Ahead of the release of Corey Taylor’s version of the song “Holier Than Than Thou” recorded for METALLICA’s tribute album “Blacklist,” the SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR frontman sat down with Ryan J. Downey of Knotfest.com to discuss METALLICA, “Holier Than You.” Taylor talked about how METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX shaped his musical personality in the late 1980s and created a sound that defined an entire generation:
“It was a sonic weapon for a whole new generation of crazies because these bands appealed to so many different – I don’t want to say ‘bands,’ but so many different audiences. The punk kids loved them, the metal kids worshipped them. It was still too underground for average people – in quotes about average people. But even the alternative kids listened to them because there was so much ferocity and something else about them. It seemed heavier than BLACK SABBATH and heavier than DEEP PURPLE, but these were the bands that fueled those bands. Among other things, you could feel the undercurrent of the hardcore scene – the punk scene, the hardcore scene, what we skater kids were listening to, as well as hip-hop or whatever. So it was an explosion of catchy, fast music, shocking, and we knew that as soon as our parents heard it, they would hate it, which made us love it even more. There’s nothing like listening to something that scares the hell out of adults.”
Taylor went on to call METALLICA’s classic third album, “Master Of Puppets,” “the perfect heavy metal album.”
“There’s no frills in it. I mean, you can turn it on and listen to it… The only bad thing I can say is that it’s too short. Before you know it, it’s over, and you think, ‘Wait a minute,’ and you have to start all over again. So it’s crazy. It’s just a beautiful, wonderful album.”
