janderson.net/blog

I bought the new Slipknot album (All Hope Is Gone) this weekend. When they first came out there were one of my favorite bands. I loved their first two albums, and their third album had some good songs, but not great as a whole album. This forth album is by far my least favorite.

I’ve been reading a lot of interviews from them about how the writing and recording process went. This was the first time that all members wrote music, and you can tell. It’s quite different from the other albums. They also recorded individually and not as a hole band. You can’t really tell by the production of the album, but from what I’ve read they wont be doing that again.

The best songs on this album are the ballads. The other songs have great parts, but are not good as whole songs. These songs don’t flow, but rather feel forced. It is nice to hear some new elements, like guitar solos, but its not enough to really grab you. The vocals are very lacking. They sound more like Stone Sour rather then Slipknot. I think Cory is having a difficult time pulling double duties with both bands.

All and all…. Some songs will make it onto my iPhone. The others will be slowly forgotten about. When they pop up on my iTunes random play at home I will question who it is, and promptly skip it.