#1: INSANE CLOWN POSSE, BIZZAR/BIZAAR

July 7th, 2009 at 5:00pm
MetalSucks

2070

21best

bizzar bizaar

We recently polled a wide array of musicians, managers, publicists, label reps, and writers from within the world of metal to find out what they thought the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far have been. Eligible albums were released between January 1, 2000 and April 1, 2009. Each panelist turned in a ballot, with their #1 album worth 21 points, their #2 album worth 20 points, and so on and so forth. The ballots are now in and we’ll be counting down one album a day until we reach #1. Today we present the #1 album, coming in with a total of 420 points…

Insane Clown Posse, Bizzar/Bizaar (Island, 2000)
Violent J — Vocals
Shaggy 2 Dope — Vocals
Produced by Mike E. Clark and ICP

Twenty albums down and the anticipation has built for the #1 record. It looks like the panel pulled one out of left field here, as most of you probably forgot about this sleeper record that made such a big impact on metal for this new millennium. And the catch here is that it wasn’t just one record, but a DOUBLE album that takes the spot. Those records being Insane Clown Posse’s 2000 releases of Bizzar and Bizaar. Most of you have been fans of this duo since their major label debut in the mid-90s. Before there was Slipknot, before there was Mudvayne, and before there was the greatness that is Mushroomhead – there was ICP and their legion of “Juggalos.” Forget “maggots” – these fans connected with their band unlike anyone has since. Hell, what other band has had the balls to feud with Eminem, especially in such a “safe”city like Detroit?

Even with their success in the 90’s, it wasn’t until the 2000 release of Bizzar and Bizaar that ICP truly showed what innovative metal is. Fresh off their performance at Woodstock in 1999 and millions of records sold, they chose the date of Halloween 2000 to unleash what was to be TWO of them most influential records in heavy metal (up there with Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy and, dare I say, Spineshank’s The Height Of Callousness). The records debuted #20 and #21 on the Billboard charts – a feat that has yet to be matched in metal since. The albums had two hit MTV videos with “Tilt-A-Whirl” and “Let’s Go All The Way” and caused more controversy than any Cannibal Corpse artwork ever did.

These guys took metal to a new level, and gave birth to amazing followers such as Twiztid and newer bands such as Hollywood Undead and Brokencyde. Everyone should raise their cup of Faygo and salute ICP (as well as the panelists for voting on such greatness).

-AO