http://www.billboard.com/photos/styl...08_617_409.jpg
Now, I'll make it known right now that I went to see Slipknot live a few years ago and to my complete surprise, I didn't totally hate it. It was fine. This came as a surprise cause it's not like I hadn't given them time before, or even seen them live before. I had previously seen them on at least two seperate occasions before this but at festivals, which may have just suited them very badly, but I strongly hated it. Basically, I don't hate their music. I just continue to struggle to even find the energy to properly form an opinion on it. I nothing their music. It has never left any kind of impression on me whatsoever.
What annoys me about Slipknot is everything about them that I find unnecessary and that I personally struggle to find the point or any benefit in at all.
Firstly, how many band members are crucial to their output? How many could easily be cut because their contributions to the band are so minimal?
Secondly, their status. Its not their fault but they became the poster boys of metal for a lot of people with little to no interest in the genre who, when they discovered I was a metal fan, made a judgement of me. "He likes Slipknot and all
that kind of stuff." This is due to some peoples ignorance (not a criticism, just an observation) rather than for any fault of the band, I know.
And lastly what annoyed and continues to annoy me now is that literally everyone I know who likes Slipknot, every single one of them, tries to convert me to them with the words "but they put on a hell of a live show." All I saw when I went to see them was a few band members seemingly doing very, very little and periodically being launched into the air on podiums and turned upside down. They also left the stage and would reappear in various parts of the arena and amongst the crowd and all kinds of theatrics that were dragging peoples attention this way and that and ironically, away from the stage and the music.
There is sometimes a place for theatrics in rock and heavy metal. The likes of Alice Cooper and Iron Maiden have a long history of putting on what, in my opinion, are hugely theatrical, light-hearted live shows and connecting on a visual level rather than just an audible one. Sometimes metal should just be fun. Slipknot however, in my opinion, seem to be just as much of a travelling circus act as they do a band and almost qualify as a comedy act as far as a lot of their theatrical, colourful distractions go.
Everything aside from their music makes it impossible for me to relate to, connect with, enjoy or take Slipknot seriously, and as I said I'm not a big fan of their music either. Despite this I know that when some people hear that I enjoy heavy metal, this is their image of what this genre is and what it stands for.
