In case you’ve ever wondered why there aren’t any guitar solos on Slipknot’s first album, Mick Thomson has explained why the band opted to cut them out.
Heavy music changed in a lot of ways throughout the ’90s, especially from the reign of grunge at the start of the decade to the rise of nu-metal by the end of it. Flashy guitar playing was already on its way out in the early ’90s, so by the time bands like Slipknot took over, the instrument was used more to keep the rhythm of the song than anything.
So when Thomson recorded some solos for Slipknot, they were omitted.
“I actually had some solos in songs, but they all got cut out,” the guitarist recalled to Guitar World. “Because between Ross [Robinson] and Joey [Jordison], guitar solos are stupid now… Any kind of technical guitar playing was mocked and frowned upon.”
He also revealed that the song “(sic)” in particular was originally titled “Slipknot,” and it had some solos on it that were removed. Thomson understood the mindset behind the decision, but he admitted he was a bit hurt by it.
“Because it was one of those things where I’m like, ‘I’ve spent my whole life playing and now fucking here I am, and… nope! Never mind! It’s all gone!’… Like, ‘Just take it all away from me. That’s cool! Never mind that I sat in my room for years obsessing and trying to fucking do whatever, and then here I am and… nope!’”
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Despite his bitterness over the situation, Thomson assured that he learned a lot from Robinson, and mentioned that so many metal songs by that time had a formula when it came to the structure and solos.
Later on, both Thomson and Jim Root got to flaunt their stuff with their guitar-playing. But given the success of their first album, it appears they made a good choice in trusting Robinson and Jordison.
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