#5: Dead Memories
While the music video is great as is, the extended cut is what pushes this single from All Hope Is Gone towards the top of the list. Essentially a short film, the video opens with a child’s voice sadly asking, “Is anybody waiting for me?” From then until the music starts, it’s an unnerving, emotional journey as an unmasked Corey Taylor, who narrates, walks shovel in hand from deep within the city to the miles of vacant Iowa fields.
The narrator’s monologue is continually interrupted by conflicting thoughts also voiced by Taylor. The different personalities overlap, injecting anger, sober reflection, confident rebellion, and crippling doubt constantly into the scene. Taylor walks unfazed while the voices battle in his head, lashing out only once by taking the shovel to a parked car. Finally, he falls to his knees in the field, begins to dig, and allows himself to drop into the hole.
He lands mask on in an underground home with a series of rooms, each housing a different masked member of the band. The other members replace the voices in his head, some fighting to keep him trapped, others completely ignoring his existence. He pushes through each room, confronted by scenes both seemingly joyous and destructive. In the end, he rises out of the hole only to find his unmasked self digging another hole beside it.
This extended cut lends a ton of substance to a video that was already filled with varying symbolism. The video makes you question whether these forces personify the narrator's personal demons or are the true reflections of who he is inside. Each time through, the video offers more to analyze and dissect, ultimately becoming a piece of artwork that leaves a different interpretation for each viewer.
#4: The Devil In I
When Slipknot went on their third hiatus in 2009, fans expected that within two years, the nine would be back again. But with the accidental overdose of bassist Paul Gray in 2010 and the parting of ways with drummer Joey Jordison in 2013, fans were unsure if the band would ever be the same.
While their first single "The Negative One" gave fans a taste of their new sound, the music video was entirely absent of the band. Would Joey and Paul be replaced by new members? If so, would those members wear masks or play out of the audience’s sight ala Donnie Steel during the brief 2011 tour? Within a month of "The Negative One" dropping, the second single from .5: The Gray Chapter was released.
The band performed "The Devil In I" in a mental asylum, with extras dressed in strait jackets as human maggots surrounding them. Throughout the video, each member is seen alone in a room, while two unknown men in identical masks roam the asylum in wheelchairs. As the song plays on, members of the band commit suicide in disturbing ways, eventually confronting and gratuitously stabbing the two chair-bound patients. In the final chorus of the video, the two unknown individuals are revealed to be the new drummer and bassist.
Besides the jaw dropping moment when the two new players were revealed, the brutal video doesn’t let up until the final scene fades to black. The band meets their death in graphic ways that speak to each member’s personal fears, insecurities, and torment at letting go of the past. Explosions, animal attacks, self-mutilation, the painful video tops itself with Clown setting himself on fire while hanging from a noose. This video is more than a shock and awe piece; it’s a small glimpse into the band’s untimely destruction and painful revival. It’s a kick to the throat to any cynic who thought that the nine would never recover.
#3: Before I Forget
When Volume 3: The Subliminal Verses debuted in 2004, the members still maintained a decent level of anonymity. Although Stone Sour’s growing success saw Corey Taylor and guitarist Jim Root in the limelight sans masks, most casual (and even many diehard) fans of Slipknot couldn’t recognize any member without their signature attire. "Before I Forget" boldly staged the band performing in a sterile white room wearing only black t-shirts and pants.
No masks. No coveralls. The turntablist Sid isn’t diving off of the rafters and Clown isn’t setting himself on fire. There aren’t demonic sequences or twisted subtexts. In fact, the entire production is stripped down to bare bones. This video relies on nothing more than nine immensely talented musicians rocking the fuck out. All camera views are set as close ups on various member’s body parts (eyes, feet, hands, etc.), keeping their full faces cleverly out of focus or just flat out absent.
THIS is Slipknot. Any critics that dare reduce the band to nothing more than a lucky gimmick need only listen to this song. AOL lists it as the Top Metal Song of the Decade and British television channel Scuzz’s audience voted it as the “Most Rocking Video” of 2007.
And did I mention the song itself won a little thing called a Grammy in 2006?
The "Before I Forget" video proves that the profanity, imagery, and insanity of Slipknot are nonissues when it comes to their ability as some of the most skilled musicians of the past decade. It’s hard not to get amped watching this awesome video.
#2: Spit It Out
MTV 1999: In a year when the likes of "Baby One More Time", "I Want It That Way", and "Genie In A Bottle" dominated the airways, we can thank the rock gods that a new metal band exploded onto the scene. When the nine piece from Des Moines, Iowa, clad in coveralls and demented masks, released their first video "Wait and Bleed", they changed the landscape of music. Little did the world know that it was merely a prelude to a video that would set the Slipknot standard for the next decade.
"Spit It Out" jumps between live performance footage and an homage to the movie The Shinning that has the members portraying various characters. The band takes the already disturbing source material and further distorts it with their interpretations. Corey Taylor is a menacing Jack Torrance, and seeing percussionists Chris Fehn and Shawn Crahan holding hands wearing matching dresses is far creepier than the original Grady Twins.
Initially banned from MTV for its violence, the video’s ruthlessness will make anyone’s mother wince in fright even today. With whiplash inducing jump cuts and dizzying effects, it’s an unrelenting circus of nightmarish proportions. "Spit It Out" is a classic metal song, made even better by the recreation of legendary movie set against the backdrop of Slipknot’s extreme live performance.
#1: Duality
I push my fingers into my…
Sing it with me. The amazing video for the first single off Vol. 3, "Duality" was voted both Song and Music Video of The Year by Metal Edge Reader’s Choice Awards, is regarded as the best video in Roadrunner Record’s history, and is debatably one of the absolute best Slipknot songs to date.
The video finds the band rocking out in an empty house surrounded by hordes of their fans. Set for renovation, this residence in Slipknot’s hometown of Des Moines, Iowa, turned into a virtual demolition site. Maggots were told to “go crazy” and, to put it lightly, they did. Every window was shattered; walls and parts of the ceiling were broken through. Even the rental car wasn’t spared in the wreckage. Midway through the shoot, the crew had to calm the extras down for fear of the entire house collapsing. Two people were treated for injuries and two people were removed by police for sneaking a baseball bat in. In the end, the production cost an extra $50,000 to pay for the extensive damage.
"Duality" is a great song, and Slipknot is a phenomenal band, but it’s the fans that make this video number one. You can see the pressure packed intensity bouncing between the fans and group. The bizarre feeling of comforting claustrophobia can be felt. Corey Taylor directs the hurricane of bodies with ease displaying his natural ability to conduct a crowd with an effortless wave of the hand. This video shows Slipknot and their fans at their finest and is a testament to how influential, talented, and extreme the nine are.
There you have it. From Slipknot to .5: The Gray Chapter, Slipknot has given us a heap of fearsome, emotional, and head-banging videos. With captivating short films like "Snuff" and classic head-banging videos like "Spit It Out", the band leaves us only wanting more. Is your top ten different? Think the timeless "Wait and Bleed" or the recent "Killpop" should have been included? Sound off in the comments and let us know.
Related: Corey Taylor Ranks SLIPKNOT's Albums From Worst To Best
