Buttrock. Divorced Dad Rock. Post-Grunge. Whatever you wanna call it, it was a genre that had a chokehold on the early ’00s.
You could hardly turn on the radio between 1999 and 2008 without hearing Nickelback, Creed, or any number of modern rock bands cranking out slightly distorted riffs with gravely vocals. The whole experience has ended up being a bit of a pop-cultural joke, but to, regretably, quote Tom Hardy’s Bane: “You merely adopted the dark; I was born in it…”
This was a formidable era for me. I saw Creed on their Human Clay tour with Sevendust and Finger Eleven. (Fun Personal Fact: My old pal Brad Sample, from recent The Voice fame, went with me to this show.) I saw Nickelback and 3 Doors Down at least three times each. I met Puddle of Mudd at a meet and greet, and they complimented my Shadow’s Fall t-shirt (absolutely true story).
What I’m saying is… I have skin in this game, and some genuine bangers came out of this era beyond “Arms Wide Open” becoming the new “Don’t Stop Believin’.” (You may not like it, but you know I’m right.) Come, take a walk with me, and let me remind you of a few buttrock tunes (all official singles) that went way harder than you remember.
“Killing Me Inside” – Crossfade
To be fair… this one does fall just outside of the timeframe I was trying to keep things in, because it was originally released in 2011. However, Crossfade broke out in 2004 with the hit song “Cold,” from their self-titled debut album, so this still counts in my book.
After some big changes between 2006 and 2010, the band dropped their third album, We All Bleed, featuring the lead single “Killing Me Inside,” a much darker and more metal track (complete with a gnarly guitar solo at the end) than anything they’d put out in previous years.
“Mudshovel” – Staind
I was never a huge fan of Staind, but their Dysfunction album from 1999 is nothing but bangers, and they had several undeniable hits across their next couple of albums, like “It’s Been Awhile” and “Outside.”
Their second-ever single, “Mudshovel,” from Dysfunction, was kind of the song that put them on everyone’s radar, and then they just never made another one like it ever again (insert shrugging emoji here).
It should be noted that Dysfunction is often more associated with nu-metal rather than buttrock. Still, since that is where they’ve spent the rest of their career, we’re gonna say that the bass-heavy “Mudshovel” is one to revisit if you forgot how hard these bands could go in their heydays.
“The Clencher” – Chevelle
I know you guys are sick of me saying this… but I’ve been a fan of Chevelle since the very beginning. Before their breakout project, Wonder What’s Next, was released in 2002, the band released their debut album, Point #1, on the small Christian music label Squint Entertainment in 1999. I played the SHIT out of that record. (Go listen to the title track and the song “Mia.” Trust me.)
Frankly, that whole album (which was produced by the incomparable Steve Albini) could be an entry on this list, but since none of those songs were technically singles, I’m gonna direct you to the band’s 2004 track “The Clencher,” off of their third album, This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In). For a track released to radio in the post-9/11 era, it is surprisingly heavy.
Also, I want to say two more things: First… Chevelle is not “buttrock,” but they did get lumped into it kind of like how the Deftones aren’t really nu-metal but always get hit with that label because of when they first emerged on the scene, and their proximity to other actual nu-metal bands. (To Chevelle founders, the Loeffler brothers: I apologize for perpetuating the mis-genre-ing of your music.)
Secondly, Chevelle has only gotten heavier over the years, which is something you can’t really say about a lot of their fellow 2000s rock peers, so do yourself a favor and at least go listen to their newest album, Bright as Blasphemy.
“Because of You” – Nickelback
No 2000s rock band has been subjected to more ridicule than Nickelback. Even Creed eventually got this, kind of, ironic adoration in the past several years, but people have shit on Nickelback for decades at this point, and to paraphrase Justin Bieber, I’m “standing on business” that you are all wrong.
The band literally opened their breakthrough 2001 album Silver Side Up with a profoundly heavy song (both musically and emotionally) about an abused mother taking matters into her own hands and killing her abuser. And, if you’ve never heard the title track off of their 2017 album Feed the Machine, that shit is METAL.
I’ll admit that I don’t love every Nickelback album, but I will defend their fourth album, The Long Road, until my dying breath. It is, very intrinsically, heavier than anything from their first three records, and focused more on deep, dark riffs and a heavy metal drumming style.
An excellent example it the album’s fourth and final single, “Because of You,” which I’m convinced they chose to release becasue “Someday” had already been a massive hit — as was “Figured You Out” — so they had a chance to just throw out one of the album’s heaviest tunes as a single and let me tell you, it fucks.
“Bullets” – Creed
You knew it was coming. You may not have known which song it was gonna be, but there was no doubt in your mind that Creed was making this list.
To give credit where it’s due, Creed’s first album, My Own Prison (1997), is an incredible post-grunge album that feels deeply inspired by bands like Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots. The next album, Human Clay (1999), added more of an arena rock element, which carried over to the band’s third album, Weathered (2001), where they also brought back a lot of that My Own Prison-era heaviness.
It’s very evident on the album’s opener, “Bullets,” which starts with this almost-creepy guitar riff and frontman Scott Stapp reciting a sort of poem before yelling, “I think they shoot cause they want it!” He later belts out over maybe the most metal Creed riff guitarist Mark Tremonti ever wrote: “At least look at me when you shoot a bullet through my head.”
Do I think it’s going to change a hater’s mind about the band? No. But, for Creed, it is a remarkably heavy song that deserves to be acknowledged and applauded.
(You can disagree with me all you want, but you can’t deny that I did my homework and made a compelling argument.)
The post 5 Buttrock Songs That Go Harder Than You Remember appeared first on VICE.
