"If you saw these guys on the street, you wouldn't even know that they're cool." Every Helmet album ranked from worst to best

Henry Bogdan, Peter Mengede, Page Hamilton and John Stanier of Helmet pose for a group shot in New York in 1992.

Helmet were formed in New York City in 1989 by former Band of Susans member and jazz guitarist prodigy Page Hamilton.

He recruited bassist Henry Bogdan, guitarist Peter Mengede and drummer John Stanier and the quartet quickly earned a reputation in Lower East Side punk dives for their punishing, riff-driven live shows. The group signed to Amphetamine Reptile Records, with whom they released the abrasive single Born Annoying and their full-length debut, 1990's Strap It On, but it was with their major label debut Meantime (1992) that they truly made their mark on the alt-rock landscape. To date, the album has sold over 2 million copies worldwide.