Size Matters

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For other uses, see Size Matters (disambiguation).
Size Matters
Helmet-SizeMatters.jpg
Studio album by
Helmet
ReleasedOctober 5, 2004 (2004-10-05)
RecordedMarch–June 2004 at Cello Studios in Hollywood, California
GenreAlternative metal
Length39:35
47:56 (with bonus tracks)
LabelInterscope
Producer
Helmet chronology
Unsung: The Best of Helmet (1991–1997)
(2004) 		Size Matters
(2004) 		Monochrome
(2006)
Promo cover
Cover of the promo version of the album
Cover of the promo version of the album
Singles from Size Matters
  1. "See You Dead"
    Released: August 2004
  2. "Unwound"
    Released: 2004
  3. "Smart"
    Released: 2005
  4. "Crashing Foreign Cars"
    Released: 2005
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic52/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic3/5 stars[2]
Lost at Sea7/10[3]
Pitchfork(5.4/10)[4]
Rolling Stone2/5 stars[5]
Sputnikmusic3.5/5 stars[6]

Size Matters is the fifth album by the American alternative metal band Helmet, released in 2004 through Interscope. It is the first new album since the band ended with a bitter break-up in 1998.

Background[]

Page Hamilton, the band's founder and chief songwriter, is the only original member appearing on the album. Therefore, some fans[who?] object to it being called "Helmet" and consider it to be a Page Hamilton solo project. According to Hamilton, founding members John Stanier (drums) and Henry Bogdan (bass) both declined the invitation to reunite.[citation needed]

Despite any objections, the album carries on in the Helmet tradition with Hamilton's trademark staccato sound. The album was recorded as a three-piece with John Tempesta on drums and Chris Traynor (guitarist on the Aftertaste tour) on bass. After recording was done, bassist Frank Bello was brought in so Traynor could return to guitar for live performances.

Size Matters had one single in "See You Dead". The track "Throwing Punches" was also included on the film soundtrack for Underworld, and "Crashing Foreign Cars" was featured in the video game Need for Speed: Underground 2.

Music and lyrics[]

Many of the album's songs and lyrics were inspired by Hamilton's one year relationship with actress Winona Ryder.[7]

Critical reception[]

Size Matters was met with "mixed or average" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, it received an average score of 52 based on eight reviews.[1] At Pitchfork writer David Raposa gave the album a mixed review. He criticized the band's change in sound writing, "Helmet attempt to diversify their portfolio, offering dynamics and approachable melodies and other types of listener-friendly capitulations one wouldn't associate with the folks that dropped Meantime and Unsung."[4]

Johnny Loftus of AllMusic gave the album 3 stars and wrote in his review, "Size Matters emphasizes for the bloated alt-metal elite what it means to have craft and a little self-control. It isn't necessarily memorable, but as an exercise in measured, even artistic rage, it's classic Hamilton."[2] Josh Zanger of LAS Magazine explained, "Size Matters seems to come up a little short in certain areas though. The overall sound is a bit too polished and loses some of the raw power edge that previous albums rode to critical success. This slickness also makes the weaker songs forgettable and bland, and a few of the choruses are forced into overextensions. At times, elated melodies contradict the darker pounding force of previously established riffs and sound like unnatural ideas that never fully blossomed."[3]

In a review with Rolling Stone, Christian Hoarde gave the release 2 stars out of 5, explaining, "On their first disc in seven years, the manicured riffs remain, but the sludge is so overbearing that anyone born during the Eighties will wonder what once made them special."[5]

Track listing[]

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Smart"Page Hamilton3:44
2."Crashing Foreign Cars"
  • Hamilton
  • Rob Nicholson
  • John Tempesta
  • Chris Traynor
2:31
3."See You Dead"Hamilton3:48
4."Drug Lord"Hamilton3:24
5."Enemies"
  • Hamilton
  • Clouser
5:00
6."Unwound"
  • Hamilton
  • Chris Bjorkland
  • Mike Conlin
  • Jeff Craig
  • Christopher Scheidel
4:12
7."Everybody Loves You"Hamilton3:27
8."Surgery"Hamilton3:14
9."Speak and Spell"
  • Hamilton
  • Clouser
3:31
10."Throwing Punches"
  • Hamilton
  • Clouser
3:44
11."Last Breath"
  • Hamilton
  • Tempesta, Traynor
3:03
Japanese edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
12."Black Light"3:40
13."Just Like Me"4:42

The Japanese release has two additional tracks: "Black Light" and "Just Like Me". These tracks, as well as "Smart" (a.k.a. "Opportunity"), "Enemies" and "Unwound", were originally recorded as Gandhi tracks, Page Hamilton's previous band.

Personnel[]

Credits adapted from Tidal.[8]

Chart positions[]

Year Chart Position
2004 Billboard 200 121
Year Single Chart Position
2004 "See You Dead" Mainstream Rock Tracks 29

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Loftus, John. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Zanger, Josh. "LAS Magazine Review". LAS Magazine. Archived from the original on November 6, 2004. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "Helmet: Size Matters | Album Reviews". Pitchfork. November 29, 2004. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Hoard, Christian (October 28, 2004). "Rolling Stone Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 30, 2007. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  6. ^ "Helmet - Size Matters (album review 2) | Sputnikmusic". Sputnikmusic. March 18, 2014. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  7. ^ "Justify Your Shitty Taste: Helmet's "Size Matters"". Decibel Magazine. January 12, 2011. Retrieved February 26, 2013.
  8. ^ "Credits - Size Matters - Helmet". Tidal. Retrieved April 10, 2021.

External links[]

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