degrees of success. We also cover two singles every month, and we have tiers where you can donate and tell us what to cover for an episode! It's all there and it's the best deal in podcasting, so check it out.
An episode that was almost entirely influenced by the listeners saying how good this album is, Bryan and John go back and revisit Limp Bizkit's last album, their 2011 effort "Gold Cobra", and find that Limp Bizkit were still pretty good ten years past their prime. We take a look at how Limp Bizkit's earlier hits definitely influenced some of the songs we find here, and come to the realization that even when Fred is trying really hard, he still just isn't all that good at writing lyrics. We also dig into a very interesting interview with Wes defending Fred and further discuss how he's most certainly the best guitarist in nu-metal history. And finally, we take Fred to task for his assertion that 90% of the people at Limp Bizkit shows are women.
If you want to get in on something that's 100% good, you can donate to the show at https://patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4/month gets you access to THREE bonus episodes every single month. Last month, we reviewed the putrid hip-hop album from Korn's bassist Fieldy with Luke O'Neil, and we have more great nu-metal/hip-hop crossover content coming your way this month. Plus we do two singles reviews each month, which have been a ton of fun and highlighting some bands we've never heard of. You can donate to get us to review an album or song you love! We've also just created a Discord server where we chat nu-metal and it's all over on our Patreon, so check it out!
It's the episode that many of you have been waiting for, as we finally cover what is considered to be nu-metal's magnum opus, "White Pony". Coming out in the year 2000, it's easy to see how this album was the end of the first wave of nu-metal and ushered in the second wave, no matter how short-lived it was. We examine how Deftones approached making this album, from Chino being very concerned about changing the band's direction, to the in-fighting, to how Tony Hawk's Pro Skater almost derailed the recording entirely. We also find time to talk about seeing Deftones live, this album's lasting legacy, Stef Carpenter's recent pivot to being a conspiracy theory guy, and include a mini-review of their 20th anniversary remix album, "Black Stallion".
One thing that's no conspiracy is the bonus content we're releasing every month over at https://patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4/month gets you access to THREE bonus episodes every month, one full-length album review and two mini singles reviews. We just posted our first-ever video episode where we take a look at the videos of Marilyn Manson with Lydia Burrell, and this month, we finally tackle Fieldy's unwieldy hip-hop album, "Rock 'n Roll Gangster". Plus, we just launched the POD Kast Discord, where you can finally get the chance to chat nu-metal with people who still love it, like us. Sign up now!
In Bryan's words, it was time that we get to a truly bad album on the podcast. Never mind the fact we've reviewed Puddle of Mudd and a slew of bad albums for the bonus episodes, but we really dig in for one of the weirdest and most puzzling albums in nu-metal history, Crazy Town's "The Gift of Game". Buoyed by the #1 hit single, "Butterfly", this album sounds like a band capitalizing on a genre to make money and doing the entire genre a disservice in the process. On the episode, Bryan and John get into their saga of trying to buy the domain crazytown.com, Bryan posits his theory that Crazy Town and Limp Bizkit are pretty close to being the same band, and John basically loses his mind the whole time. We also take a look at some of the worst and most baffling lyrics the genre has ever seen and we find a beautiful Rolling Stone profile that outs Crazy Town as yet another nu-metal that seems impossible to hang out with.
You know who is great to hang out with? Us. And you can do more of it over at our Patreon. Donate to the show at https://patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4/month gets you THREE bonus episodes every month. We do one full-length bonus episode where we review an album and two short song reviews every month. It's the best deal in podcasting! And this month, we have a special surprise: a live show! Join us on December 28th, as we review 5 of Marilyn Manson's music videos, LIVE on Zoom and ONLY for our donors. You won't wanna miss it!
It's been awhile since we last saw you, and we're thrilled you're back again for another episode of the P.O.D. Kast! This month, it's all about one of nu-metal's most divisive bands, Staind. A band that Bryan hated and John liked, the division in age between Bryan and John becomes clear as Bryan was fully moving away from nu-metal in 2001 when this album came out, and John was fully entrenched. Wherever you stand on the age line might determine how much you liked it, but one thing is certain: in 2020, it isn't great.
We dive into more of nu-metal's weird history with this band, from Fred Durst nearly kicking Staind off of his tour due to an objectionable album cover to eventually signing them and becoming their "dad", to Aaron Lewis' redneck beginnings (and endings--guy is a Trump country artist now). This album contains multitudes, an $800,000 production budget with songs directly aimed at topping the charts mixed in with paint-by-numbers nu-metal and some songs that still hit pretty hard if they get you at the right moment. Staind was the sound for 2001, a bridge between the nu-metal monsters they toured with and the butt rock juggernauts that were soon to follow, and we get into their entire complicated history right here.
If you want some more complicated history, you can head on over to https://patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4/month gets you access to a great bonus episode every month AND our entire back catalogue of bonuses. Last month, we had our great friends Stefan Heck and Brett Payne on to discuss Korn: Unplugged, and this month, it's a nu-metal superpod (that's what you call the supergroup of podcasts), as we get together with our friends in Roach Koach to discuss a truly awful Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2003 soundtrack. We also introduced a new tier this month, where a $20 donation gets you a personalized review of any nu-metal song, and of course for $50, you can tell us what album to do for a bonus episode. It's all there, we hope you join us!
It's an album that Bryan has wanted to do since Day 1 of the show, and the day has finally come, as Jordan Uhl donated enough money to make it so! It's a classic POD Kast episode in that we talk a lot about the music, but we are just as fascinated with the band, as Orgy were another insane nu-metal story, from their inception to their eventual, extremely messy demise.
For an album that was released right in nu-metal's peak and was the first release on Jonathan Davis' album Elementree, it is really an outlier in the genre, one that managed to take the sad-mope 80s new wave and combine it with nu-metal into one sleek package. The music itself is pretty good, John decides (obviously Bryan loves it), but doing some research into the band reveals conflicting feelings for the Boys. We learn all about the band's take on why they wore makeup, why Jay Gordon gave up football to become a singer, why they broke up, and how Jay Gordon made money off of fellow band Lit. We also discuss Bryan's detailed history with this record, from loving it when it was originally released to the role that the song "Revival" played in his marriage. And for a little bit of bonus content, we do a mini-review of Deftones' new record, Ohms.
If you want more bonus content, you can head on over to https://patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4/month gets you access to a bonus episode every month. We tend to review compilations and rarities over there, and this past month was no exception, as we reviewed the Mission:Impossible 2 soundtrack with Jesse Farrar of Your Kickstarter Sucks. It was a wild look into music in the year 2000, with the album straddling the line between the impending death of nu-metal and the beginning of the butt-rock revival. We've got another huge bonus episode planned this month and Bryan and John's podcast co-hosts Brett and Stefan are gonna join them for Korn: Unplugged. You won't wanna miss it!
We finally made it to one year here on the POD Kast, and our two hosts celebrate the occasion the only way they know how: by listening to a little bit of Limp Bizkit. It was 12 months ago when we first launched this podcast with Significant Other, and it makes sense to return to our roots, as we lean heavily into Fred Durst's self-indulgent phase with this one.
Released just over a year after Significant Other, Limp Bizkit were legitimately one of the hottest bands in the world, and this album was no exception, though the cracks really begin to show. The boys delve into how this might be LB's best album musically but worst lyrically, Fred's celebrity phase, dating Christina Aguilera, Wes Borland's guitar playing, and how an album with such an absurd title and general message could become as popular as it did. We also see the other side of Wes, as he leaves the band shortly after this album and we speculate about what went wrong. Plus, Bryan explains how this album was the beginning of the end of his love for the nu-metal genre, and John learns that loving Limp Bizkit became really tough once this album dropped. Keep on rollin', baby.
If you wanna keep rollin' on to some sweet bonus content, you can donate to the show at https://patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4 a month gets you access to a bonus episode every month as well. It's for when one episode of nu-metal content just isn't enough. We always bring on a special guest to discuss a compilation album with us, and this month, we reviewed the Queen of the Damned OST with Jaya Sundaresh, our first soundtrack and one with a backstory that's so early 00s and SO nu-metal it hurts. Get on it!
One of the most iconic figures in nu-metal, Wayne Static, is almost more of the focus of this episode than the band is, as we look into Static-X's start as a band, Wayne's eventual death, and the band's decision to dress Edsel Dope up in a Wayne mask and go on a 20th Anniversary Tour of this album. It's the first album we've reviewed from the side of nu-metal that also held a pretty large industrial influence, and both Bryan and John explain that it was one that largely passed them by at the time but one they are excited to revisit.
In a continuing series where Bryan Quinby (Street Fight Radio) and John Cullen (Blocked Party) review one classic nu-metal album per month, Static-X comes in from a listener donation, and for John at least, it feels like the only way this would've ever gotten a review from the P.O.D. boys. But Bryan and John are game for it, as the album shows some flashes of what Static-X could have been, were they not so focused on "evil disco" and building tracks strictly from the drums and programming up. And the weird legacy of the band proves almost more interesting, as the in-fighting over the name, Wayne Static's drug problems, and the introduction of Xer0 make them a more fascinating tale than most. Plus, we find some time to talk about Korn's cover of "Devil Went Down to Georgia" going viral and Corey Taylor's new solo project.
If you want a fun solo project, you can take some alone time and use it to donate to the show at https://patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4/month gets you a bonus episode every single month. Last month, we had the wonderful Jordan Uhl on to discuss Strait Up, the tribute album to the deceased lead singer of the band Snot which features nearly all of nu-metal's greatest singers, and we've got another great episode coming this month as we tackle the Queen of the Damned soundtrack. Plus you get access to all of our back catalogue of bonus episodes and there's new stuff coming every month. Donate now!
An album that Bryan describes as "elevator music, but nu-metal", Disturbed kicks off a bafflingly successful career with this, their debut album, "The Sickness". An album that brought the world "ooh-wah-ah-ah-ah" and launched a thousand nu-metal jokes, Disturbed created the blueprint for how a band that originally came up in nu-metal could be successful well past the genre's expiration date. All the foundations of Disturbed are here, from David Draiman's weird rap-sing style to the chugga-chugga of every single song, as one bleeds into the next and we go deep into all of it.
In a continuing series where Bryan Quinby (Street Fight Radio) and John Cullen (Blocked Party) review one classic nu-metal album per month, this is an album that pitches straight down the middle. You know what you're going to get from the outset, with weird, very specific lyrics that turn out to be mostly made up, to the cover of an 80s new wave song designed to move copies. And move copies this album did, as it's gone five times platinum since its release and continues to be one of the pillars of the genre. Plus, we learn who David Draiman is as a guy, and guess what? He's not great. Shocker, we know. From describing how smart he is in nearly every interview (a triple major, baby!) to our most fun Challenge ever, we dissect just who this guy is, and how he came to front one of the most popular metal bands ever.
If you want to feel smart and popular, you can donate to the show at https://patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4 a month gets you access to a shiny bonus episode every single month, and access to our entire back catalogue as well. We're fresh off reviewing WWF's Forceable Entry with Stop Podcasting Yourself's Graham Clark, and past guests include Molly Lambert, Nick Wiger, and Felix Biederman. This month, we've got the review of Strait Up, the Snot-led tribute to their deceased lead singer Lynn Strait, which features the band fronted by a bunch of nu-metal singers and it's extremely underrated. It's gonna be a great one and you don't wanna miss out on all the times Bryan and John get together to talk nu. Donate today!
We are extremely pleased to be joined by Fallon Bowman, one of the founding members of Kittie, to discuss their debut album, "Spit". We said we would never have a guest on the main episodes of the program, but this is Fallon Bowman! We have no choice. She rules.
In a continuing series where Bryan Quinby (Street Fight Radio) and John Cullen (Blocked Party) review one classic nu-metal album per month, we revisit one of the formative nu-metal albums from John's childhood, Spit. Kittie, one of the best all-female groups of all-time is also Canadian, so John heard them a ton growing up, and Bryan gets his first exposure to a band that he calls "a perfect nu-metal sound". We discuss how John was super afraid of Kittie as a young teen, why "Brackish" would be the song Bryan would choose if someone asked him what nu-metal is, and just what made this small group of 4 Canadian women so special. And then to top it off, we are joined by Fallon Bowman to talk about how Kittie wrote the majority of this record as 14 year-olds, what it was like to tour with Ozzfest and be firmly entrenched in this genre as young women, and ultimately, why Fallon left the band before their second record was even written. Plus, we share a lot of laughs, as the interview goes double the time it was supposed to. It starts at 48:22.
If you want to go double the time with us, you can donate to the show at https://patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4 a month gets you access to another helping of P.O.D. Kast goodness. One regular episode not enough? We got you covered. We do one bonus episode per month, and each bonus episode is a review of a compilation album or a nu-metal-adjacent album. In May, we had Felix Biederman from Chapo Trap House on to discuss Everlast's long-winded "Whitey Ford Sings the Blues". This month, for the first time ever, we plan to let YOU decide which nu-metal compilation we review, and we'll have another great guest along for the ride. $4 and you get those episodes, plus our whole back catalogue of nu-metal goodness. Get into it.
We've finally arrived at a pivotal moment in the show's history: an album both hosts absolutely despise. After Bryan rigged the show poll to get a convincing win for Puddle of Mudd after Kittie was hours away from victory, he reaps what he sows as he ends up misremembering the album as good and discovers that in the year of our lord 2020, the band Puddle of Mudd is very, very bad.
In a continuing series where Bryan Quinby (Street Fight Radio) and John Cullen (Blocked Party) review one classic nu-metal album per month, the target this month is fairly big, as Come Clean is baffling from many angles: the lyrics, the songwriting, what genre it really belongs to, what era it was recorded in, and just how someone like Wes Scantlin managed to front a successful band. The fellas look at how this album managed to get popular despite all of these shortcomings, including Wes' own hometown of Kansas City essentially disowning him, him publicly insulting Fred Durst despite Fred being the one to break them, and a lead single where the song trails out with Wes Scantlin singing how he loves the way his girl smacks his ass. Plus, this month's Challenge gets personal as Bryan and John rewrite "She Hates Me" to include verses about their significant others.
If you want to be loved in the same way as our significant others, you can donate to the show at https://patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4/month gets you access to a shiny new bonus bauble every month! We've done four bonus episodes so far with some fantastic guests like Nick Wiger of Doughboys, Molly Lambert of Nightcall, and Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die, and this month, we have Felix Biederman from Chapo Trap House joining us to discuss Everlast's Whitey Ford Sings the Blues. It's gonna be a good one, folks. Hop on board!
Incubus is what happens when you take 5 guys from California, give them a bunch of mushrooms and a major-label deal before they're 22 years old, and ask them to make a debut album for the masses. Given where the band ended up, it's a bit wild to listen to their major label debut, S.C.I.E.N.C.E., a record that has more in common with Primus and Red Hot Chili Peppers than it does Korn or Limp Bizkit.
Join Street Fight Radio's Bryan Quinby and Blocked Party's John Cullen for this month's classic nu-metal album review, an album that some might not agree is nu-metal but that saw them tour with a ton of your favourite nu-metal bands and get categorized as such early on (for the record, we think it is, but it's their only one). We deal with all this album has to offer, from the bizarre cover art to the insane lyrics of lead singer Brandon Boyd, who had his shirt off more than he had it on and managed to date a string of supermodels despite singing songs about living in space and aliens probing his butthole. The boys also engage in another initials version of The Challenge, and get surprised at how much they enjoyed revisiting this album, which has held up almost as well as anything else in the nu-metal oeuvre.
Do you know what oeuvre means? Us neither. But if you want to learn more about a subject we do know lots about, you can subscribe to our bonus content at https://patreon.com/thepodkast, where just a meagre $4 gets you access to a bonus episode every month! Last month, we had the fantastic Nick Wiger from The Doughboys join us to dissect Korn's first "documentary", "Who Then Now?" from back in 1997. It was uhh, not good, but we had a ton of fun talking about it with Nick, who told us after the recording that he was drunk but we couldn't tell! It was great. This month, we have another HUGE guest for you, as we continue to find people who loved nu-metal and are itching to talk about it. Get on board!
It took us 7 episodes, but we finally get down to the band who gave us our name: Payable on Death, or as you know them, P.O.D. Another album that bafflingly sold 6 million copies, overcoming its release on September 11th, 2001 and its reputation, being Christian Rock in a time where that wasn't cool, to become one of the best-selling nu-metal albums of all-time.
Street Fight Radio's Bryan Quinby and Blocked Party's John Cullen sit down once again to review a classic nu-metal album as part of their monthly series about the genre. The boys take a long look at their own history with religion, their history with this album, and dissect some of the worst songs of the nu-metal era, from the shameless pandering of "Youth of the Nation" to the weird reggae crossovers to one of the worst utilizations of a guest feature ever as H.R. from Bad Brains gets subjected to whatever the hell that song is. It's an album that could've only existed in 2001, and despite it being our namesake...we don't really like it.
Something we do like is doing one bonus episode every month on our Patreon. You can contribute at https://patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4 a month gets you access to that bonus episode. Last month, we had Keith Buckley, lead singer of Every Time I Die, join us to discuss the Ozzfest 2001 live album, and this month, we have another very special bonus episode with a very special guest. Join us on this journey back into the nu-metal abyss.
What do you get when you take 9 guys from Iowa, throw them in masks and boiler suits, and tell them to record an album? This monstrosity, an album that is kind of good but also 60 minutes long. Street Fight Radio's Bryan Quinby and Blocked Party's John Cullen are back for another month of reviewing nu-metal classics, and this month, they take on Slipknot's only album that qualifies as nu-metal, their self-titled debut.
There's no fighting on the episode this time, as both Bryan and John love the first half and think it falls off a precipitous cliff after that. They get into their own history with the band, from John being legitimately scared of them as a teenager to Bryan thinking the whole mask thing was pretty lame. What were the masks for, anyway? The boys talk about the decision to wear them, the fact there's nine guys in the band, and why they have one band member whose sole purpose is to hit beer kegs with a baseball bat. It's another Ross Robinson production, which means John goes off on the poor production values, and in this month's Challenge, Bryan creates a Slipknot mask for the ages.
If you want to take off the mask and show us your true self, you can donate to the show at https://patreon.com/thepodkast, where $4/month gets you access to one bonus episode every month. Last month, we reviewed the Woodstock '99 compilation album, complete with stories from Bryan about being there, and this month, we will be joined by a VERY special guest (revealed on the episode) to talk about Ozzfest 2001. So get on over there and donate today!
The bad boys of podcasting are back, and this month, it's political. Street Fight Radio's Bryan Quinby and Blocked Party's John Cullen take on the 2001 nu-metal classic, "Toxicity", by System of a Down, where the boys are once again conflicted over how to feel about a record, 18 years later.
From the bizarre in-fighting to the even weirder lyrics, Bryan and John attempt to unpack just how this album became one of the most popular of the decade and has stood the test of time, despite the inherent insanity of the whole thing and complete lack of mainstream appeal. While both had awful experiences seeing SOAD live, and are pretty sure the guys in the band are pretty dislikable dudes, they arrive at different conclusions about this record in 2019, and what it means today. And once again, the episode ends with singing (yelling?), as they try to break their 2-2 tie in the Challenge Round.
PLUS, The P.O.D. Kast just launched their Patreon this month. We're gonna be doing one bonus episode every month and will be releasing some really fun content. Check it out at https://www.patreon.com/thepodkast, where the bonus content will start flowing VERY soon.
"SHUT UP WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU" is not something you'll hear on this month's episode of your favorite nu-metal podcast with Street Fight Radio's Bryan Quinby and Blocked Party's John Cullen, because once again, they talk for a very long time. This month, they review Linkin Park's debut album "Hybrid Theory", a band Bryan only seriously started listening to in preparation for this month's episode, and a band that John has liked from the very beginning.
There's a lot to unpack in this episode of the show, as the boys talk extensively about Linkin Park's wild backstory, reading insane news quotes from that time period and much later from Chester Bennington and other members of the band. Bryan also changes his opinion of Linkin Park, from believing it to be "children's music" to something a little closer to respect, by the end. It's fun when the boys disagree, and they've come to this album from very different places: John discusses the one time he skipped class in high school, which was to buy Linkin Park's second album, Meteora, and Bryan talks about clowning on people he knew that loved the band. They also discuss the album's insane popularity in the face of its horrible album cover and the fact the album peaked at #2 behind Creed yields a long discussion about bands with singers who sound like Eddie Vedder. As always, we learn a lot, and we both sing at the end, so what more could you want from a nu-metal podcast, really?
It's episode 3 of your favorite monthly nu-metal podcast (it's a niche genre) from Street Fight Radio's Bryan Quinby and Blocked Party's John Cullen, and this month is a doozy. Deftones are known to many as the band that crosses over a lot of fans: they're the one nu-metal band that people who hate nu-metal like, and they're the one nu-metal band that can get fervent nu-metal fans to listen to other, better music.
After starting the episode with a lot of Korn talk spurred on by Bryan getting rejected for a Jonathan Davis interview, the POD Boys settle into the Deftones and a cross-section of topics, mostly stemming from the fact that they're aggressively uninteresting as people but insanely interesting as a musical unit. The boys talk about their very different paths to discovering Deftones, whether or not Deftones qualify as nu-metal, and Bryan unearths a clip of Chino drunk onstage at a festival in Holland that ranks up there with one of the best drunken lead singer performances of all-time. It's a long episode, but it's worth it until the end, as Bryan also makes a shocking reveal about the Deftones' song "Root" that must be heard to be believed.
In this brand-new monthly podcast from Street Fight Radio's Bryan Quinby and Blocked Party's John Cullen, the two men sit down and wax poetic about their favorite genre of music: nu-metal. Each episode will be focused on one nu-metal album, and this month, they tackle Korn's "Korn".
Widely regarded to be the album that started nu-metal, John and Bryan come to this album from two different places: John backtracking through Korn's catalogue after falling in love with "Follow the Leader", and Bryan being there from the beginning, from early shows with no one there to buying the album because he saw a poster of the band and it looked cool. Throughout the episode, we look at how Fieldy might be the dumbest person ever to make it big, the creepy album art, the band's style, how this record made us hate our parents, and we imagine what the conversation in the studio must've been like before they recorded "Shoots and Ladders".
And in this month's challenge, Bryan and John both learn that scatting into a microphone is absurdly embarrassing.
In this brand new monthly podcast from Street Fight Radio's Bryan Quinby and Blocked Party's John Cullen, the two men sit down and wax poetic about their favourite genre of music: nu-metal. The hosts intend to dissect one nu-metal album per episode, and first on the docket is Limp Bizkit's Significant Other.
Seen by both men as the pinnacle of the genre, the two talk about their history with nu-metal and with this album specifically, before diving into a chat about Fred Durst's lyrical ability (but possible status as a genius), how much Wes Borland hated the band, the psychology behind some of the decisions made, Terry Date's production, and how Re-Arranged is possibly the greatest song ever written.
And in this month's Challenge, John and Bryan square off to see who can do the better Matt Pinfield rant.