Slipknot seem on the duvet of the Fall 2024 Challenge — head to the AP Store to seize a replica.
Slipknot have been celebrating the twenty fifth anniversary of their incendiary self-titled debut album all yr. The landmark LP captured a definite time and place for the nü-metal vets, the place they had been each on the cusp of burning down every part round them whereas ascending towards the stratosphere. “The [fans] may inform it was actual. They might inform it got here from a spot that understood what it was prefer to be marginalized,” bandleader Corey Taylor displays in our newest cowl story. “We had been so fucking hungry we might have eaten by the backs of individuals’s heads.” Because the band proceed their anniversary run this yr, we turned to our readers and requested them to rattle off the very best Slipknot songs of all time. These are the highest picks, ranked accordingly beneath.
Learn extra: Fan ballot: 5 finest nü-metal bands of all time
5. “Vermilion”
Together with its companion piece, the ghostly ballad “Vermilion Pt. 2,” the Subliminal Verses lower displayed Slipknot as a drive. The tune is all surging conviction, technicality, and ambition, significantly for late members Paul Grey and Joey Jordison. Centering round a darkish romance match for a horror flick, it erupts with vitality, from the rapturous guitar solo to Taylor’s cries in the course of the choruses. Twenty years later, “Vermilion” continues to be completely chilling.
4. “Psychosocial”
Normally a band’s hottest songs turn out to be essentially the most despised by their followers, however “Psychosocial” stays completely beloved. In spite of everything, by the point Slipknot unleashed All Hope Is Gone in 2008, they had been already giants. From the soar, although, “Psychosocial” embodied every part that makes Slipknot nice. It’s a percussive slammer with a burning refrain (“And the rain will kill us all”), designed to be shouted again by swarms of followers — in addition to a testomony to how far they’d traveled from their early beginnings in Iowa.
3. “Duality”
The lead single for Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) is hailed by Maggots as one in every of Slipknot’s best moments. Previous to its launch, the band had taken break day, and solo initiatives from particular person members had cropped up, sending out ripples of uncertainty. Nonetheless, when Slipknot kicked off this recent period with “Duality,” there was little doubt. In a single super feat, each the tune and its accompanying video, which featured a great deal of individuals ripping aside a home, confirmed that Slipknot hadn’t misplaced any of their would possibly. “Duality” is a steel anthem for the ages.
2. “(sic)”
After all the tune that impressed the identify of their Right here Comes the Ache tour needed to make this checklist. “(sic”) is an everlasting fan favourite and a staple of the band’s reside reveals, having been performed lots of of occasions. Coming from their 1999 self-titled, the observe options Taylor’s molten, rapid-fire vocals, vinyl scratching, and a pattern from Carlito’s Means as every part crumbles round them. The truth is, “(sic)” was one of many first songs that Slipknot recorded with the late Jordison within the fold, which you’ll hear in its slamming percussion.
1. “Eyeless”
Are you shocked? This 1999 burner embodies the band’s starvation greater than every other observe — in addition to what captivated so many followers early on. That includes Sid Wilson’s scratchy turntablism and full of uncooked lyrics concerning the absence of Taylor’s father and being a teenage addict, the Slipknot bandleader places on a hell of a vocal efficiency. So a few years later, “Eyeless” captures such a rippling second throughout the band’s canon. Simply bear in mind: You may’t see California with out Marlon Brando’s eyes.
