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Slipknot (band)

Slipknot is a nine-piece nu metal band from Des Moines, Iowa. Aside from their real names, members of the band are also referred to by numbers 0 through 8.

Slipknot is currently one of the more popular bands of the contemporary music scene, with their extreme music and violent stage performances. Their albums and home videos have achieved Platinum-sales status, with Grammy nods in the Best Heavy Metal and Best Hard Rock categories for songs from all three of their albums.

The band is also well-known for its peculiar image: the members wear matching uniforms (sometimes with UPC barcodes printed on the them) and each has a unique mask.

Contents

History

The group formed in 1995, and released a demo album called Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat in 1996. The album was well-received, and several major record labels became interested in the group.

Slipknot eventually signed to Roadrunner Records, and released their self-titled debut album in June of 1999. Despite receiving little airplay, the album was successful, due mainly to word-of-mouth. Regarding the album, one reviewer wrote "You thought Limp Bizkit was hard? They're the Osmonds. (Slipknot) are something else entirely. And it's pretty impressive." [1]

Heavy touring (including an Ozzfest stint in 1999) greatly enhanced the band's fanbase.

2001's Iowa, the follow-up to their debut album, was widely anticipated and debuted at number three on the Billboard Magazine album charts. They again toured heavily to promote the record.

After an almost two-year hiatus, the band regrouped in late 2003 and began writing and recording with world-renowned producer Rick Rubin, who has worked with artists ranging from Johnny Cash to Beastie Boys to Slayer.

The band released their third album, Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses) in May 2004. Reviews were mostly positive. New Musical Express noted, "At least two thirds of it is still comprised of head-spinning speed metal, but there are signs of genuine progression -- not to mention progressive rock -- from the off." Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses) debuted at #2 on the Billboard albums chart.

Several members of the band have been photographed without masks: Vocalist Corey Taylor and guitarist James Root with their band Stone Sour, drummer Joey Jordison with his side-project the Murderdolls, percussionist Shawn Crahan with To My Surprise, guitarist Mick Thomson in Total Guitar magazine, and bassist Paul Gray in a police mugshot leaked through The Smoking Gun.

Detractors

Slipknot is often considered nu metal, but this classification is continuously debated. Their lyrical themes and instrumental styles (most notably the rarity of guitar solos), the use of turntables and sampling, and occasional rap-style vocals are similar to those of typical nu-metal bands. The structure of the songs tend to be simplistic and often limited to two notes per riff, grinding back and forth. Most fans of their music, however, do not pay attention to such a classification and find it meaningless, though it is argued that this is due to the musical naivete of their target demographic, and that upon exposure to "purer" styles of legitimate heavy metal, the difference would be striking enough to convert the neophyte metalhead from what is considered a diluted and commercially-oriented style.

With the release of Slipknot's latest album, "Vol. 3: The Sublminal Verses", advocates felt that the presence of solos on their albums would silence detractors with finality. However, it can be argued that this is simply another financially conscious move given the mid- 2000s "retro-metal" renaissance, and that the style of vocals still have more in common with hardcore music than metal. As one detractor put it: "Slipknot are intense the same way your little sister screaming is intense. It's loud and angry, but also very annoying and not the least bit menacing."

The band is frowned upon by many critics due to their appearance which many attribute to shock marketing and are described as "gimmicky". Slipknot is also accused of creating positions within the band for the sole purpose of increasing the total number of members; for example, no other popular bands hold a position for a sampler, even if samples are included in the music.

Members

Ex-Members

Anders Colsefini
Greg "Cuddles" Welts
Josh Brainard
Brandon Darner
Donnie Steele

Discography

Unreleased Discs

Crowz (1997)
Roadrunner Records Demo (1997)

External links

Fansites

Categories: Alternative musical groups | American musical groups | Rap metal groups | 1990s music groups | 2000s music groups

Science Fair Project Encyclopedia Contents Page

10-26-2009 08:16:03
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