pointandclick Right off the bat in 40 Below Summer's 1999 debut, it is clear the band are capable of producing some seriously infectious choruses. The opener "Suck It Up" is an excellent balance between the heaviest of nu metal (think Slipknot) and the hooks of early 90s alt-rock.

On the whole though, this album is somewhat different compared to later 40BS releases. There is a much more noticeable hip hop influence, not just in the vocals, but also in terms of instrumentation. Songs like "I'm So Ugly" and "Little Lover" appear to have some sort of G-funk sounding keyboard thing going on, which adds a layer of uniqueness to this as far as nu metal goes. My favorite song here overall is probably "Untied", a super emotional song which feels a little out of place amongst all the rap metal and proto(?) Slipknot stuff.

I would definitely recommended this to anyone with an interest in alternative metal and its subgenres, or just anyone who appreciates good, catchy melodies in metal.

Originally written for www.rateyourmusic.com

pointandclick "Invitation to the Dance" had hints of Smashing Pumpkins-esque melodicism and balladry in songs like "Power Tool", "Jonesin" and "Falling Down", although for the most part the album mainly consisted of aggressive "jumpdafuckup" type songs. Here things are reversed, most of the songs are ballad-like in nature and there are only 2 or 3 songs which are 100% aggro nu metal. A few find a balance between the two directions, notably the wonderfully titled "Taxi Cab Confession". Overall, this album is really a product of its time. In 2003, nearly every major or semi major label nu metal band was being pressured by their record labels to make generic radio rock after the success of Incubus's "Make Yourself", Linkin Park's "Hybrid Theory" and Staind's "Break the Cycle", multi-platinum selling albums which all fused nu metal instrumentation and vocals with pop/post-grunge type song structures. Some examples of this phenomenon include Slaves on Dope ("Metafour"), Nothingface ("Skeletons"), Nonpoint ("Development"), Mudvayne ("The End of All Things to Come"), Korn ("Untouchables") and Limp Bizkit ("Results May Vary"). The only nu metal band that really bucked this trend were Deftones, who came out with a very heavy album in 2003 before going all artsy/hipster in the mid-2000s.

Originally written for www.rateyourmusic.com

pointandclick Overall, this is the best 40BS release. Many of the tracks are also present on 2001's "Invitation to the Dance", yet the 2000 demo versions here have way more conviction in the vocals. The three songs that aren't available on any other releases are also really good. "Endorphines" is an interesting mixture of a laid back, almost ominous atmosphere, melody and heaviness. "Letter to God" tricks you into thinking its going to be some cheesy ballad, before getting really heavy and nasty. "Faces" (later retitled "PS I Hate You") probably has one of the best choruses in nu metal history, and it pains that most nu metal fans/haters will probably never hear it's greatness.

Originally written for www.rateyourmusic.com