It was the year 2000 and Nu Metal was on the rise, With Korn setting the trend with Follow the Leader in 1999. A relatively unknown band with the obscure name Papa Roach released their first single “Last Resort” Unknown to the band at the time this would start the rise of Papa Roach as a mainstream act in the Nu Metal scene.
I can remember (just about) being a 14 year old impressionable teenager who loved the likes of Korn , Deaftones , Limp Bizkit etc , When I first heard Last Resort it blew me away , The emotion within the song was something I hadn’t heard in my short life (so far) and made me want more so I purchased the album Infest.
Infest Is one of my all time favourite Papa Roach albums , though not my number one choice like it is many , It was a great start to their fantastic career. They brought something alternative at the time with Jacoby rapping and singing, something Limp Bizkit also did at the time but I felt Papa Roach had the edge on this. Sorry Fred.
You could tell at this time though the band will still raw and starting their journey, The album had some classics within it such as Between Angels and Insects , Broken Home and the fantastic reggae inspired Tightrope , which I had the privilege of hearing live in Birmingham during their Face Everything and Rise Tour.
In 2002 Papa Roach Released their 2nd Major Release lovehatetragedy ( I know im not including Old Friends from Young Years) continuing with the Nu Metal theme , They released two singles with this album “She Loves Me Not” and “Time and Time Again” apart from these two songs the album felt pretty dark and grungy which sets it apart a little from other released by the band , It was another solid release but due to the decline of Nu metal at the time it never reached the heights of its predecessor infest.
With Nu metal now pretty much dead on the rock scene 2004’s Getting Away With Murder had to go in a different direction if Papa Roach were to have continued success in the mainstream.
Getting Away With Murder is one of my top 2 albums by Papa roach, There is hardly a skippable track within the album. The first single released off the album was the title track Getting Away With Murder, If pushed into picking my number 1 Papa Roach track of all time this one would be it. I think when released I had it on repeat for a month straight, With Papa roach you always get energy but this track took it to the next level and with a catchy chorus and guitar riff I think at the time you would be hard pressed to find a better rock anthem to rock out too!
If you had to put a genre classification on Getting Away With Murder it would be within the Hard Rock/Alternative Metal remit. The band have always done style changes well throughout their career and this was the first showing of that making arguably their best album to date.
The album contained the massively popular Scars , which was a song many could related to. One of the best tracks off this album was Harder than a coffin nail , which ended up sneaking its way into live performances due to its popularity , which when the album was released I’m sure this was not the intention due to it being a bonus track. The album reached Number 17 on the Billboard 200 and was certified Platinum in America.
Continuing from the success of Getting Away With Murder in 2006 Papa roach released the Paramore sessions, The album was called this because the entire album had been recorded Paramour Mansion, a historic estate located in Los Angeles.
This album as with Getting Away With Murder is within my top 2 Papa roach album , The only weak track in my opinion on this album is Roses on My Grave. This was the last album to feature former drummer Dave Buckner.
Papa roach then took a longer break before writing their next album , the trend had always been every two years but Metamorphosis came out in March 2009 just under 3 years since the release of Paramore Sessions. The first single off Metamorphosis was Hollywood whore , which was a hard hitting song with the band admitting the song was about the Hollywood lifestyle in 2009 Jacoby did an interview with Kerrang! Magazine and explained the song –
“The f–king rich, popular, skinny bitches the world is obsessed with. That gives a skewed perception of reality to people. Girls feel they must be skinny as a rule because they see these whores in magazines, weighing 98 pounds! Little do they know they’re on the Hollywood scarf ‘n’ barf (bulimia) diet. I f–king hate that bulls–t – it’s so fake.”
The album was another solid recorded by Papa roach and was the first to include the bands new drummer Tony Palermo. The album was a million miles away from their first mainstream album Infest. The album did well and peaked number 8 on the US Billboard 200. We were also left with another live performance favourite from this album the song Lifeline.
In 2010 Papa roach released their first live album titled Time for Annihilation: On the Record & On the Road. The album also included 5 new tracks not previously heard by the band, The top picks of the new tracks for me were Kick in the Teeth , just for the sheer passion and heart put into the song , you can also here a lot of electronic influences in the track which later we hear more of in the Connection.
The other memorable new track was No Matter What my main reasoning for this is not because I had it at my wedding.. but the fact it was something quite fresh for Papa roach to try there had been the likes of Scars and Forever in the past but these songs always had a negative spin as No Matter What is a positive song about being there for someone… No Matter What (of course that was coming).
In 2012 Papa roach released their next studio album The Connection. This was the first Studio album they released under Eleven Seven Music , the album was produced by Sixx A.M frontman James Michael who also helped co-produce their previous studio album Metamorphosis.
The first single of the album was Still Swinging which was an ode to people who had written them off as the band were still going strong (still swinging).
This album was their most experimental to date and lyrically was quite dark in places due to Jacoby’s personal troubles while writing the album. This album was also the first since Lovehatetragedy to feature Jacoby rapping again. The album had similar success to Metamorphosis but due to the decline in music sales in general never hit the heights of earlier ventures.
In 2015 Papa released their latest studio album F.E.A.R (Face everything and rise) When promoting the album, the band stated this was the most positive album they have ever written and heavier than the connection.
The song Warriors was the first song we got to hear from the album and featured Royce da 5’9″ , when hearing this song initially it sounded like the band where continuing with the connection sound and not a harder sound I had anticipated.
This was not the case for other songs on the album such as Skeletons, Broken as Me and the two bonus tracks Hope for the Hopeless and Fear Hate Love which in my personal option are the best two tracks on the album and should have been included in the main list.
F.E.A.R was rather hit and miss for me but I still played it to death as the band are one of my favourites, I was just hoping for something a little more heavier and being a massive fan of Getting Away with Murder and Paramore Sessions, I was hoping for a modern version of these two albums mixed together.
F.E.A.R by no means was a bad album just not the one I wanted at the time, it’s another solid album by the band and looking over their back catalogue the album slots in nicely.
Last year Papa roach announced they are working on a new album and used pladgemusic crowdfunding tool to help with the costs.
On the 1st November we heard the first song since the new album was announced called Crooked Teeth a highly energic song reminiscent of a 2004-2006 Papa Roach. We now eagerly anticipate the album.
Will I get the modern Getting Away With Murder or Paramore Sessions I crave? Or will it be another new sound the band have created? Either way I will be listening intently and looking forward to the new album.
Our opinion on the Papa roach albums ranked (Mainstream Studio Albums Only) –
- Getting Away With Murder
- Paramore Sessions
- Infest
- Metamorphosis
- Lovehatetragedy
- F.E.A.R.
- The Connection
Think differently? Comment below!
Photo Credit: Bryson Roatch