Here we go maggots, number 50 for you...
#50 - SlipknotSlipknot
Genre: metal
1999
When Slipknot first hit the scene I was like 16 or 17 and I did not get it, at all. I was one of those guys who was just "This isn't music, this is just screaming!". I remember seeing the video for 'Left Behind' a few years later and just thought, this is the worst kind of shit. It was much later, after my tastes broadened, that I "got" What they were doing.
It was 2005 when my flat mate gave me a burnt copy of Slipknot's third album. I was into harsh vocals by that time but still had a negative view on the band and just didn't really want give them a chance. I tried their third album though and loved it, the more mellow tunes helped ease me in anyway. By the time 2006 rolled around I was ready to try their earlier albums again. Wow! I was not ready for the raw energy that their debut brought. I was just astounded by how this music made me feel. It pumped me up and just made me want to scream, but in a good way.
I've never been an aggressive person, at all, and I've always said metal gets a bad rap. People who don't get it think metal is for aggressive thugs but I honestly think it helps people channel their anger in a positive way to avoid outbursts in other areas of their life. It's not like I was angry, but it just felt good to scream this shit out. Some of you guys will never like music like this, and I appreciate this, but I think Slipknot deserve to be where they are. They brought their crazy stage show and shoved it down the mainstreams throat. Kids ate it up.
When it comes to the album itself this album is front loaded as hell. It's the first 5 songs that cement this albums place in my top 50. The back half of the album is kinda twisted, dark and fucked up (which I also love) but the beginning is just in your face and aggressive. I used to play these songs (sic, Eyeless, Wait and Bleed, Surfacing and Spit it Out) all the time. My friends at the time got sick of how much I'd blast them at like midnight after coming home from the pub. Corey's lyrics and vocal delivery were unlike anything else I'd heard at that point. It was angry and disgusting at the same time. It sounded like he was on the verge of throwing up and I loved it!
I know some of you have no interest in Slipknot at all, which is fine. If you've listened to them and they're not for you, that's cool. However, if you've got a preconception about them (as I did) or you checked them out years ago and your tastes changed, I urge you to at least listen to this from the beginning through until at least Spit it Out. Especially if your tastes have broadened to include raw intense performances, such as The Dillinger Escape Plan for instance. Enjoy, Maggots!