Slipknot Go Home on Fourth Album
By Yahoo! Shopping User Sep 4, 2008 | 0 out of 1 found this All Hope Is Gone review helpful
Pros: A lot of this album sounds like the band's sophomore release, 'Iowa.'
Cons: Some of the album sounds a lot like Stone Sour
When Slipknot first broke through in the late 90's, the nine-man metal machine from Iowa was the biggest thing to hit the metal community. The band's sophomore release was just as much of a hit. But then, came the band's more mainstream t...hird release, aptly titled, 'Vol. 3.' That one came to very mixed reviews. That could have been thanks to the band's frontman, Corey Taylor, working with his other band, Stone Sour. It could ahve also been thanks to the band bringing on Rick Rubin to produce the album. Rubin has destroyed some of the best band in the music community. Now, on the band's fourth release, fans see Slipknot trying to regain the glory of 'Iowa', while still holding on to elements of 'Vol. 3' and Stone Sour's current pair of albums. The album opens with a blistering spoken word piece in "Execution." This is something that fans of both Stone Sour and Slipknot have come to expect on both band's releases. It heads into an equally blistering musical opening in the blatantly political, "Gematria." The adrenaline doesn't stop at the end of this one. It keeps flowing full throttle on "Sulfur." Fans of Stone Sour may find enjoyment out of the album's lead single, "Psychosocial." It sounds far more like something from Stone Sour than from Slipknot. On one hand, some would call songs like this growth. To others, though, it may cause a bit of concern. Thankfully, the band makes up for that track--among others--with the likes of "Vendetta", "Butcher's Hook", "This Cold Black", "Wherein Lies Continue", and the album's closer/title track. These tracks are absolutely brutal in their intensity. Lyrically, it's anyone's guess as to what [Corey] Taylor is thinking lyrically with most of his songs. Whether it is his spoken word type of material, or actual songs, Taylor's lyrics are always his own. If the combination of sounds on this album aren't enough to make some longtime fans wonder, the extended version may not be the best purchase either. All that it includes is a couple of bonus songs, and a remix of another song, along with a "Making of the album" special addition. Once you've seen a "making of" special, you've seen it. That kind of takes away the allure of having the extended edition of any album, including this one. To the band's defense, though, the band has made an album worth buying. It may cause some friction among the loyal maggot army, thanks to the mixture of high-intensity tracks and softer ones. But there are enough high-intensity songs to make up for the softer ones. That makes for an album that will encourage fans to buy the album, rather than download certain songs. In an age where downloading is killing CD sales, that is a big statement. So to all the maggots out there, this album proves that there is still hope for Slipknot on this, the band's new album. Read more Less
