Moving Targets (Slipknot in general)

Member Name: Peakly

Product:	Slipknot in general
Date:	14/08/00 (180 review reads)
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Slipknot, since the success of their second album, have became an easy target for music fans wishing to appear above current trends. Half-baked accusations that the band are disguising mediocrity, by wearing masks as a part of their stage show, has became common among grunge-purists egar to dump upon the recent surge in popular metal acts. Slipknot, as with Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach and Crazy Town, frequently suffer complaints that their imagine is improper – far too commercial to maintain a respectable underground respect. Such bands have been demoted to pop acts levels, by many ‘mature’ music lovers.

And maybe they’re right. The problem is, condemning bands like Slipknot for their image is, surely, just as shallow as loving them for it. Surely choosing to look down on a band because they are popular, is in a way as ‘wrong’ as the teenagers who wear Slipknot t-shirts because it’s fashionable. And so it is revealed to us, the ridiculous hypocrisy of musical intolerance/embracement. In an ideal world, the popularity and image of a band wouldn’t be of any consequence either way. Sadly, whether you’re a music snob, or someone that jumps on every bandwagon there is, it will always account for a huge percentage of how you define and act upon your musical tastes. Everyone thinks they’re open-minded, but very few people are. If they were, people would admit to liking ‘Lets Get Ready To Rumble’ by Ant and Dec.

Please don’t make the mistake of thinking that I’ve already revealed my ‘opinion’ on the band – I haven’t. The above is merely a response to the countless other opinions that fill the music section, that either say ‘Slipknot/Korn/Papa Roach/Limp Bizkit are soooooo cool! They’re just wicked’ without explaining why, or mercilessly tear the same bands apart with obvious and boring criticism, both of which miss the point
entirely.


… and so this brings us, I guess, to Slipknot. For those of you that are genuinely reading this opinion to learn something about the band, and please understand – I must presume you exist, I can offer a modest biography, or at least a small explanation of who and what they are.

Slipknot, as the vaguely sinister name may suggest, are a metal band (some people would argue that they’re nu-metal, since that’s become a derogatory term of late). The band consists of roughly nine members, they come from Iowa, USA, and enjoy skiing and craft fairs (see what I did there?). Their second album, ‘Slipknot’, has enjoyed huge success on both sides of the ocean – a far cry from their obscure debut ‘Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat’, of which only a small amount of copies were made. The band have been awarded numerous meaningless awards from Kerrang! Magazine, and are generally notorious within the rock scene. The thing that people most like to talk about, is the bands tendency to wear masks during interviews and live shows. These masks vary in design, but adopt a general ‘horror’ theme, including a demonic clown and a distorted gas-mask. Countless myths circle the band’s name – mainly concerning their antics on stage… urinating on crowds, throwing up on each other, eating live animals… nothing that past extreme-acts like Ozzy Osborne and Alice Cooper haven’t achieved in some form or another before them. The band are currently working on their third album, ‘Iowa’, which is set to be released this year.


This’ll be the opinion bit now then. Dealing firstly with the bands image, as doing so fairly unavoidable if I’m to offer you a complete picture.

The sheer range of Slipknot merchandise available is huge by any bands standards, though this in it’s self is not quite as much as telling sign as critics wou
ld like to think. Various hooded-tops and t-shirts fill our city streets, most varying only slightly in design…. Though most fake and not endorsed by the band. The suggestion that this is evident of some kind of marketing-ploy on behalf on the band members of their record-company seems unlikely. Slipknot, contrary to popular believe, were around a long time before they signed any record deals. Classing them with the likes of ‘Linkin Park’, a band signed after a first gig and with singles in the pop charts, is also unfair. It is obvious from any interview that the band are fully focused on their musical direction, however that music may sound to us, and thoughts of cashing-in on Nu-metal popularity by producing a accessible album are the exact opposite of what they’re trying to achieve. Slipknot, in a manner that seems almost pathetic, really do consider themselves an extreme, heavy/death metal hardcore act. Of course, in reality they are not – ‘Slipknot’ is baby metal in terms of depth of sound to even to the most well-known metal acts of Pantera, Slayer and Selputura. It is beyond a doubt though, that their hearts are in the right place. Slipknot, if you take half a second to read about them before you talk about them, are most definably not cashing in on any trends, nor out to make money from impressionable kids – accusation best levelled at bands like Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit. The fact they wear masks was undoubtedly a huge contributor to their success and appeal to a young audience, though the suggestion that this was intentional is once again a common miss-conception about the band. There was no great scam. Slipknot’s masks have became a vital part of their identity with fans and industry alike – they know this now, and their record company milks it for them. It didn’t start that way.

The nine members of Slipknot, or so it seems from every television and magazine interv
iew, actually are as messed up as their music suggests. Shawn, the band’s spokesperson, rambles endlessly about bigger things, and he sounds sincere. I really don’t think they have a clue what’s going on, to be honest. It’s blatant that, to the members of the band, the only think that counts is their own, self-absorbed world of respective pains, stemming firmly from whatever childhood trauma they endured. Their only concern is playing their music, making as much noise as they can, always referring to it as ‘getting all the sick, f**ked up feelings out of our system and putting them onto record’, or something equally twee. The idea that Slipknot are shrewd, business-minded, cunning fakesters just doesn’t fit – if it were the case, why aren’t they on TOTP? It’s only the countless t-shirts that give people this impression… which I don’t think the band controls at all. Roadrunner records may be keen to push the bands image, and maintain their popularity with merchandise, but to the band… well, they’re far too busy deluding themselves that people are concentrating on their music. It seems like they are trapped, trying to be successful for the right reasons but not quite getting there. It makes them seem almost naïve, and certainly in possession of artistic credibility, for at least having their intentions in tact. The easy presumption is that Slipknot are churning sub-standard metal while cashing-in on their image at every turn. I honestly don’t think that’s the case.



And so to the music. Without the masks, they would be nothing, right? Possibly very true. Without their appealing image (ok, appealing to everyone else at least), it’s unlikely Slipknot would have achieve much beyond an underground following, which, ironically, probably would have suited them better. Their self-entitled album has its moments, but generally fails to match th
e standards set by almost all other world-famous artists from that genre. While bands like Slayer, whether you like them or not, deserve respect for constantly pushing technical boundaries, and bands like Fear Factory attempt to sound original, Slipknot fail in both respects. Their guitar riffs are ALWAYS the most simplistic, unimaginative ones you could imagine – the riffs that merely form the basics of Black Sabbath songs, and in metal, this is a fairly big problem. Without in contributions from their DJ, their songs would sound more or less the same through-out. The drumming also, is fairly unimaginative – often nothing more then a frantic attack of the double bass. When stripped down and considered, Slipknot’s music is extremely bland. Somehow though, when brought together, they communicate an energy and passion that I admire.

Perhaps it’s the vocal talents of Corey Taylor, the desperation in his voice that comes through in every song, but somehow Slipknot often manage to sound illuminating. It’s clear from listening, just how passionate and enthusiastic they are… how much they mean what they say, and what they’re doing. And that’s charming, no matter how deeply you consider the technicalities. On occasion, the band achieve melody – their best know song ‘Wait & Bleed’ being the best example. Also, though this is secondary to the music it accompanies, the band are strong lyrically. A lot of what Corey Taylor says in his lyrics, border on poetic, if you allow your poetry to have a morbid theme. There’s a refreshing ambiguity and thought in his words that most other popular metal bands lack… neither displaying the teen-angst self-pity of Papa Roach, the shallow nothingness of Limp Bizkit, nor the repetitive gruesome imagery of Slayer. There is no doubt that Slipknot are an intelligent band artistically… what they attempt is often superb.

Unfortunately,
they don’t quite get there. Slipknot have all the passion, heart and perspective of a band deserved of real, critical acclaim and world success – and they’ve achieved it, just for all the wrong reasons. Slipknot want to be a respectable metal band, though sadly their musical ability falls short of the mark. Their success can only be attributed to their hugely welcome image, though that was never the intention of the band. Despite on occasion sounding like they might just make it, Slipknot’s music is consistently below par – what makes them a winning formula is their spirit and determination, and those dam masks everyone keeps talking about. So, readers, if you’ve joined me this far, I’m afraid I can only offer you this, heavy-hearted conclusion:

Much of criticism aimed at Slipknot, despite 90% of the time being assumptions rather then researched opinions, are in a sense very true. Though it was never the intention of the band, their success has grown thanks to the evil that is marketing – not the music, as they would have hoped. Full of passion, ambitious and dearly crafted, Slipknot’s music can never match their own expectations – the songs they produce are unremarkable. If Slipknot continue their success beyond the next year of so, I’ll be happily surprised. If they find their feet musically, and produce a good metal album, I’ll be ecstatic. If there is one thing we can learn from Slipknot, however, is whether we look down on them or adore them, we’re always going to be attributing to the importance of their image – ironically, this is what we all claim to consider unimportant. The whole thing, I think, is Sic.

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