Betty is the third album by Helmet, released in June 21, 1994 on Interscope. The album was highly anticipated by both music critics and fans as a result of the band’s success with the previous album, Meantime (1992). Rob Echeverria (guitarist of New York hardcore band Rest in Pieces) replaced Peter Mengede on guitar. After recording and touring in support of the album, Echeverria left Helmet in 1995 to join Biohazard. Prior to Betty‘s release in June 1994, the album’s biggest hit, Milquetoast, appeared in alternate form on The Crow soundtrack as Milktoast. Its video was in regular rotation on MTV, and videos for Wilma’s Rainbow and Biscuits for Smut were also released.
In 2015, the band announced a Betty tour, where they performed the album in its entirety. Helmet entered the studio in the fall of 1993 with producer T-Ray to record the follow-up to its 1992 record Meantime. Writing and recording sessions took place at Soundtrack, Power Station, and Sound on Sound in New York City. Betty was released on June 21, 1994, and peaked at number 45 on the Billboard 200 album chart, making it Helmet‘s highest ranking album so far. However, by September 1997 the album had only sold 200,000 copies overall, a comparatively low number for an act on Interscope at the time.
Tracklist:
- Wilma’s Rainbow
- I Know
- Biscuits for Smut
- Milquetoast
- Tic
- Rollo
- Street Crab
- Clean
- Vaccination
- Beautiful Love (instrumental)
- Speechless
- The Silver Hawaiian
- Overrated
- Sam Hell
Helmet
Henry Bogdan: bass guitar
Rob Echeverria: guitar
Page Hamilton: lead vocals, guitar
John Stanier: drums
Production
Helmet: production, all songs except “Milquetoast”
T-Ray: production, all songs except “Milquetoast”
Butch Vig: production, “Milquetoast”
Anton Pukshansky: engineering, all songs except “Milquetoast”
Martin Bisi: engineering, all songs except “Milquetoast”
John Siket: engineering, “Milquetoast”
Chris Curran, Anthony Gillis, Joe Hogan, Rich Piszker, Chris Albert: assistants
Andy Wallace: mixing
Howie Weinberg: mastering
