The year is 2000. Compact discs will never be as popular as they are right now. The New York Yankees are a dynasty that cannot be stopped. Albums by nu-metal, alternative metal, and pop-punk bands are flying off the shelves. You keep on hearing about the words “Napster” and “lawsuit” in the same sentence. And it seems like every single week there’s a debut album by band you’ve never heard of to discover.
If this is how you heard of bands like Taproot, you’re probably not alone. It was, of course, probably the biggest year in nu-metal history. Almost every single week you had a new band on a big label releasing their debut album, or sophomore album in some cases. This wasn’t an isolated case either. Plenty of genres of music have gone through a similar situation, like when it seemed like every grunge and alternative rock band was releasing a huge album in the early ’90s, or when legendary hip-hop records started dropping almost every single week around 1990.
While perhaps not quite reaching the heights of their more successful peers, Taproot accomplished much at the height of their popularity. They toured with Deftones and Linkin Park early on in support of their debut album, Gift. Released on June 27th, 2000, it was the band’s major-label debut full-length. Led by popular single “Again And Again”, the various vocal styles on display from Stephen Richards and the crunchy guitars helped Taproot win a fanbase early on.
