Corey Taylor‘s cover version of the METALLICA classic “Holier Than Thou” can be streamed below. The track is taken from “The Metallica Blacklist”, a four-hour, 53-song collection of the “Black Album” covers spanning an unbelievably vast range of genres, generations, cultures, continents and more, with each artist contributing a unique interpretation of their favorite “Metallica” LP cut.
Ahead of the release of his version of “Holier Than Thou”, the SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR frontman sat down with Knotfest.com‘s Ryan J. Downey to discuss METALLICA, “Holier Than You” and more in a four-part series. Speaking about how METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX shaped his musical identity in the late 1980s and created a sound that defined a generation, Taylor said: “That was the sounding gun for a whole new generation of psychos, because those bands appealed to so many different — I don’t wanna say ‘cliques,’ but so many different crowds. The punk kids loved them, the metal kids worshipped them. It was still too underground for the straights — quote-unquote the straights. But even the alternative kids dug it, because there was so much ferocity in it and there was just something different. It felt heavier than [BLACK] SABBATH and heavier than DEEP PURPLE, but those were the bands that fueled these bands. Between that, and then you could feel that undercurrent of the hardcore scene — the punk scene, the hardcore scene, the stuff that we, the skater kids, were listening to, as well as the hip-hop or whatnot. So this was this burgeoning explosion of attitude, fast music, just in your face, and we just knew as soon as our parents heard it, they hated it, which made us love it even more. Nothing is better than listening to something that scares the hell out of adults.”
Taylor went on to call METALLICA‘s classic third LP “Master Of Puppets” “the perfect heavy metal album. There’s no fat,” he said. “I mean, you can put it on and listen to the… The only bad thing I can say is that it’s too short. Before you know it, it’s over, and you’re, like, ‘Wait a minute,’ and you’ve gotta start it over again. So, it’s crazy. It’s just a beautiful, beautiful album.”
Back in 2017, Corey singled out “Master Of Puppets” as “the greatest modern heavy metal album ever made.” He said: “[It is] heavy and yet it’s so fucking melodic. It is badass and yet it has moments of pure fucking contemplative cool flow stuff. It is sludgy and yet will rip your fucking head off. And it has the best METALLICA song ever written, ‘Disposable Heroes’, on it. That fucking song is a clinic, not only in alternate picking, but also down picking. I can’t play it, and I can play almost anything. That’s how good it is.” [The LP has] got some of James [Hetfield‘s] best performances, and the whole band is amazing on it. And it’s got some of his best lyrics on it. You listen to it and you’re like, “This is criminal, how fucking good this album is.”
Last year, Taylor told Apple Music‘s Zane Lowe that METALLICA‘s longevity and career success have offered a “blueprint” that SLIPKNOT will continue to follow in the years to come.
“If there’s any band that we absolutely respect… there are a handful of bands, but METALLICA was definitely, they were the high-water mark, man, they were the band to achieve,” he said. “That was our [SLIPKNOT‘s] blueprint, basically. But we took so much from so many different bands as well that it would be unfair to say it was just METALLICA that really guided us. Obviously, they [METALLICA] were… still finding ways to challenge themselves. That’s the key. And that’s where METALLICA, I really feel, is the blueprint, because they keep finding ways to break new ground, play every continent. They’ll be the first band to play Mars, I’m convinced of that.”
STONE SOUR‘s version of METALLICA‘s “Creeping Death” was featured on the former band’s “Meanwhile In Burbank…”, a five-song covers EP which was released in 2015.
“The Metallica Blacklist” offers up new dimensions of the record whose gravitational pull first drew the mainstream to METALLICA — and provides new insights into the universal and timeless appeal that kept it there: the boundary-smashing influence these 12 songs have had on fans and musicians of all stripes. “The Metallica Blacklist”‘s 53 tracks find singer songwriters, country artists, electronic and hip hop artists sharing their love of these songs alongside punk rockers, indie darlings, icons of rock, metal, world music and many, many more… and for 50+ good causes: Profits will be divided evenly between charities of the artist’s choice and METALLICA‘s All Within My Hands foundation.
“The Metallica Blacklist” is a fitting and limitless homage, one that features bands who’ve shared stages with METALLICA alongside artists who are younger than the original album. It’s a truly staggering, at times mystifying assemblage of musicians, dozens of whom have little to nothing in common other than the shared passion for the music that’s united them for this album.
All profits from “The Metallica Blacklist” will be split evenly between the All Within My Hands foundation and 50+ charities chosen by the artists who play on the album. All Within My Hands was founded by the band in 2017 as a way for the entire METALLICA family to give back to communities that have supported the band by supporting workforce education, the fight against hunger, and other critical local services.
“The Metallica Blacklist” features the following tracks:
* ALESSIA CARA & THE WARNING – Enter Sandman
* MAC DEMARCO – Enter Sandman
* GHOST – Enter Sandman
* JUANES – Enter Sandman
* RINA SAWAYAMA – Enter Sandman
* WEEZER – Enter Sandman
* SAM FENDER – Sad But True (Live)
* JASON ISBELL – Sad But True
* MEXICAN INSTITUTE OF SOUND FEAT. LA PERLA & GERA MX – Sad But True
* ROYAL BLOOD – Sad But True
* ST. VINCENT – Sad But True
* WHITE REAPER – Sad But True
* YB – Sad But True
* BIFFY CLYRO – Holier Than Thou
* THE CHATS – Holier Than Thou
* OFF! – Holier Than Thou
* PUP – Holier Than Thou
* COREY TAYLOR – Holier Than Thou
* CAGE THE ELEPHANT – The Unforgiven
* VISHAL DADLANI, DIVINE, SHOR POLICE – The Unforgiven
* DIET CIG – The Unforgiven
* FLATBUSH ZOMBIES FEAT. DJ SCRATCH – The Unforgiven
* HA*ASH – The Unforgiven
* JOSÉ MADERO – The Unforgiven
* MOSES SUMNEY – The Unforgiven
* J BALVIN – Wherever I May Roam
* CHASE & STATUS FEAT. BACKROAD GEE – Wherever I May Roam
* THE NEPTUNES – Wherever I May Roam
* JON PARDI – Wherever I May Roam
* SEBASTIAN – Don’t Tread On Else Matters
* PORTUGAL. THE MAN FEAT. AARON BEAM – Don’t Tread On Me
* VOLBEAT – Don’t Tread On Me
* THE HU – Through The Never
* TOMI OWÓ – Through The Never
* PHOEBE BRIDGERS – Nothing Else Matters
* MILEY CYRUS FEAT. WATT, ELTON JOHN, YO-YO MA, ROBERT TRUJILLO, CHAD SMITH – Nothing Else Matters
* DAVE GAHAN – Nothing Else Matters
* MICKEY GUYTON – Nothing Else Matters
* DERMOT KENNEDY – Nothing Else Matters
* MON LAFERTE – Nothing Else Matters
* IGOR LEVIT – Nothing Else Matters
* MY MORNING JACKET – Nothing Else Matters
* PG ROXETTE – Nothing Else Matters
* DARIUS RUCKER – Nothing Else Matters
* CHRIS STAPLETON – Nothing Else Matters
* TRESOR – Nothing Else Matters
* GOODNIGHT, TEXAS – Of Wolf And Man
* IDLES – The God That Failed
* IMELDA MAY – the god that failed
* CHERRY GLAZERR – My Friend Of Misery
* IZÏA – My Friend Of Misery
* KAMASI WASHINGTON – My Friend Of Misery
* RODRIGO Y GABRIELA – The Struggle Within
