By the end of 2003, the writing was on the wall for nu metal. That summer, Limp Bizkit had been chased offstage at a Metallica gig in Chicago by a hostile crowd chanting “Fuck Fred Durst!” A few months later, they’d struggled to replicate the success of 2000’s Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water with its Wes Borland-less follow-up, Results May Vary. Onetime running mates Korn had received a lukewarm reception with their sixth album, Take A Look In The Mirror, and one-hit wonders like Crazy Town, Soil and Adema had, erm, failed to get another hit.
More astute bands, though, had read the signs. Like Deftones and Slipknot, who’d jumped ship years before, Papa Roach had also clocked the finite nature of the genre’s jock strap posturing. Aware they would need to mix up their formula to survive the inevitable, steadily approaching nu metal cliff-drop, the band had already started putting in the groundwork, embracing a harder rock edge on 2002’s Lovehatetragedy. By 2004’s Getting Away With Murder, they’d ditched the rapping, oversized Dickies and wallet chains completely, transitioning to a sound designed to ensure that when the end came, they would be clear of the debris.
