Together, in the 90s, there were about two bands that truly launched completely new genres. In 1994, KoRn released their self titled, which created nu-metal. But three years before, when Nirvana made Grunge commercial, Slint released Spiderland, considered the creator of the genre of Post-Rock, which I still don’t understand. Consisting of 6 songs, the album was a poor seller, but critically acclaimed, and influenced future artists of the Post-Rock genre. Nowadays, the album is polarizing, but genuinely still thought of as a benchmark of the 90s. But more infamous than the album itself is the story behind it. The band pulled four all-nighters to record it, and stories go that a few members were institutionalized. So with a story like that, and the expectations, I expect to like this. So let’s dive in.
1. Breadcrumb Trail
We start off the album with some guitar and drumming, while Brian McMahan, singer for Slint, narrates a story. Here, we see Slint with their experimenting with time signatures, which is a staple of Post Rock. After an intro of a minute, the song goes into a harder direction, with heavy guitar work and actual singing. However, after a while, the guitar starts bashing into your head with a really high guitar note that is very unpleasant. Near the end of the song, the song goes quiet again, but still harder than the beginning, with some guitar work thrown in on top. And it’s with this song that we find the first big problem with the album; all the songs go on for far longer than they need to, with every song over 5 minutes. If this song was 2 and a half minutes, it would be a great opener. Instead, it just goes on and on, until falling right under the 6 minute mark. Would be good, but goes on for far too long.
2. Nosferatu Man
Starting with drums, we go into some ominous work, which works great for an atmosphere, but is often interrupted by more shrill guitar work. And it’s here we realize that singer is not the right term for Brian McMahan, who prefers to either whisper poems on isolation, or yell when the songs call for it. The song soon goes into a punk sound, with heavy hitting drums and guitar, before going back into its quiet place. Eventually, the song goes back to the harder sound, staying like that for the rest of the song, before one last chord ends the 5 and a half minute song. As stated before, the songs on the album go on for far longer than needed, just constantly switching through what can charitably be called a verse and a chorus. For a song this long to not once change from those two is frustrating, and it doesn’t even have the best parts of Breadcrumb Trail for it. Overall, a very weak song.
3. Don, Aman
Starting with the line “Don stepped outside”, the song goes into some ominous guitar playing, setting a nervous mood. While this plays, there are bits of narration over the song, while the bass slowly falls into the instrumentation. This song is where I start to get the feeling that Brian McMahan would rather narrate a gothic short film than write music. Around the 2 minute mark, the music finally changes, sounding like nerve wracking strings played on guitar. And even at this point, there is no singing at all, sticking with the narration from previously. It stays like this for the next 4 minutes, and the entire song lacks drums. While the song can give you a feeling of strong paranoia, I feel it would work better in poem form.
4. Washer
The most common problem with this album is the length of the songs, and how they seem to go on far longer than necessary. And unlike other long-winded artists like Yes, these songs don’t really change. Which is why it’s ironic that the longest song on the album is also my favorite. Starting with a beautiful guitar line, after a minute of buildup, Brian McMahan comes in, actually singing for once. However, it quickly goes back to the beautiful guitar line. This pattern goes on for the nearly nine minute run of the song, and while it is very repetitive, the song manages to have an ominously beautiful sound to it, and with the breaks between each short verse, it gives you time to think about the lyrics, accented by the guitar. Easily the best on the album.
5. For Dinner
Starting with feedback and a quiet guitar part, the song is soon joined by drums, until building up and unleashing into another beautiful guitar part, which seems to have risen in prominence in the second half of this album. Then it goes back to the starting riff, and it just goes on and on. With repetitive beats and bass work, occasionally accented by guitar and a snare hit. The only instrumental on the album, it exhibits a problem many instrumentals have; it becomes very repetitive. However, unlike other instrumentals, this one also happens to be really boring. Skip it.
6. Good Morning, Captain
Starting off with whats sounds like a deranged banjo, other instruments come in soon, creating an almost folk industrial sound, like a mechanical sea captain. The song is off to an extremely weird beginning. This is soon joined by the typical speaking. Probably the heaviest song on the album, it’s also the second longest on the album, at 7 and a half minutes. However, this song actually appears to change once and a while, even kicking in with distortion at some points. While not the scariest song on the album, it’s probably the creepiest, giving off the impression of someone in the shadows waiting to prey on your unsuspecting body. While probably the most interesting song on the album, it’s still a very long wait for the best parts. One of the best songs on the album, but that’s not the highest benchmark.
As one of the most important albums of the decade, I am very underwhelmed by this album. While influencing a great number of musicians, Spiderland is boring and tuneless a great amount of the time, except for the two longest songs on the album, where it peaks in creativity and unease. It’s a very atmospheric record, and is definitely one for when you need to stay up all night in unease, but otherwise, it’s your average bizarre listen.
Score: C-
