SLIPKNOT

Album Dive

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“Don’t make it weird…”

“They all wear jumpsuits, they’re kinda like KISS because you don’t know what they look like, but they kinda look like serial killers because they all have masks on, and you kinda get Purge vibes when you look at it (the album cover), and then you LISTEN to it…”

Released: 6/29/1999

Label: Roadrunner

Producers:

Slipknot & Ross Robinson

Singles

Slipknot

(#8) Corey Taylor – vocals

(#7) Mick Thomson – lead guitar

(#6) Shawn "Clown" Crahan – percussion

(#5) Craig "133" Jones – samples, media

(#4) Jim Root – rhythm guitar

(#3) Chris Fehn – percussion

(#2) Paul Gray – bass

(#1) Joey Jordison – drums

(#0) Sid Wilson – turntables

TRACKS

SLIPKNOT as a band is extremely off-putting, exhausting, and quite frankly, disturbing, and their self-titled debut album conveys these qualities in the darkest way possible. The album cover alone is the stuff of horror movies and nightmares, featuring all nine members clothed in red prison jumpsuits with their faces covered in grotesquely disfigured masks: nameless and faceless, with only a number and a barcode to identify them.

Find out more about the latest government study regarding “the medical benefits of bat vagina” and remember that “you’ve never seen Al Gore and Paul Stanley in the same place”.

Discover who knows “how to use the phone”, put on your “Salad Face”, and be sure to “liberate bananas” when you JOIN US as we dive into the angry, uncomfortable darkness that is SLIPKNOT.

742617000027

Apparently, this number is actually the UPC barcode for Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.

“The whole thing I think it’s sick…”

(SIC)

This is brutality that goes beyond nu-metal, almost like nu-DEATH-metal. An incredibly raw and brutal mix, like it was recorded in some dark, dank basement in the deserted wilderness on the outskirts of civilization somewhere in Iowa. Sung with breathless rage and frustration…

“Fuck this shit, I’m sick of it,

You’re goin’ down, this is a war…”

EYELESS

The most aggressive use of “dropping the bass” anywhere in music.

The drums are chaotic and urgent, with tons of anxiety in the guitars. Slipknot are undoubtedly the most aggro band of the Nu-Metal genre, especially in 1999.

That breakdown is fucking SICK.

“You can’t see California without Marlon Brando’s eyes…”

WAIT AND BLEED

“The Big Hit Single” and also the first moment of melodic vocals on the album. Brutal, but catchy. The 2nd verse is a bit more intense and less melodic.

“I’ve felt the hate rise up in me…

Kneel down and clear the stone of leaves…

I wander out where you can’t see…

Inside my shell I wait and bleed…”

SURFACING

If ever there was an anthem that captured the sentiment of “Everyone can fuck off out of my life and go die for-fucking-ever”, this is most definitely it. One can only imagine how rad the “sing along” portion of this must be when they play in front of a huge crowd.

“I am the push that makes you move…”

That bass part and the walkdown riff around 1:58 and the double bass that follows is exquisite.

“Fuck it all! Fuck this world!

Fuck everything that you stand for!

Don’t belong! Don’t exist!

Don’t give a shit!

Don’t ever judge me!”

SPIT IT OUT

There’s a video for this one, just so you know. And yes, it’s as disturbing as you’d think it would be. Gives a bit of insight as to the band’s live show and their ethos.

Also, lots of references to The Shining in the video.

“Fuck me, I’m all out of enemies,

Fuck me, I’m all out of enemas…”

TATTERED & TORN

Unsettling and definitely bizarre. Sounds like the heart monitor of someone on life support, beeping like a metronome among the chaotic cacophony in the background, keeping everything in time.

2:22 things pick up, insert brutality here.

“Tearing myself apart

From the things that make me hurt!”

ME INSIDE

Balls…and double bass…and riffs…and the weirdest guitar fills ever.

“I wasn’t promised a thing,

You keep mocking me,

But you will never again,

Before you know it – after you’re gone…”

LIBERATE

“Liberate…BANANAS!!!”

“I just want to liberate…MY MADNESS!!!”

Obviously, Corey isn’t telling us to “Liberate bananas” but this might just be one of the funniest misheard lyrics of all time, because bananas have been oppressed for far too long, and it’s time they be liberated.

Scratches and hip-hop beats have never sounded as metal as this. Very cool riff change at 1:46. The outro actually seems even heavier and more brutal than the rest of the song up to this point.

“I am one, I am all - I’m above and beyond…”

PROSTHETICS

Imagine waking up to find yourself trapped at the edge of sanity where personal madness intersects with homicidal lunacy. That’s what this sounds like.

At 1:57, the tone becomes noticeably heavier, angrier, and darker. (Oh yeah, and extremely uncomfortable.)

“Dammit man, I knew it was a mistake…”

NO LIFE

Hell yeah! Time to mix some rap balls in with your metal, yo!

Probably the most rap centric song thus far with a strangely melodic vocal mid-section that somehow doesn’t seem out of place.

“This is no kind of life,

It’s no kind of life…”

DILUTED

Cool groove with an unusual song & vocal/lyrical structure.

“What the hell - did I - do to deserve - all of this?

ONLY ONE

NOTE: that opening sample is the end of the title track from the 4th Slayer album, btw.

The song makes a complete change at the 1:00 mark.

I think we’ve all felt that pissed off grunt/breath at 1:17 at least once in our lives.

“Painful clutch - death is fine, gimme mine,

Only one of us walks away…”

SCISSORS

There’s a palpable darkness that permeates this entire album. Of the songs on this record, this might be the darkest. It’s extremely uncomfortable to listen to…especially towards the end.

The climax near the end of the song sounds like what goes on inside of someone’s mind right before they experience a psychotic break and complete nervous breakdown.

“I don’t want you to pay anyone when I die,

I wanna die,

I’d rather die,

I wanna die,

You purge,

You burn,

You purge,

I don’t need you anymore,

I don’t need you…”

EEYORE

Unhinged…grating…fast as fuck…insane.

This was originally buried at the tail end of Scissors on the CD release and the wait to get to this was always worth it.

“I don’t give a shit bitch,

I don’t give a fuck bitch,

I don’t understand bitch,

You don’t matter…”

Show Notes:

(00:01): “This is how you know you’re getting old…”/ #oldmancoughs / “I’m gonna go black this time…”/ “The medical benefits of bat vagina…”/ ***WARNING: #listenerdiscretionisadvised *** / #asianstyleASMR / “Does everybody know that?” / ***WELCOME BACK TO THE METAL NERDERY PODCAST IN DIGITAL DOLBY SURROUND SOUND!!!*** / #thisepisodesbeeroftheepisode / #markthetime / #TerrapinBrewery

#EspressoMartiniImperialWhiteStout #ninepercentABV / “That’s a chug…”/ #JitteryJoes / ***IF YOU WANNA SKIP THE NONSENSE, GO TO #THEDOCKET *** / “It tastes like a coffee stout mixed with a light beer…”/ “It’s got a corporate coffee carpet flavor…”/ #thatsnotamilkshake / “Where else do you get sugar?” / “WHOA!” / “I’m not gonna give you a recordable here…”/ Proteins and carbs/ “Hand me the horn, I’m feeling stressed…”/ “Meat is not what is fucking up your cholesterol…”/ #carbsaretheenemy / “Does Santa Claus come up from the septic tank now?” / #everythingisalie / #markallthetimes

(12:50): “But first…”/ PATREON SHOUT OUT (courtesy of Russell) / ***JOIN US on the #Patreon at patreon.com/metalnerderypodcast *** / “Just give me yeahs and oohs…let’s see if Matt can NOT say a word while you do it…”/ “Speaking of emails…”/ ***You can email us at metalnerdery@gmail.com *** / #KingGizzardAndTheLizardWizard / “That’s totally a great impression of me…”/ #eclectic / #whatsitcalled / “You’ve never seen Al Gore and Paul Stanley in the same place…”/ “It’s a Patreon comment…”/ WE’LL PLAY YOUR SHIT-TAH!!! / #GodBelow / “If I was gonna dye my beard…”/ #saladface #wizardcamouflage / (***From “Painted Images With The Blood Of…”***) / STILL NOT QUITE SUICIDE / “There’s no play button…”/ #thickandfull / “I like the harmonies…” / “And we have a voicemail…”/ ***IF YOU WANNA GIVE US A CALL AND LEAVE US A VOICEMAIL YOU CAN DO SO AT 980-666-8182!!!*** / #anonymouscaller / “That sounds like #PissingPost on a blackout bender…”/ “Would it be weird…?” / NOTE: I believe Russell is wildly incorrect in his assertion…/ “You can identify however you want on this show…we want to know who you are…”/ #dontmakeitweird

(31:27): “What’s on #TheDocket?” / METAL NERDERY PODCAST PRESENTS: SLIPKNOT!!! / #Slipknot #RussellsReflectionsSlipknotEdition / “Real tall…like basketball players…”/ “There’s 9 or 10…”/ “That band is the epitome of our warning…their album cover looks like the stuff of nightmares…”/ Released on June 29, 1999 / Hailing from Des Moines, Iowa / 742617000027 / (SIC) / “If you let someone borrow a book and you never see it again…you’ve passed on knowledge…”/ #CoreyTaylor #SevenDeadlySins #Author / “When do y’all think you got on the #Slipknot boat?” / #funkmetal / “That’s one of y’all’s songs, wasn’t it? Wait, did you sing on that one?” / EYELESS / “It’s like #Slayer #KoRn and #Pantera all mixed into one…” / “Well, not really…but it’s good.”

(49:10): “When we walked through the gates at Lakewood, this is what they were playing…”/ WAIT AND BLEED / “Dude, are you an octopus?” / “Yeah, this…they did this a LONG time…”/ SURFACING (“You always like the build, don’t you?”) / “The best chorus in metal…”/ “They’re coming this summer…so no excuses…”/ “I like the purple…”/ #GrapeNerds / SPIT IT OUT / “Tattered and torn…shaven and shorn?” / TATTERED & TORN / “It’s off putting…”/ “It’s gotta GO somewhere…”/ Art is subjective / “No, it’s Me Inside…”/ #reissue / ME INSIDE / “The next one is called ‘Liberate Bananas’…”/ LIBERATE / #liberatebananas / “It’s bananas!”

(1:03:44): PROSTHETICS / “It’s gotta go somewhere…it’s GOT to, mister…”/ “That’s somebody’s favorite song…” / NO LIFE / “You’re butchering it…you were sticking your finger up the butthole of the song…”/ #hailyeah / DILUTED / “What the hell did I do to deserve all of this!?” / ONLY ONE / “Name that song…name it…that’s a band not a song…”/ “I didn’t realize they did that much rap stuff…”/ “That little breath there was perfect…”/ SCISSORS / #rightthere / “Don’t scissor with that!”/ #skipahead / EEYORE / “This makes me want to break everything!” / “Get some of THAT!”/ “That is the soundtrack to #America right there!” / “If you start strong, it’s only gonna get better…”/ ***We do also have a Slipknot #ITM episode and the #Knotfest concert review*** / #dilated #untilthenext / ***THANK YOU FOR JOINING US!!!*** / #outroreel

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