Now Playing: Slipknot, Iowa, Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)
Revisiting Slipknot's Earth shaking opening trio of albums.
There’s still not enough good nu-metal criticism out there so Monday/Wednesday/Friday I’m going to be adding even more into the world. Today we’re talking about the epic opening trio from nu-metal’s most spectacular band; Slipknot.
Because it would be disingenuous to pretend otherwise these are a stylistic tribute to one of my all time favorite music critics Robert Christgau while threading the needle on a genre he mostly did not enjoy. He also has a Substack and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Slipknot [Roadrunner, 1999]
Search “Greatest” on the Wikipedia page for Black Sabbath’s Paranoid you get 20 hits. Master of Puppets nets you 13. Korn; Four. Slipknot? One. Not just any “one” but less-than-esteemed outlet VH1 declaring “Wait and Bleed” to be the 36th “greatest” metal song of all time. How is it possible an album this on fire, this electrified, is still underrated? Furthermore, if your eyes have already skipped ahead, why am I of all people underrating it too? Well your eyes are fine, not a typo, the lack of a “+” at the end of the “A” down there is intentional. This is a masterpiece - through and through, up and down, floor to ceiling - but it’s a flawed one and that’s not something to be ashamed of. Imperfections are as crucial to classics as perfection, it’s more thrilling to imagine how songs like “Surfacing” or “No Life” could be improved upon instead of just worshiping at their altar. Instead consider the “A” grade your invitation to find the “+” on your own or with some friends. You’d be in good company. A
Iowa [Roadrunner, 2001]
Burnt to a crisp and suddenly in the thrall of the drugs they had sworn off for their debut, Slipknot were shacked up in Indigo once again and hating the shit out of one another. On their debut, Slipknot is a hail of bullets all soaring towards a common enemy, on Iowa those bullets have all ended up in a closed steel chamber of their own design and are ricocheting into and off each other. Joey Jordison, a legend after just one album, sounds particularly incensed—his drum pattern on “People = Shit” is my all time favorite of his; a pounding, vicious, brutal assault that somehow manages to be bouncy- and further confirms my theory that this band was at their best when he was lead singer in spirit. Can you believe people used to think this was “diseased stuff”? Few albums are as deeply cathartic as Iowa, an aural baptism by fire. A
Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) [Roadrunner, 2004]
We arrive at the inevitable Serious Album. In which, like Green Day before and Linkin Park after, a band previously dismissed as featherweight invites a superstar producer into the studio and sets about proving they have something to say. Blessedly, since nu-metal was still being disparaged in its entirety, for Slipknot that never rises above ballads, none of which work for me— Corey is an effective frontman, not “lead singer,” and the brand management that is “Pulse of the Maggots.” Still, Vol. 3’s pleasures are hearing this band blowing 100% of the assumedly massive budget from Roadrunner as they replace Ross Rob with Rick Rube, trade Indigo Ranch for Houdini’s Mansion, and pack this thing with all kinds of requiset studio excesses. This absolutely does pay dividends - “Before I Forget” is a firecracker of a Grammy winning hit single and if you catch me on the right day I’ll swear “Duality” is the greatest nu-metal song of all time - but by album’s end it’s clear Slipknot are reaching their limitations. But what an incredible ride it was getting there. B+