14. Slipknot - Slipknot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPUZwriSX4M Track List: 1. 742617000027 2. (sic) 3. Eyeless 4. Wait and Bleed 5. Surfacing 6. Spit It Out 7. Tattered & Torn 8. Me Inside 9. Liberate 10. Prosthetics 11. No Life 12. Diluted 13. Only One 14. Scissors Their image got them noticed but it was the songs that propelled Slipknot into the mainstream. Look beyond the masks and the boiler suits and here was a band primed to succeed, and absolutely nothing was going to stop these madmen from Des Moines, Iowa from playing arenas and becoming one of the most successful Metal bands on the planet. Singer/Screamer/Rapper Corey Taylor could actually sing (his work with original band Stone Sour stands as testament to his vocal abilities), drummer Joey Jordison was diminutive but extraordinary and man-mountain guitarists Jim Root and Mick Thomson played off each other like veterans. Most importantly the shock factor was real, you believed these guys would hurt each other or themselves if it gained them just one more fan. They seemed truly dangerous - masked madmen who made Marilyn Manson seem positively docile. America had a new Public Enemy, literally numbered 1 to 9. Jumping on the nu-metal bandwagon was more convenient than necessary, their sound leaning more towards Death Metal than the mainstream metal-lite of Papa Roach, Alien Ant Farm, Staind et al yet the band were savvy enough to write singles; short, sharp, shocks of blistering Metal built around fiendishly catchy choruses (Wait and Bleed, Spit it Out, check out the video for Spit it Out above). The album tracks were no weak link either, eclectically mixing experimental noise (Tattered & Torn), straight up Death Metal ((sic)) and epic, Industrial Metal-esque soundscapes for singer Corey Taylor to vent his anger and frustration over (Scissors). It is little wonder this band made such an immediate impact. They had everything; the image, the drive, the all important X Factor (That term has accrued understandable hate but it applies) and most importantly the songs to back it all up. Uncompromising, unrelenting and utterly unabashed, Slipknot wasn't voted the best debut album of the last 25 years by Metal Hammer magazine readers for nothing.
Christopher Jennings
Contributor
I love Heavy Metal, and generally anything that involves a guitar and loud noises, so I figured it was about time I put all the useless information in my head to good use and start writing a few things. Most of the time I'll be writing nonsense but occasionally I may surprise myself and appear half-way knowledgable.....but you can be the judge of that. Thanks for your fleeting attention!
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Christopher