Slipknot - A write up

So myself and my beautiful Girlfriend watched the BBC documentary on Slipknot all out life and she had many questions so i have decided to compile a bunch of information for her and anyone else to understand Slipknot more and i have provided info via my memory and via the wiki on them to compile a quite in-depth look at the biggest metal band going strong today. 

Slipknot is an American nu-metal band from Des Moines, Iowa. The band was founded in 1995 by percussionist Shawn Crahan, drummer Joey Jordison and bassist Paul Gray. After several lineup changes in its early years, the band settled on nine members for more than a decade: Crahan, Jordison, Gray, Craig Jones, Mick Thomson, Corey Taylor, Sid Wilson, Chris Fehn, and Jim Root. Gray died on May 24, 2010, and was replaced during 2011–2014 by guitarist Donnie Steele. Jordison was dismissed from the band on December 12, 2013. Steele left during the recording sessions for .5: The Gray Chapter. The band found replacements in Alessandro Venturella on bass and Jay Weinberg on drums. After the departure of Jordison, as of December 2013 the only founding member in the current lineup is percussionist Crahan. Fehn was also dismissed from the band in March of 2019 prior to the writing of We Are Not Your Kind. Joey Jordison suggested naming the band Slipknot, after a song they had made on their debut album mate, feed, kill, repeat. Slipknot's fans are called maggots why? Corey and Crahan once said in an interview they were doing a show with a large number of people, and when they looked at the crowd, they looked like writhing maggots jumping around, so they decided to call them that henceforth.

Slipknot 1999

Slipknot 2019

Slipknot is well known for its attention-grabbing image, aggressive style of music, and energetic and chaotic live shows. The band rapidly rose to fame following the release of their eponymous debut album in 1999. The 2001 follow-up album, Iowa, although darker in tone, made the band more popular. After a brief hiatus, Slipknot returned in 2004 with Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), before going on another hiatus and returning in 2008 with its fourth album, All Hope Is Gone, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. After another long hiatus, Slipknot released its fifth studio album, .5: The Gray Chapter, in 2014. Their sixth studio album, We Are Not Your Kind, was released on August 9, 2019. The band has sold 30 million records worldwide as of writing. In early 2000, Slipknot was certified platinum; a first for an album released by Roadrunner Records. 2006 saw Slipknot win their first Grammy Award, picking up the Best Metal Performance award for the single "Before I Forget".The single went on to be featured on the set list of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Slipknot's first annual music festival, called Knotfest, was held on August 17, 2012, in Iowa. The festival also debuted a Slipknot museum. "The Negative One" was nominated for the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. Slipknot have been nominated for ten Grammy Awards and have won one.

The band's sound typically features a heavily down-tuned guitar setup, a large percussive section, sampling, keyboards and DJ'ing. Using a variety of vocal styles, the music typically features growled vocals, screaming, backing vocals, as well as melodic singing. The band has continually experimented with its sound. Slipknot's lyrics are generally very aggressive; they sometimes include profanity while exploring themes such as darkness, nihilism, anger, disaffection, love, misanthropy, and psychosis. They often draw upon topics including the music industry, politics, personal strife, and reflection, among others. 

The members perform wearing unique, individual facemasks and matching uniforms typically jumpsuits while each member is typically assigned and referred to by number based on their role in the band, although the latter practice has diminished following the death of Paul Gray. The band has said the idea of wearing masks stemmed from a clown mask that Crahan took to rehearsals when the band first started. The concept developed; by late 1997, the band decided every band member would wear a unique mask and matching jumpsuit. Taylor said in 2002, "it's our way of becoming more intimate with the music. It's a way for us to become unconscious of who we are and what we do outside of music. It's a way for us to kind of crawl inside it and be able to use it." The concept of wearing matching jumpsuits has been described as a response to commercialism in the music industry and led to the idea of assigning the band members numerical aliases. According to Taylor, "Originally, we were just going to wear the jumpsuits, we figured we might as well take that further and number ourselves. We were basically saying, 'Hey, we're a product!'".

During their careers, the members of Slipknot have developed their images, updating their uniforms and each member's mask upon the release of each album. Jordison, in an interview in 2004, said the masks are updated to show growth within each individual. Slipknot's members have worn special masks for specific occasions, most notably for the music video and live performances of "Vermilion" in 2004 and 2005 when they wore life masks made from casts of their own faces.  In 2008, the band wore a set of large masks titled "purgatory masks" during photograph shoots before the release of All Hope Is Gone; in the music video for "Psychosocial" they are seen burning them. The band's image has been the subject of much criticism and controversy, with critics generally accusing it of being a sales gimmick. The band's members object to these claims; according to them the masks are used to divert attention from themselves and put it on the music. Several band members have said wearing the masks helps to maintain privacy in their personal lives. During an interview in 2005, percussionist Fehn said the masks were a "blessing" because they meant the members are not recognised in public.

An essential element for the band's image is the Slipknot logo. The nonagram was created by the band's members around the same time the band was founded. The nonagram is arguably the best-known sigil of Slipknot and it represents a 9-point star, a symbol of unity, loyalty, friendship and remembrance. Despite popular belief, the nonagram is not a Satanist symbol and instead represents Slipknot's "battle with the fake world.". 

Slipknot's music and image have been the subject of many controversies throughout its career. The lyrical content of some of Slipknot's songs has been linked to several violent and criminal incidents. In 2003, two young killers blamed the lyrics of "Disasterpiece" for their crime. In 2006, the lyrics of "Surfacing" were found at the site of a grave robbery. In 2008, Corey Taylor commented on a slashing incident at a South African school to which Slipknot was linked; he said: "obviously, I'm disturbed by the fact that people were hurt and someone died, as far as my responsibility for that goes, it stops there, because I know our message is actually very positive and there are always going to be mental disorders and people who cause violence for no other reason than the fact that they're fucked up and lost." Also the band has had a notable fued with Mushroomhead and Burger King. 

Someone last year compiled a list of words most used in Slipknots song catalogue.

Here is the 10 slipknot songs i utterly loved when i ranked them in 2016 and there's been newer songs since obviously but this is pretty good as it is. So do look this up once you have read all this :) - https://1stmetalgodsblog.blogspot.com/2016/09/top-10-slipknot-songs.html 

This has me telling you my interpretations of the songs on the list also. I have compiled what i can at best. 

Stay shiny and thanks for reading!

Stay safe during the caronavirus pandemic too people!