AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Helmet

Artist:Helmet

Song:Milquetoast

Album:Unsung:The Best of Helmet 1991-1997

The alternative metal band Helmet had success in the early 90s. They were mostly an album and touring band. They never had a hit single but MTV played their videos a lot. I would describe their music as noise rock. Helmet is led by Page Hamilton. He is lead singer, lead guitarist and main songwriter.  Hamilton was born in Portland. But he moved to New York to study jazz. After recording two albums with Band of Susans, he formed Helmet in 1989. The other members were Peter Mengede on guitar, Henry Bogdan on bass and John Stanier on drums. Mengede's wife suggested the name Helmuth but Hamilton misheard it as Helmet. They were spotted by Halo of Flies guitarist Tom Hazelmeyer and Helmet released the 1990 album Strap It On on his label. Though the album was successful for an indie release, major labels didn't start looking at Helmet until Nitvana went mainstream in 1991. They were offered record deals by Warner Bros., Relativity and Interscope. Interscope won by throwing a million dollar advance and creative control at Hamilton. There was a lot of hype surrounding Helmet's 1992 debut album Meantime. And that's the main reason the album sold two million copies. Plus their videos were heavily played on MTV. They were hyped as "the next Nirvana" though Helmet was nothing like Nirvana. Hamilton knew that it was nonsense. But the album sold so who cares. Once the hype wore out, most people calmed down and figured out that Helmet was a run of the mill heavy metal band. The 1994 album Betty only sold 250,000 copies. Mengede was replaced by Rob Echevarria. The lead single Milquetoast appeared in the 1994 film The Crow. Most of the album was produced by Todd "T-Ray" Ray who had previously produced Cypress Hill. Butch Vig of Garbage produced Milquetoast. Helmet also appeared in the 1995 film The Jerky Boys: The Movie with Ozzy Osbourne playing their manager. Obviously Interscope was disappointed with the sales and this didn't improve with the 1997 album Aftertaste. Plus the band wasn't getting along. So they split up in 1998. Interscope released this comp which is available as a digital download. Hamilton moved to Los Angeles and worked with film composer Eliot Goldenthal on the films In Dreams and Titus. Hamilton was working on a new band. After the comp was released, Interscope head Jimmy Iovine convinced Hamilton to release his upcoming album as Helmet. He agreed to it and the album Size Matters was released in 2004. Interscope dropped Helmet when the album didn't sell. Since then Helmet released an album on the indie label Warcon which fell apart due to financial disputes. They are currently recording for earMUSIC owned by the German record company Edel. The album Left was released in 2023. It looks like they just finished a tour. Here's the video for Milquetoast by Helmet.