Slateman
{{Short description|Song by Godflesh}}
{{Notability|Music|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Slateman
| cover = Slateman single.jpeg
| alt = A 1991 black-and-white photograph of Godflesh performing live in support of Nirvana
| type = single
| artist = Godflesh
| album =
| B-side = Wound '91
| released = 1991
| format =
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Industrial metal
| length = {{Duration|m=5|s=58}}
| label = {{hlist|Sub Pop|Earache Records}}
| writer = Justin Broadrick{{cite web|url=https://www.ascap.com/repertory#/ace/search/workID/491770911|title=ASCAP Repertory entry for this song |work=ASCAP|accessdate=May 16, 2021 }}
| producer = {{hlist|J. K. Broadrick|G. C. Green}}
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title = Mothra
| next_year = 1992
| misc = {{Audio sample
| type = single
| file = Slateman_(1991).ogg
}}
}}
"Slateman" is a song by English industrial metal band Godflesh.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ctjc6UWCm4C&q=Slateman+godflesh&pg=PT439 | title=The Rough Guide to Rock | publisher=Rough Guides | last=Buckley|first=Peter | year=2003 | pages=432 | isbn=1843531054}} It was released as a 7-inch single in 1991 through Sub Pop and later reissued on Earache Records as a CD, a 7-inch and a 12-inch.{{cite web | url=https://www.subpop.com/releases/godflesh/slateman_wound_91 | title=Godflesh Slateman/Wound '91 | publisher=Sub Pop | accessdate=24 February 2014}} In 1996, the single was repackaged alongside Cold World (1991) on one disc by Earache Records as the compilation Slateman/Cold World.{{cite web | url=http://webstore.earache.com/godflesh-slateman-cold-world-cd | title=Godflesh "Slateman/Cold World" CD | publisher=Earache Records | access-date=24 February 2014 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228041145/http://webstore.earache.com/godflesh-slateman-cold-world-cd | archive-date=28 February 2014 }}{{cite journal | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j8EZAQAAIAAJ&q=Slateman+godflesh | title=Godflesh | journal=Schwann Spectrum | year=2000 | volume=9 | issue=2 | pages=104| isbn=9781575980782 }} Both "Slateman" and its b-side, "Wound '91", were appended to the end of most issues of Godflesh's 1991 EP Slavestate.{{Cite AV media notes |title=Slavestate |type=CD liner notes |others=Godflesh |year=1991 |url=https://www.discogs.com/Godflesh-Slavestate/master/13213 |access-date=4 April 2018 |publisher=Earache Records |id= MOSH 30}}
Background
The song "Wound '91" is an updated version of the song "Wound" from the unreleased Tiny Tears EP, which was later appended as bonus tracks to the end of the CD version of Streetcleaner (1989). The single's cover photograph was taken during a 1991 gig in London where the band opened for Nirvana.{{cite web|title=Godflesh Artwork Descriptions|url=http://www.godflesh.com/artwork.html|website=godflesh.com|publisher=Crumbling Flesh|accessdate=19 February 2018}}
Critical reception
Ira A. Robbins of Trouser Press wrote, "The four-song Slavestate EP finds the band charging full-on into an industrial-dance realm, giving Streetcleaner's lurch-and-crunch the twist of a rhythmic basis. The concurrent "Slateman" single found that format mutated into yet another shape".{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/trouserpressreco002269mbp | quote=Slateman godflesh. | title=The Trouser Press record guide | publisher=Collier Books | last=Robbins|first=Ira A. | year=1991 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/trouserpressreco002269mbp/page/n302 283] | isbn=0020363613}} Denise Falzon of Exclaim! described the live version of the song simply as "groovy".{{cite web | url=http://exclaim.ca/Reviews/MarylandDeathfest/godflesh-outside_stage_1_baltimore_md_may_25 | title=Godflesh Outside Stage 1, Baltimore MD May 25 | work=Exclaim! | date=26 May 2012 | accessdate=24 February 2014 | last=Falzon|first=Denise}} In 2023, Rolling Stone named "Slateman" the 51st best metal song of all time.{{cite magazine |last1=Currin |first1=Grayson Haver |title=The 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-heavy-metal-songs-1234688425/slateman-godflesh-1234689549/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=14 March 2023}}
Track listing
{{Track listing
| title1 = Slateman
| length1 = 5:58
| title2 = Wound '91
| length2 = 4:25
| total_length = 10:23
}}
Personnel
- G.C. Green – bass guitar, production
- J.K. Broadrick – guitar, vocals, production
- Paul Neville – guitar
- Machines – rhythm, samples
- Jason Ashbridge – photography
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Godflesh}}
{{Authority control}}