We’ve all done some wacky stuff in the name of having a laugh on April Fools Day. However, a 90s pop-rock band covering one of the most aggressive-sounding nu metal forces in existence? That’s… that’s a new one.
In 2011, pop-rock trio Hanson, best known for their 1997 single Mmm Bop, decided they should have a stab at some Slipknot. Footage of the brothers Isaac, Taylor and Zac doing an acoustic redo of Wait And Bleed was recorded in what seems to be a hotel room and published online by the US clothing chain Hot Topic, of all things. The ‘leak’, as it was promoted, showed two minutes of the cover and was reported as being the first taste of a planned Slipknot covers album.
Of course, the ‘reveal’ that this was footage that the band didn’t want you to see and the concept of an impending cover album were all utter lies. It was simply a cross-promotional jape to celebrate a day of larking about. To be fair, though, the clip (recently exhumed from the internet wasteland by Instagram account Crazy Ass Moments In Nu Metal History) does show the song has potential as a saccharine pop piece. That is, if you’re into that kind of thing.
Wait And Bleed, when it dropped as a single from Slipknot’s debut in 1999, was easily one of the band’s most accessible moments. On an album otherwise defined by its snarling rage, this was a more tasteful standout with an arena-sized chorus. Hanson’s even cleaner-cut cover does fit into their inoffensive wheelhouse quite snugly, even if some of the lyrics would make the uninitiated raise an eyebrow. Do you really feel the hate rise up in you, you attractive and beloved teen idols?
Like most metalheads, we’re not torn up that the notion of a Hanson/Slipknot cover album never came to pass. But still, we applaud the trio for giving this a loving go and giving everyone, well… a crazy-ass moment in nu metal history.
