For all my love of Iron Maiden, I would say that Judas Priest's 1976 album 'Sad Wings Of Destiny' is a near perfect template for Heavy Metal : riffs, ballads, tempo changes, acoustic breakdowns etc.

To be honest, I haven't heard a single slipknot song yet. And not more than maybe, 12-15 "Nu-metal" tracks. I don't hate it, nor do i ever listen to it. Never has it appealed to me. But the younger generation these days seem to like it a lot. I don't think I'll ever get what the hype is all about...

Out of whatever little I've listened to, through my friends, I haven't found a single trait that I was interested in. I guess I don't particularly hate it either. Some of it even sounds a bit, say....catchy? Catchy and metal doesn't mix well for me. As much as I dislike modern R&B, some of it can be catchy and kinda understandable why ppl like it. But metal was always about the hard hitting/aggressive nature for me. Some progressive metal might not have both those traits, but it does have something else going for it. Anyways, I'd honestly like to know why Nu-metal sucks. Never have I used the radio nor watched MTV to even get a proper idea of it. Just avoided it like the plague.

I don't know if this is classed as Nu-metal. I should Imagine it is. I like it and have the album. Meh.

^
Well, I did click that video. Still indifferent though. Wasn't 'horrible' like what others would put it, but I didn't like it either. I guess many of these so called "Nu-metal" bands we talk about sounds horribly generic to my ears. Oh well, this entire Nu-metal talk bores the crap out of me. Lets listen to some judas priest now.(and Sad Wings Of Destiny, now that you've reminded me :D)