10 Most Underrated Nu Metal Songs

Not enough people talk about how natural nu metal was when it first got started. Even though the grunge scene seemed to die out when Kurt Cobain passed away, there were still legions of kids that were looking for something heavy to help calm their nerves whenever they put on headphones. There had to be some sort of middle ground, and Taproot is the bridge that got a lot of grunge musicians into this new genre.

While it would be stretching it to call Taproot a full on nu metal band, they had their share of heavy moments to be sure, with Birthday being one of the most overlooked singles to come out of the scene. As much as the guitars might crunch on a song like this, the real focus on these songs are the vocals going on across these songs.

Though Steven Richards is by no means Freddie Mercury or anything, his work on this song has that natural angst that is very difficult to replicate, almost being the next generation’s version of Alice in Chains. That’s not even that far off for the grunge heavyweights either, with Layne Staley actually making plans to guest on one of Taproot’s songs, only to pass away before he got the opportunity. That melancholy collab may not have surfaced, but hearing Layne’s approval for an outfit like this feels like the musical torch being passed to the next generation.