On this day, ten years ago, Download Festival 2009 headliners and generally amazing band, Slipknot released their debut album and, in the process of it going Double Platinum and forming legions of red boilersuited “Maggots”, helped to defined nu-metal and the metal landscape forever.
Happy birthday, Slipknot. Here’s to another ten years.
(Not gonna happen, is it.)
With such a carefully composed image and such success, it was widely expected that Slipknot would go lighter and more mainstream with their second album, Iowa but it was harder, faster and even more successful. This only served to highlight how bloody good Slipknot was as a foundation brick – it wasn’t even their best, but it was the freshest and most exhilarating around.
Sitting in the background, DJ Sid Wilson (#0, FYI) was the least likely to grab the headlines but grab them he did. Just as he broke his heels onstage last year, the youngest member of the band wowed the crowds by jumping off balconies into the moshpit. WTF etc. Fresh. Exhilarating.
Here is the first and best example of exactly what Slipknot are all about. Introducing all of their masks in rather creepy fashion, this video captured the essence of the Des Moines, Iowa nonet and distilled it into a 3m20s video for one of their most classic songs. Check it the hell out.
Watch the video to Wait And Bleed by Slipknot
Luckily, the early and instant legacy of creating a bunch of dime-a-dozen bands who dressed up in crappy costumes and barked into a microphone over a load of shitty riffs was over quickly. What has endured the test of time, however, is Slipknot’s ability to create quality albums time and time again without any compromise.
Corey Taylor’s got his side projects and we all know they weren’t a young band to start of with so some are getting long in the tooth but they’re all still committed to the best thing they’ve all done with their lives. More to the point, all those Maggots are still just as committed to Slipknot and that’s all that will ever matter.
Here’s to Slipknot’s self titled debut being put up on the shelf next the Metallica’s Black Album and Slayer’s Reign In Blood.
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