In the summer o’ 2005 this band I’d ne’er heard o’ called Nonpoint seemed to appear out o nowhere on my radio — neither the 99.9 THE ROCK station I mention a lot nor the alt-rock station, 107.7 The End, where I’d learn ’bout all the post-indie music I loved thru the 2010s, but a much more obscure & short-lived station called, I also kid you not, 104.9 The Monkey, or the Funky Monkey, which was like THE ROCK, but with less ol’ Boomer music like Led Zeppelin & a bit more obscure contemporary music, like this band — with a single called, “Bullet with a Name”. A year later they would release another single from this album called, “Alive and Kicking”, mo’ than half a year after this album’s release in November 2005, which I liked much better. I believe ’twas that 2nd single that convinced me to buy this album.

After that this band seemed to disappear again. They continued to make music, ’course, — & in fact, just released a new single for an upcoming album while I was writing this review — but nobody seemed to talk ’bout them anymo’ — & the radio stations I listened to certainly weren’t playing their songs anymo’. But I ne’er forgot ’bout this album; & as a Certified Curator o’ Nu-Metal Relics™, I am obliged to pass on this oral history lest it be lost.

1. Bullet with a Name

Despite being this band’s biggest single & probably the only song anyone remembers from this band, I ne’er considered this 1 o’ the best songs on this album. I ne’er disliked it — it clearly played some role in convincing me to buy the whole album in the 1st place — but after I listened to the album in full I found that the other songs stuck with me mo’. Perhaps this was caused by having listened to this song for far longer during the year-long run-up to this album’s release. From a musical standpoint it’s quite… standard, with familiar riffs thruout; tho I do like the crescendoing riffs during the 1st halves o’ the chorus parts & the bridge.

Howe’er, looking @ it mo’ closely now, & comparing to the other metal music o’ this era, I’m impressed by the lyrics o’ all things, such as with this song’s o’erall sympathy-for-the-devil theme focusing on a violent criminal who feels the need to engage in crime to keep themself alive while expressing disdain for better-off people who pretend to disdain the accumulation o’ wealth while engaging in the behavior themselves: “funny how we say we don’t need it / then turn around & try to achieve it”. It reminds me o’ that lyric from “I Will Buy You a New Life” by Everclear, o’ all people:

i hate those people who love to tell you
money is the root of all that kills
they have never been poor
they have never had the joy of a welfare christmas

Also, while it can sound a li’l silly, part o’ me likes the weird way the deeply internal-rhyming lines in the 2nd verse jumps from subject to subject mid-line thru broad association:

no water no cloud
no cover from the hotter than hell
no dinner bell —

I especially like the following lines, “open oven again / from another bad opinion”: as harsh as the heat is working in the sun, the harshest o’ heat comes from the hot air o’ some some pampered idiot opening their fat mouth ’bout economic issues for which they have no real experience. That’s basically a Bashō haiku there.

Grade: A

Music Video

Unfortunately, this recently-signed band clearly wasn’t given a high budget for music videos, as this music video is just poorly-recorded footage o’ the band jamming out — so poorly recorded that I can barely see what’s going on. It’s so bad that it’s 1 o’ the few times I have the main song video be the album version rather than the music video, as I think the opening sound effects o’ someone loading their gun offers mo’ than this music video, which lacks that.

Grade: F

2. There’s Going to Be a War

Most o’ this song is your standard banger with warlike imagery & some vague commentary ’bout finding out that oneself is the enemy, or something. Howe’er, I do like the whispered pre-chorus, which seems to better evoke the horror o’ being in a war, with the talk o’ “head down, makin’ holes”, evoking the misery o’ trench warfare during World War I, & the mo’ ghoulish, slower bridge.

Grade: B

3. The Wreckoning

A mo’ creative banger than “There’s Going to Be a War”, both musically & lyrically. Elias is able to rapidly sing in a rhythmic way that doesn’t sound as goofy as most other nu-metal bands & e’en mixes up the rhythm for the 2nd verse with a mo’ A-B A-B rhythm that better fits the mo’ mocking tone o’ its lyrics. & the ghostly way he sings in the bridge meshes well with its lyrics, making it sound like this song’s target’s own conscience berating them.

The song is ’bout some jackass screwing around partying & making a mess o’ his life in the process, with the title being a pun on the “reckoning” that is finally hitting our protagonist & what a wreck he’s made o’ his life. The lyrics are vague ’bout precisely how the protagonist has screwed up his life, but in this case it works: after all, the lyrics are aimed @ said protagonist, & the singer shouldn’t need to tell the protagonist what a mess he’s made o’ his life — he already knows.

Grade: A

4. Alive and Kicking

The other, less well-known single, but the 1 that truly convinced me to buy this album as a teen. To be honest, on a technical level, this song probably isn’t as impressive as many o’ the others: the lyrics are vague poetic musings ’bout some relationship breaking & how the protagonist will survive, regardless. & half the song is mostly noise, with shouted lyrics & a bridge & lots o’ feedback… However, that other half — including the opening — has that sick bassline. Also, you know I love those fast & flowing verses. Look, I don’t need to justify what I like ’bout a song to you. ¿Do I look like a music critic or something?

Grade: A

Music Video

Sigh. This music video is also just footage o’ the band rocking out @ a concert along with them giving out autographs, drinking backstage, & rollerskating. The footage is less crusty than “Bullet with a Name”’s & I can actually see most o’ what’s going on, but it’s still not interesting.

Grade: D

5. Explain Yourself

This song is mostly a banger with fun fast singing during the verses &… not so fun loudly honking guitar noises, especially right @ the beginning; but then the bridge comes & we get sweet thwacking bass & horns like we’ve suddenly hit a fiesta. It doesn’t mesh with the song’s theme o’ deriding someone one knows for being fake @ all, but, luckily, I don’t care.

Grade: B

6. Buscandome

You know, the problem with reviewing an album like this is that while no song on it is bad, most o’ them are good as bangers to have fun listening to, not meant for analysis or ( in the case o’ bad music ) mockery & memeing. The lyrics are neither bad nor particularly good here, being a general blob o’ words ’bout finding oneself ( “buscandome” is Spanish for “searching myself” ). The Spanish lyrics are probably the most interesting part o’ this song, especially the line in the chorus, “yo soy lo que soy, no me voy” ( “I am what I am, I’m not going” ) with the 3 ”o” & “oy” internal rhymes & the 2 “e” rhymes in the latter 2 parts.

( As a note not for my current view o’ this song but o’ my view as a teen: I was already studying Spanish in middle school when I 1st encountered this song, so I already knew what this song’s title & chorus were saying e’en back then. )

I also quite like the the bass strumming @ the beginning & thruout.

Grade: B

7. To the Pain

Here we have a much mo’ interesting song, which goes back & forth from rapid shouting & riffing to slower, quieter, & mo’ melancholic parts, especially the bridge, which drops all electronic instruments & has mo’ soulful singing, only to go back to shouting for 1 mo’ chorus, & then capping off with just shouting, <¡PAIN!>, broken off each time by riffing.

The song seems to be ’bout how life is nothing but pain, but one shouldn’t end it all like the voice pleading in Spanish in the background wants, because… actually, the singer doesn’t seem to know why, either. The reason seems to be, “I’ll take the way of the others”, whate’er that means. Honestly, a song with the theme o’, “suicide is the rational option, but I irrational choose to live, anyway”, is a refreshing twist from the usual nu-metal suicidal anthems, so props to that.

Grade: A

8. (Ren-Dishen)

This is an instrumental with some weird effect being done to the basslines that I like while in the background we have some Linkin-Park-esque lowfi crunch riffs. It’s refreshingly rare to hear a nu-metal band do an instrumental ( Linkin Park is the only other band I could think o’ that did so ).

Grade: B

9. Explain Myself?

Hell yeah. O’ all the bangers on this album, this is the best, with its animalistic drumming & singing thru the verses & choruses, only to drop into suddenly calm, quiet, & chilling voice warning the target o’ this song in the bridge while riffs that sound like warning alarms ring in the background. Put that shit in my veins like crack.

Grade: S

10. Skin

This is a rather schmaltzy song ’bout trying to have a heart-to-heart with some friend down in drugs, or as the song describes it in a bathic way, “join[ing] mass murder parties ’cause you hear it’s a trend”, which is obviously a metaphor, but just makes me think o’ someone literally joining a club for serial killers ’cause that’s just, like, the vibe, girl. That would be a much better song, honestly. Honestly, this is the 1 time Nonpoint falls into the kind o’ cheesy maudlin of other nu-metal bands like Breaking Benjamin or Papa Roach.

That being said, the performance isn’t bad @ all. Elias can certainly fall into calmer, sadder singing well in the chorus, especially @ the end o’ the song where most o’ the instruments become quieter except the eerie robotic riffs.

Grade: C

11. Code Red

OK, we’re getting e’en mo’ into cheesy territory with the “WHOOO WHOOO” ambulance sounds after each time Elias shouts this song’s title. Other than that this song’s performance is solid, with Elias changing up from singing & panicked rambling thru the verses. The lyrics are, like the previous, your general self-help pap, with lines like, “When will you learn that the world is on your side?”. The chorus is also pretty repetitive. Honestly, I think this is probably the weakest song on this album so far; but it’s far too tolerable to listen to to go below a C. It’s fine.

Grade: C

12. Wrong Before

I like this song much better: the ranting that seems to come in from the background joined by this menacing electronic noise, both moving in a flowing motion.

This song’s lyrics are also silly, but in an interesting way, specifically the line, “I can’t be wrong, I was wrong before”. ¿What the hell does that mean? ¿Can someone only be wrong once in their entire life? The song’s theme otherwise seems to be your typical “I’M NOT A PART O’ YOUR SYSTEM” song, but the way this sentence is phrased — which revolves round the song title, mind you — is just funny. But, I mean, you have to admit it’s memorable: ¿how many other bands have a song called “wrong before”? ¿Who else has e’en written such a statement? & given how trite the rest o’ the song’s lyrics are, I’m confident in saying that’s actually the best line in this song.

Grade: B

13. The Longest Beginning

Another instrumental, albeit 1 that is mo’ a leadup to the next song — which is to say that it is, indeed, 1 o’ the longest beginnings to a song ( well, if 1 has ne’er heard o’ Tool or Deftones, a’least… ). & it sounds good, too, with its funky mix o’ bass &… I think that squeaky instrument is a guitar ( it’s thankfully not so high-pitched, so this squeaky instrument I don’t mind ).

Grade: A

14. The Shortest Ending

& in a bit o’ irony, “The Shortest Ending”, the final song on this album is technically the longest, @ a whopping 16 minutes… except, spoiler, most o’ that is dead air before the hidden track @ the end. Glad that the YouTube Music version o’ this album doesn’t ruin the joke by splitting off the hidden track like most albums on streaming services would do. ( The hidden track, by the way, is just another instrumental — a nice sounding 1 with those soft bass notes ).

This song’s 1-line chorus, “It’s the longest way to the shortest ending”, hearkening back to the previous track, seems to be a vague philosophical idea o’ how life usually seems to end suddenly ( not to me, howe’er: I’m always aware that I am slowly dying, e’en as I spend my finite life force typing up reviews for obscure nu-metal albums ), with the verses seeming to reminisce on one’s life, which is a thematically-fitting song for the end: as if the album itself is a microcosm o’ life & its end is the end o’ that life.

Musically, this song is weird: it continues the funky bass & squeaky guitar from the previous song, but sounds less cheery with this song ’bout death with Elias’s gloomy pleading singing, especially during the bridge when the music becomes borderline feedback while Elias sings with a heavy, distorted filter.

I also like the meta trick this song plays near the end where the song seems to fade out… only to then suddenly hit the drums & start playing the chorus 1 mo’ time.

O’erall, a great way to end an album, especially by nu-metal standards.

Grade: A

Conclusion

This 1 is o’ those albums I insisted on doing a review on simply ’cause I’ve always liked it & it’s not as well knows as most other nu-metal albums, not because I had much interesting to say ’bout it. I had a strong urge to just follow each song with, “Just listen to this banger”, as a review. O well.

Final Grade: A