While perhaps no longer the most divisive album in the band’s catalog, Machine Head‘s 1999 plunge into nü-metal “The Burning Red” certainly alienated a considerable number of the band’s early fans. A somewhat jarring shift from the groove metal they had established themselves with, that album was met with a sizable backlash upon its release, despite it considerably boosting the band’s profile.
In a recent interview with Metal Hammer, vocalist/guitarist Robb Flynn pushed back against the perceived hate against that record, offering:
“‘The Burning Red‘ didn’t sell half a million copies because people hated it! There were a lot of motherfuckers lying about not getting that record.”
He continued:
“I was throwing Method Man raps into ‘A Thousand Lies‘ on the ‘Burn My Eyes‘ tour. We were covering ‘Colors‘ by Ice-T, but suddenly people were saying we ‘got into hip-hop’ on ‘The Burning Red‘. The ‘Davidian‘ video is a rap video, we’re walking down the streets with putbulls, for Christ’s sake!”
“I never understood that criticism. I think those ‘The Burning Red‘ songs stood the test of time. Our mistake was making that video – it was corny as fuck!”
The video he refers to is likely the album’s lead single “From This Day“, which you can relive for yourself below. In other news, the group were recently announced for the ‘Blue Ridge Rock Festival‘, marking another rare festival appearance following years of touring on their own. That festival will be held in Alton, VA from September 07th to 10th.
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