Classic Album Retrospect (Slipknot - Slipknot)

Slipknot - Slipknot

Slipknot - Slipknot

 The year was 1999 and Slipknot were making heads turn towards the noise they where making in Iowa. Slipknot had been making music for a while and sparked some attention with Mate, Feed, Kill, Repeat. (now that's an obscure reference) but Slipknot's self titled album sparked the most attention and ultimately lead to them being signed with Roadrunner Records. Slipknot was met with rave reviews with most critics complimenting the emotion instilled on the record and the natural, almost live sound to the album. 

 Slipknot was released in '99, making it 15 years old, has the album stood the test of time or is it dated and stale? 

Notable Tracks

 742617000027 - 742617000027 is the intro to the self titled album and is the shipping code for Slipknot's debut, Mate, Feed, Kill, Repeat. 742617000027 features dialogue taken from a Charles Manson documentary. The actual dialogue is "The Whole thing, I think, is sick" distorted and repeated to create a eerie and dark sound - a worthy intro to the destruction that is to follow.

 (sic) - "Here comes the pain" sums it up quite nicely. (sic) features the awesome drums from Joey Jordision throughout and the scary quite lyrics from Corey Taylor. In summary, (sic) is a valid representation of the rest of the album and I personally don't think it gets enough credit for that. The powerful lyrics "You can't kill me cuz I'm already inside you" finish the track with a final flurry of the turntables from Sid Wilson.

 Wait and Bleed - Wait and Bleed showcases Corey's more melodic vocal style without compromising on the brutality of the rest of the band. Wait and Bleed was the first single released from the album and subsequently had two music videos made for it; the first a live action live performance video and the second being completely stop motion animated.

 Surfacing - Surfacing is one hell of a track, so good it could be the new international anthem (now that's a reference). Building intros where every instrument is added separately is always effective but especially on this track. Surfacing combines (sic) with Wait and Bleed to create equal amounts of melody and destruction. Surfacing was released as the third single from the album.

 Spit it Out - Spit it Out was the second single from the album and features a video very reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. Spit it Out is one fast track and has an almost rap influence. Spit it Out played live is infamous as the band get the audience to crouch together and then "jump the fuck up" together which is always duplicated by other bands.

 After an intense playthrough, I conclude that Slipknot, fifteen years on, is still as intense and brutal as it was when it was first released. I can't say I am surprised by my findings since Slipknot's self titled won the best debut album in the last 25 years award from Metal Hammer Magazine in 2011 and is statically the best selling Slipknot album to date. This trend can be found in most bands from the 90s but Slipknot have managed to stand the test of time and are still prominent figures in the metal industry.

 For those who do not own the album, here is a peek at what you are missing. First released in 1999, Wait and Bleed has remained a popular track among fans and has two videos to accompany it but here is the first version, the live version. (linked here for mobile users) Enjoy