I've been listening to this band for 20 years and to this day, I still think they're a stoner rock band with a rapper. They sound just like a funkified, socialized Black Sabbath.
Am I wrong? Is there something I'm missing? People say they're nü metal, but that's wrong because they actually have riffs and sound like music. Same teenaged leftist tendencies, but at least that's their focus.

I know I'll get flack for this but they really do sound like a stoner rock band, especially their first album. Or maybe that's the problem— they •sound• like it, but so did a lot of grunge.

Yes.