CD Review

Slipknot
9.0 Live
Roadrunner Records

It seems rare to find a band that make a good live album anymore. Most of the time live albums are quickly put together by some record company producer and thrown onto store shelves just to make a quick buck.

A truly great live album is created when a band does it for the fans and not for the dollar. Slipknot has always been a band dedicated to making sure its fans get the absolute best from them, and they do not fail their fans with 9.0: Live.

Revolver magazine considers 9.0: Live one of the top 10 greatest live albums of all time. It is a two-disc album with 24 tracks of pure blood-pumping metal. The band recorded the album as they performed on last year’s Subliminal Verses Tour. The record has classic Slipknot songs like “Wait and Bleed” and “Surfacing” the way Slipknot would want them to be heard. The real intensity of their music has never been captured on their studio albums, but it is certainly captured in 9.0.

While sitting around with the album blasting from the stereo, fans may actually feel like they’re at a Slipknot concert. Lead singer Corey Taylor between songs says things to get the crowd more involved and more animated.

Each track was carefully selected by drummer Joey Jordison. This isn’t an album where it was put together at one show and you can hear all the mistakes made by the band, it is Slipknot playing at the top of their game.

Guitarists James Root and Mick Thompson play flawlessly throughout the 24 tracks, and drummer Joey Jordison’s drum solo on disc one has earned him his ranking on Hit Parader magazine’s top 10 best heavy metal drummers of all time.

This album has a lot of meaning to Slipknot and their fans because the band plans to take a break from each other after their current tour.

9.0: Live will serve as a reminder to fans that though they may be on a break, they will be back to rock the roofs off of arenas and blow holes in your speakers soon. Now fans can have a little taste of that experience right in their very own home.

-Dan Cappello