Originating from Des Moines, Iowa - Slipknot were formed of nine - yes, nine members, including three drummers, a DJ and a man who did "samples". They wore masks, suits that would have been standard issue in a mental asylum and spent the majority of live shows flitting between barely contained aggression and open lunacy.
Their first album, a self titled opus, began with a 30 second recording of various people claiming "the whole thing, I think it's sick", reportedly taken from interviews with members of the public about the Charles Manson murders in the late '60's.
And then, the sound hit you. A refined combination of the speed and thrash metal Slayer and Metallica had become famous for in the 80's, combined with the then modern advent of "scratches" on a DJ deck. And over the top of the musical brutality was a vocalist who could scream, sing and rap, as well as vocally replicate feelings of panic and delusion like no other.
The first full track; "(sic)" features all these elements, mixed in a raw, unrelenting fashion by Roadrunner's Ross Robinson. The line "You can't kill me 'cos I'm already inside you", repeated mantra style at the culmination of the song typifies the approach Slipknot took as a band, and sums up beautifully the effect the nine shock rockers had on the music industry, and teenagers the world over.
Because quite simply, as the album wore on, the Slipknot virus began to spread throughout the system. Suddenly, you were nodding along, tapping your feet and murmuring the lyrics to "Wait and Bleed", or "Eyeless".
It was brutal, relentless and difficult to justify any love for. But damn, it was good. You didn't know why you enjoyed it so much, but you did. In the same way Romans packed the Colosseum to see Lions tear Christians to shreds, you enjoyed the odes to psychosis, the tales of evil that poured from your speaker.
Take "Eyeless", for example. A speed garage/death metal combination that punctuates the introduction, leading into Corey Taylor's lyrics borrowed from a deranged homeless man they met in LA. "Insane, am I the only muthafucker with a brain?/I'm hearing voices but all they do is complain/" leading into the now famous "You can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes". Genius, right?
To the listener(or maybe just me), it worked. It was new, exciting, and the most defiantly fresh thing to hit metal since Slayer's "Angel Of Death".
And defiance was definitely the word for them. For a teenager, like I was - like the millions that felt the same; Slipknot meant empowerment. Like Punk before it, and pop music's inception before that, it was the ability to say "fuck you" to modern culture, and form your own. I remember being part of this motley crue of modern metal fans in my adolescent, and while there were many disagreements about specifics in musical taste and preference; there was one constant. Slipknot.
They became the standard bearer for modern metal, the band that did it how they wanted to and became successful. I remember reading a story about Slipknot, about when a record label scout came to see them at a show, famously saying "If these make it, I'll kill myself ". Slipknot heard about this, and when they released their self titled album, sent the man a bunch of dead roses with a note "we've made it now, go kill yourself".
And while that as perhaps a bit below the belt, and hopefully a little tongue in cheek, the principle was clear; noone expected them to do it, yet here they are. On their own terms, with their own fans and playing their own, deliciously unique brand of music. And frankly, we needed them.
Slipknot have since opened the gate to bands who now know they can do it on their own terms, and shouldn't be dictated to by market concious label owners. Arguably, Slipknot changed the music industry for the better, rather than blighted it.
Yes, they may be shocking, they maybe obtuse, and even a little frightening, but their music is great and their defiance from the beginning has set a tone could have changed the landscape of the consumer centred music business we now take part in. And I, for one am glad about that.
Here's to Slipknot; the band who did what noone wanted them to do, and built a career on it.
My exact words the first time I saw/heard Slipknot: "Holy crap!" And I meant that in a good way. When was the last time a band shocked/impressed me like that with one song? How often can you say anymore that any one person or group is a pioneer in the music industry? They're the band I'd love to hate... but just can't. They also are an excellent example of a band that is not only very talented musically, but have also created an entire image/identity and tend to every detail of performance, a complete package. Excellent writeup again.
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