Here are 21 essential nu-metal albums you should own on vinyl.
As with many popular music genres, determining which artists to include can be a challenging task.
There are the obvious ones, like Korn and Limp Bizkit, whose sound never seemed to stray too far from where they were when the popularity of nu-metal first took hold in the ’90s. With each album, both of these nu-metal pioneers (?) mostly stayed true to form.
READ MORE: 11 Essential ’90s Metal Albums You Should Own on Vinyl
Then, there were the names in nu-metal from around that same time that eventually found ways to evolve within their music. Deftones have kept a wall of guitars in most of their albums while also using it as a canvas for adding textures and layers to create something fresh.
Were they ever nu-metal to begin with or did nu-metal evolve with them?
There are metal bands like Slipknot and Disturbed that found success a short time after the ’90s boom that birthed other acts already mentioned in this article. How much of their rise can be credited to the heyday of nu-metal?
Interest in nu-metal has even seen a resurgence in recent years. Both Korn and Limp Bizkit have been festival headliners in recent years. Deftones have been selling out arenas more than 30 years after the release of their debut album.
If you haven’t caught the latest wave of nu-metal popularity, here are 21 essential albums to help get you ready.
Rage Against the Machine, Rage Against the Machine (1992)
Key tracks: “Killing In the Name,” “Wake Up,” “Know Your Enemy”
Buy it here.
Korn, Korn (1994)
Key tracks: “Blind,” “Shoots and Ladders,” “Clown”
But it here.
Deftones, Adrenaline (1995)
Key tracks: “7 Words,” “Bored,” “Engine No. 9”
Buy it here.
Korn, Life is Peachy (1996)
Key tracks: “A.D.I.D.A.S,” “Good God,” “Swallow”
Buy it here.
Rage Against the Machine, Evil Empire (1996)
Key tracks: “Bulls On Parade,” “People of the Sun,” “Down Rodeo”
Buy it here.
Deftones, Around the Fur (1997)
Key tracks: “My Own Summer (Shove It),” “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away),” “Mascara”
Buy it here.
Korn, Follow the Leader (1998)
Key tracks: “Freak On a Leash,” “Got the Life,” “All in the Family”
Buy it here.
System of a Down, System of a Down (1998)
Key tracks: “Sugar,” “Spiders,” “Suite-Pee”
Buy it here.
Incubus, Make Yourself (1999)
Key tracks: “Stellar,” “Drive,” “Pardon Me”
Buy it here.
Kittie, Spit (1999)
Key tracks: “Brackish,” “Spit,” “Charlotte”
Buy it here.
Limp Bizkit, Significant Other (1999)
Key tracks: “Break Stuff,” “Nookie,” “N2 Gether Now,”
Buy it here.
Slipknot, Slipknot (1999)
Key tracks: “Wait and Bleed,” “Spit It Out,” “Eyeless”
Buy it here.
Deftones, White Pony (2000)
Key tracks: “Change (In the House of Flies), “Digital Bath,” “Passenger”
Buy it here.
Disturbed, The Sickness (2000)
Key tracks: “Down With the Sickness,” “Stupify,” “Voices”
Buy it here.
Limp Bizkit, Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water (2000)
Key tracks: “Rollin’ (Air Raid Vehicle),” “My Way,” “My Generation”
Buy it here.
Linkin Park, Hybrid Theory (2000)
Key tracks: “In the End,””One Step Closer,” “Crawling”
Buy it here.
Papa Roach, Infest (2000)
Key tracks: “Last Resort,””Between Angels and Insects,” “Blood Brothers”
Buy it here.
Slipknot, Iowa (2001)
Key tracks: “People = Shit,” “Left Behind,” “The Heretic Anthem”
Buy it here.
System of a Down, Toxicity (2001)
Key tracks: “Chop Suey!,” “Toxicity,” “Arials”
Buy it here.
Evanescence, Fallen (2003)
Key tracks: “Bring Me To Life,” “Going Under,” “My Immortal”
Buy it here.
Linkin Park, Meteora (2003)
Key tracks: “Numb,” “Faint,” “Somewhere I Belong”
Buy it here.
Disturbed, Ten Thousand Fists (2005)
Key tracks: “Stricken,” “Land of Confusion,” “Ten Thousand Fists”
Buy it here.
Wondering what your favorite nu-metal stars of the late ’90s and early 2000s look like today? You’re probably not. But if you are, you should keep scrolling and look at a bunch of “then and now” photos of nu-metal bands.
20 Big Late ’90s/Early 2000s Nu-Metal Stars Then + Now
Gallery Credit: Rob Carroll
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