Motionless In White may have cornered the market in goth-tinged metal, but frontman Chris Motionless’ tastes in music extend beyond the boundaries of the scene into hip hop, 80s indie and even comedy 90s pop. We sat down with Chris as he flicked through the record collection in his head.
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The first album I ever bought was…
‘Weird Al’ Yankovic – Bad Hair Day (1996)
“How embarrassing. I kinda fell out of touch with his music after a couple of years. That was when Weird Al was awesome and at the top of his game. I soon got into other, heavier music.”
The album with the best artwork is…
Bleeding Through – The Truth (2006)
“I’d say Bleeding Through’s The Truth. At that time, bands like that were doing the same kind of covers, trying to outdo each other in how tough they could be, and Bleeding Through annihilated all of them. That cover is evil. That open mouth and all the black… it’s awesome.”
The album I wish I’d made is…
Bleeding Through – This Is Love, This Is Murderous (2003)
“It’s gonna be Bleeding Through for a lot of these! That album is just gigantic to me. Every time I hear it, I think that exact point – ‘God, I wish I could have written those songs.’”
The album I break the speed limit to is…
Slipknot – Slipknot (1999)
“I’m gonna say Slipknot, the self-titled. It’s just so pissed and fast. It’s everything, it gets you so pumped! It’s like, fist clenched, teeth clenched. It’s so awesome.
The first album I had sex to is…
Deftones – White Pony (2000)
“The first album I had sex to… that’s a really funny question! I remember the exact situation except for the music that was playing at the time… this is terrible because I’m envisioning the moment right now… I wanna say Deftones, because before I ‘made the deed happen’, I always remember thinking that Deftones had to be the band. I wanna say White Pony, but I could be wrong.”
The album no one will believe I own is…
Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
“I love Eminem. When I was getting into music, it was all heavy. Metallica was the band that got me in, and then everything after that was punk, fast, heavy… and then he came in, and that was the first [hip hop] I was able to listen to and think, ‘This is the same as those bands!’ Everything he does sounds so fucking heavy.”
A kid asks me what metal is, I hand them a copy of…
Pantera – Vulgar Display Of Power (1992)
“You don’t get more badass than that record. That is the personification of a badass attitude. Metallica were the first metal band I got into, and then it was Pantera.”
The album I want to be remembered for is…
Motionless In White – Infamous (2012)
“It’s the one I’m most happy with [at this point]. We did everything I’ve always wanted to do, so it’s definitely Infamous.”
The album that should not be is…
Metallica – St Anger (2003)
“I’ll stay away from starting any drama shit, so I’ll say St Anger. I just could not get into it; something about it rubbed me the wrong way.”
The album that broke my heart is…
The Smiths – Meat Is Murder (1985)
“Anything Morrissey does has this connection with me and a girl that I was with for a very long time, during situations where things would get really tough. That’s the band I always think of.”
Published in Metal Hammer #241
