Iowa | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | August 28, 2001 | |||
Recorded | January 22, 2001 – March 16, 2001 | |||
Studio | Sound City and Sound Image (Van Nuys, California) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 66:17 | |||
Label | Roadrunner | |||
Producer |
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Slipknot chronology | ||||
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Singles from Iowa | ||||
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Alternative cover one | ||||
Alternative cover two | ||||
Alternative cover three | ||||
Iowa is the second studio album by the American heavy metal band Slipknot. Produced by the members and Ross Robinson,it was released on August 28,2001,by Roadrunner Records. The title refers the band's state origin,Iowa,which members have stated is one of their greatest sources of inspiration. With much anticipation for the album following the success of their 1999 debut album Slipknot,pressures on the band were high. Their relationships with each other suffered and this was later described as the darkest time of their career. [6] It was also the first full album to feature guitarist Jim Root after only appearing on one song from their previous album. Despite troubles within the band and with Iowa's development,Slipknot promoted it for almost a year.
The album was a major success,premiering in the top tens of nine countries. Generally positively received,it includes some of their notable songs,such as "Disasterpiece","The Heretic Anthem","People = Shit" and the Grammy-nominated "Left Behind" and "My Plague". More technical than their debut,Iowa is considered the band's heaviest and darkest album. It has been certified platinum in the United Kingdom,the United States and Canada.
A special edition of Iowa was reissued on November 1,2011,to celebrate its tenth anniversary. It was accompanied by full live audio of the hit DVD Disasterpieces and a film entitled Goat directed by Shawn Crahan,with the four music videos,never-seen-before interviews and footage from the Iowa period. [7]
Iowa was recorded and produced at Sound City Studios and Sound Image Studios in Los Angeles,California with producer Ross Robinson,who had also produced their debut album. [8] Drummer Joey Jordison and bassist Paul Gray began working on new music together in October 2000,and wrote material for most of the album. [9] During this time,other members took a break after the extensive touring that had followed their debut. [9] On January 17,2001,Slipknot entered the studio to begin recording new material. [10] [11] Recording began on January 22. [12] This period in the band's career became known as one of their worst. Jordison recalled,"That's where we got into a war," citing the lack of a break for himself and Gray. [9] Other factors,including vocalist Corey Taylor's alcohol addiction,other members' drug addictions,and management issues affected relations in the band. [6]
"Recording Iowa was fucking hell," recalled Shawn Crahan. "I wanted to kill myself. There was drugs,bitches,rock 'n' roll,all that shit. People expected so much of us then. 'People = Shit' was our way of saying,'Fuck off and leave us alone.'" "There was nothing happy about Iowa," confirmed Taylor. "All of a sudden we were these metal stars and we weren't really planning for it…We'd all got caught up in the lifestyle and the problems that come with that. A darkness set in at the beginning of Iowa that none of us quite recognised." Jordison,however,noted,"Iowa,even more than the first record,was the album we really wanted to make." [13]
It was the first album where guitarist Jim Root had been significantly involved, [14] after joining during the later recording stages of Slipknot. [10] During an interview with Guitar magazine in November 2001,Root explained,"It was so exciting as well as scary to be part of this whole huge process," adding that there was a lot of pressure from fellow guitarist Mick Thomson to perform well. [14]
To FHM ,Taylor revealed that he put himself in specific situations to achieve his performance on the album. [15] While recording vocals for the closing title track,he was completely naked,vomiting all over himself,and cutting himself with broken glass. "That's where the best stuff comes from," he explained. "You've got to break yourself down before you can build something great." [15] While producing the album,Ross Robinson was injured in a dirt bike accident,suffering a fractured back in the process. He returned to the studio after a day of hospital treatment,reportedly "putting all of his pain into the album",much to the admiration of the band. [6]
Recording was completed on March 16,2001. [16]
Prior to its release,members promised a much darker and heavier album than Slipknot,and many sources praised the band for fulfilling their promises. [17] In 2008,percussionist Shawn Crahan recalled:"When we did Iowa,we hated each other. We hated the world;the world hated us." [18]
Iowa,unlike its predecessor,saw Robinson capturing the band's technicality as opposed to the raw energy which Slipknot became known for. [19] The band was also praised again for its use of an extended line-up consisting of additional percussionists,turntables,and programmed samples. NME stated that "every possible space is covered in scrawl and cymbals:guitars,percussion,electronic squall,subhuman screaming." [19] Iowa has also been critically acclaimed as one of the only mainstream musical albums to feature blast beat percussion,and was said to heighten its popularity after release. [20]
Although Iowa became widely regarded as the band's heaviest album to date,some tracks incorporate melody,most apparent in the record’s singles such as "My Plague" and "Left Behind". During the album's thirteenth anniversary, Revolver recalled that the record is "their most extreme album yet". They compared several songs,namely "Disasterpiece," "People = Shit" and "The Heretic Anthem" as more death metal-influenced than most of the nu metal that the album contained. [21] While the album does have elements of hip hop music,Iowa has less hip hop elements than Slipknot's self-titled album,and instead draws its influences moreso on heavy genres like death metal and hardcore punk. [22] The title track is also known for being the band’s longest continuous song released,clocking in at just over 15 minutes.
Iowa follows the lyrical style that vocalist Corey Taylor established on Slipknot's debut;it includes strong use of metaphors to describe dark themes including misanthropy,solipsism,disgust,anger,disaffection,psychosis,and rejection. [19] [23] The album also includes many expletives;David Fricke of the Rolling Stone magazine said "there isn't much shock value left in the words fuck and shit,which Taylor uses in some variation more than forty times in Iowa's sixty-six minutes." [23] Fricke went on to praise Taylor's performance on the track "Iowa",comparing it to a "vivid evocation of a makeshift-cornfield grave at midnight." [23]
"Disasterpiece",said Taylor,"is my favorite Slipknot song. We started doing pre-production for the album in a warehouse in Iowa itself. I had laryngitis and couldn't sing a note,so I was writing a lot of ideas down. When I heard them play 'Disasterpiece',I just wrote 'No one is safe' in huge letters. I knew from then that we were going to rip the throat out of the world with 'Disasterpiece'. That was the lynchpin for the whole album." [13]
There was speculation over the title before its announcement with Nine Men,One Mission as the expected title in some sources. [10] Iowa was later announced as its title and was named after the band's home state of Iowa. Members have claimed that Iowa was the source of their energy,and they consciously made the decision to stay in the area,partially due to the fear of losing their creative direction. [8] The opening track "(515)" is also a reference to their home state,named after the telephone area code for central Iowa. [24] Initially the album was scheduled for release on June 19,2001,and was to be preceded by a five-date warm-up tour. [25] However,the mixing of the album took longer than anticipated,causing the album's release to be delayed,as well as the cancellation of the tour. [17] [25] The album was officially released on August 28,2001. [26] In support of the album,Slipknot began a new tour called the Iowa World Tour. This included:a spot on Ozzfest in 2001, [27] an American co-headlining tour with System of a Down, [11] as well as tours in Japan,Europe and elsewhere. [28] [29] [30] [31]
Prior to the album's release,Slipknot gave away copies of "Heretic Song" (titled "The Heretic Anthem" on the retail release),free on their website. It was limited to 666 copies,to match the chorus;"If you're 555,then I'm 666." The giveaway began on May 15,2001,and lasted until copies sold out. [32] [33] The first official single released from the album was "Left Behind". In 2002,the band made a special appearance in the film Rollerball ,in which they performed "I Am Hated". [32] Following this,a second single from the album was released,"My Plague",which appeared on the soundtrack for the film Resident Evil . [34]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 68/100 [35] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [26] |
Alternative Press | [36] |
Artistdirect | [37] |
Dotmusic | [38] |
Entertainment Weekly | C− [39] |
Drowned in Sound | 7/10 [40] |
NME | 8/10 [41] |
Playlouder | [42] |
Q | [43] |
Rolling Stone | [23] |
Following the success of the band's self-titled album,author Dick Porter wrote that the anticipation for a follow-up was intense. [11] Prior to its release,Jordison proclaimed:"Wait till you hear our fuckin' next record. It smokes our first album. The shit's twice as technical,three times as heavy." [17]
Iowa earned generally favorable reviews. [35] The College Music Journal reviewed it as "brutal,unrelenting,scorching..." [44] Many noted its heavy themes: Alternative Press stated,"[It is] like having a plastic bag taped over your head for an hour while Satan uses your scrotum as a speedbag....[It] is over the top…you're going to be left in stitches." [45] NME said that it is "Exhilarating,brutal and good." [46] Rolling Stone credited the album for its originality,stating that "nearly everything else in modern doom rock sounds banal." [47] In its Rock &Roll Yearbook (2001),Rolling Stone declared,"Do not discount the purgative worth of Slipknot's head-spinning riffage and singer Corey Taylor's consumptive growl in 'People = Shit' and 'The Heretic Anthem'. Iowa is the sound of hell boiling over." [48]
Producer Robinson was praised for his work: Uncut noted,"The barely relenting,tumbling noise attack marshalled by nu metal uber-producer Ross Robinson is expert." [49] Reviewing for Yahoo!,John Mulvey said,"They're an evolutionary dead end,the final,absolute triumph of nu metal." [50]
The first single,"Left Behind",was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance at the 44th Grammy Awards. [51] The second single,"My Plague",was nominated in 2003 for the same award at the 45th Grammy Awards. [52] The single "Left Behind" peaked in the top thirty for single sales the United States and the UK. [53] [54] In addition,"My Plague" reached the 43rd position on the UK charts. [54] Iowa was ranked sixth in the "50 Albums of the year" by NME in 2001. [46] The album reached the top position on the UK Albums Chart, [54] and the second spot on the ARIA Charts in Australia. [55] The album reached the third spot on the Billboard 200 [56] and the Finnish Albums Chart. [57] On October 10,2001,the album was certified Platinum in the United States. [58] In Canada,the Canadian Recording Industry Association certified the album as Platinum,on September 5,2001. [59] The British Phonographic Industry has certified the album as Gold in the UK. [60]
In 2009,Iowa was rated third in UK magazine Kerrang! 's "The 50 Best Albums of the 21st century" reader poll. [61] Loudwire listed Iowa at number two in their "Top 11 albums of the 2000s" and number six in their "Top 100 albums of the 21st century". [62] [63] In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked Iowa as 50th on their list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.' [64] Later in 2023,the same magazine ranked the album's second song,"People = Shit",number sixty on their list on "The 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs". [65]
All music written by Shawn Crahan,Paul Gray,Joey Jordison,Chris Fehn,Mick Thomson,Sid Wilson,Craig Jones and Jim Root except where noted.
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "(515)" | Wilson | Wilson | 0:59 |
2. | "People = Shit" | Jordison | 3:35 | |
3. | "Disasterpiece" | 5:08 | ||
4. | "My Plague" | 3:40 | ||
5. | "Everything Ends" |
| 4:14 | |
6. | "The Heretic Anthem" |
| 4:13 | |
7. | "Gently" | Crahan |
| 4:54 |
8. | "Left Behind" | 4:01 | ||
9. | "The Shape" | 3:37 | ||
10. | "I Am Hated" | 2:37 | ||
11. | "Skin Ticket" |
| 6:41 | |
12. | "New Abortion" | 3:36 | ||
13. | "Metabolic" | 3:59 | ||
14. | "Iowa" | 15:03 | ||
Total length: | 66:17 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
15. | "Liberate" (Live) | 4:25 |
Total length: | 70:42 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "My Plague" (music video) | |
2. | "Left Behind" (music video) |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
15. | "My Plague (New Abuse mix)" | 2:59 |
Total length: | 69:16 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "(515)" | 4:04 |
2. | "People = Shit" | 3:36 |
3. | "Liberate" | 3:38 |
4. | "Left Behind" | 3:39 |
5. | "Eeyore" | 2:38 |
6. | "Disasterpiece" | 5:22 |
7. | "Purity" | 5:26 |
8. | "Gently" | 4:36 |
9. | "Eyeless" | 4:57 |
10. | "Drum Solo" | 3:59 |
11. | "My Plague" | 3:47 |
12. | "New Abortion" | 4:22 |
13. | "The Heretic Anthem" | 4:59 |
14. | "Spit It Out" | 7:44 |
15. | "Wait and Bleed" | 3:27 |
16. | "742617000027" | 1:44 |
17. | "(sic)" | 4:22 |
18. | "Surfacing" | 5:34 |
Total length: | 77:54 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "My Plague (music video)" | |
2. | "Left Behind (music video)" | |
3. | "The Heretic Anthem (live) (music video)" | |
4. | "People = Shit (live) (music video)" | |
5. | "Goat: An hour-long collection of rare footage and interviews" |
Aside from their real names, members of the band are referred to by numbers zero through eight. [66]
Slipknot
Production
Artwork
Management
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [97] | Gold | 35,000^ |
Belgium (BEA) [98] | Gold | 25,000* |
Canada (Music Canada) [59] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
France (SNEP) [99] | Gold | 100,000* |
Germany (BVMI) [100] | Gold | 150,000^ |
Japan (RIAJ) [101] | Gold | 100,000^ |
Netherlands (NVPI) [102] | Gold | 40,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [103] | Gold | 7,500^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [104] | Platinum | 300,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [58] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Slipknot is an American heavy metal band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1995 by percussionist Shawn Crahan, former vocalist Anders Colsefni, and bassist Paul Gray. After several lineup changes in its early years, the band settled on nine members for more than a decade: Crahan, Gray, Joey Jordison, Craig Jones, Mick Thomson, Corey Taylor, Sid Wilson, Chris Fehn, and Jim Root. Slipknot is well known for its attention-grabbing image, aggressive style of music, and energetic and chaotic live shows.
Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. is the first album recorded by American heavy metal band Slipknot, and their only release with original lead vocalist Anders Colsefni. The album was limited to 1,000 copies, with distribution beginning on October 31, 1996. The band sold the last 386 units through ‑ismist Recordings in 1997. The album has become sought after by fans since Slipknot's rise to fame, and original copies have sold for up to $1,000.
Slipknot is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot. It was released on June 29, 1999, by Roadrunner Records, following a demo containing a few of the songs which had previously been released in 1998. Later, it was reissued in December 1999 with a slightly-altered track listing and mastering as the result of a lawsuit. It was the first release by the band to be produced by Ross Robinson, who sought to refine Slipknot's sound rather than alter the group's musical direction. This is the only album to feature original guitarist Josh Brainard who left at the end of recording in late 1998 while the band was taking a brief break. Jim Root, who recorded two tracks at this point, would appear full time on subsequent albums starting with their next album Iowa.
Vol. 3: is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot, released on May 25, 2004, by Roadrunner Records. A special edition, containing a bonus disc, was released on April 12, 2005. It is the band's only album produced by Rick Rubin. Following the band's tour to promote its second album in 2002, speculation regarding the future began. Some band members had already been involved in side projects including Murderdolls, To My Surprise, and the reformation of Stone Sour. In 2003, Slipknot moved into The Mansion to work on the album. Initially, the band was unproductive; lead vocalist Corey Taylor was drinking heavily. Nevertheless, the band managed to write more than enough material for a new album. Vol. 3 is credited as Slipknot's first to incorporate more traditional, melodic song structures, guitar solos and acoustic instruments.
Michael Shawn Crahan, more commonly known by his stage persona "Clown", is an American musician. He is the co-founder and one of the percussionists for alternative metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #6. Crahan helped form Slipknot in 1995 alongside bassist Paul Gray and former vocalist Anders Colsefni. Crahan is the longest-serving and only remaining original member of Slipknot, and also has extensive involvement with Slipknot's media production and music videos. Outside Slipknot, Crahan had two side project bands called To My Surprise and Dirty Little Rabbits. Aside from his musical activity, he also directed the 2016 action thriller film Officer Downe.
Nathan Jonas "Joey" Jordison was an American musician. He was the original drummer of the nu metal band Slipknot, in which he was designated #1, and the guitarist for the horror punk supergroup Murderdolls.
9.0: Live is the first live album by American heavy metal band Slipknot. The band recorded the two-disc album during a 2004–05 world tour that promoted their third studio album Vol. 3: . Released on November 1, 2005, by Roadrunner Records, 9.0: Live features tracks from Slipknot's first three studio albums: Slipknot, Iowa, and Vol. 3: . Many of the included tracks are rarely played live; "Skin Ticket" from the album Iowa was its first live performance. 9.0: Live peaked in the top twenty in album sales for Austria and the United States, and was certified gold in the United States. Critical reception was generally positive, with Adrien Begrand of PopMatters calling it a "very worthy live album".
Disasterpieces is the second video album by American heavy metal band Slipknot. Unveiled at an advance screening in New York City on November 1, 2002, and released on November 22 by Roadrunner Records, the two-disc set features a concert at London Dockland Arena, and all the band's music videos to date, including songs from Slipknot and Iowa.
The American heavy metal band Slipknot has released seven studio albums, three live albums, two compilation albums, one demo album, one EP, twenty-eight singles, five video albums and thirty-three music videos. Formed in Des Moines, Iowa in 1995, Slipknot originally featured vocalist and percussionist Anders Colsefni, guitarists Donnie Steele and Josh "Gnar" Brainard, bassist Paul Gray, drummer Joey Jordison, and percussionist and backing vocalist Shawn "Clown" Crahan. The original lineup released its first album Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. in 1996, before undergoing a number of lineup changes over the next few years.
"My Plague" is a song by American heavy metal band Slipknot. Produced by Ross Robinson and the band, it was featured on the band's second studio album Iowa (2001) and released as the second single from the album on July 8, 2002. The single version is a remix by Terry Date known as the "New Abuse mix", which was produced for the soundtrack to the film Resident Evil. The song reached number 43 on the UK Singles Chart and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2003.
"The Heretic Anthem" is a song by American heavy metal band Slipknot. The song was released as a promotional single from their second album Iowa. Revolver magazine praised the track and described that it "flirt[s] with full-on death metal in their extremity, both sonic and thematic."
All Hope Is Gone is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot, released on August 26, 2008 by Roadrunner Records. The album was published in two versions: the standard album in a CD case and a special edition packaged in a six-fold digipak containing three bonus tracks, a 40 page booklet, and a bonus DVD with a documentary of the album's recording. With a runtime of 57 minutes and 57 seconds, it is Slipknot's second-shortest studio album behind 2022's The End, So Far. It is also the band's final studio album to feature the Iowa-era lineup with two longtime members: bassist and founding member Paul Gray, who was found dead in an Iowa hotel on May 24, 2010, almost two years after the album's release, and drummer Joey Jordison, who left the group in December 2013.
"Psychosocial" is a song by American heavy metal band Slipknot. Released as the second single from the band's fourth studio album, All Hope Is Gone (2008). The song entered airplay on June 26, 2008. It was originally planned for release as a digital single on July 1 but was delayed and released on July 7. Slipknot performed "Psychosocial" live for the first time on July 9, 2008, at the White River Amphitheatre in Auburn, Washington. In 2008, the song was featured on the soundtrack to Marvel's Punisher: War Zone.
Iowa World Tour was a worldwide concert tour in 2001 and 2002 headlined by Slipknot in support of their second studio album Iowa.
Anders Colsefni is an American musician, best known as the original singer and a founding member of heavy metal band Slipknot. Colsefni only appeared on Slipknot's 1996 demo album Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat., performing vocal and additional percussion duties.
The Memorial World Tour was a concert tour by American heavy metal band Slipknot in honor of late bassist Paul Gray who died on May 24, 2010. The tour was the group's first since the All Hope Is Gone World Tour which ended in 2009. The tour consisted mostly of festival dates and a small number of headlining appearances.
.5: The Gray Chapter is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot, released on October 17, 2014, by Roadrunner Records. It was the first studio album by the band in six years and the first not to feature original founding members bassist Paul Gray and drummer Joey Jordison due to the death of Gray in 2010, and Jordison being fired from the band in late 2013, as well as the only Slipknot album to feature original guitarist Donnie Steele on bass, although the tracks he played on are unknown, and the first Slipknot album to have Alessandro Venturella on bass and Jay Weinberg on drums. The album includes six singles and has received commercial success and acclaiming reviews. A standard and deluxe edition of the album was released. It is also the band's final studio album to feature their longtime percussionist Chris Fehn before his dismissal from the band due to a lawsuit in March 2019. Clocking in at 73 minutes and 28 seconds, .5: The Gray Chapter is the band's longest album.
"Left Behind" is a song by American heavy metal band Slipknot. Released as the lead single from the band's second album, Iowa (2001) on October 29, 2001. It was produced by Ross Robinson. The single reached number 30 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, number 24 on the UK Singles Chart and number 5 on the UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart. It was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2002.
We Are Not Your Kind is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot. Recorded at EastWest Studios in Hollywood, California with co-producer Greg Fidelman, it was released on August 9, 2019, by Roadrunner Records. The title is taken from a lyric in the song "All Out Life", which was released as a standalone single in 2018 and features as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of the album. We Are Not Your Kind is the only Slipknot album to be recorded as an eight-member band, as their former percussionist Chris Fehn was fired from the band in March 2019 after suing the group for alleged unpaid royalties.
The End, So Far is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot. It was released on September 30, 2022, through Roadrunner Records. This is the band's final album to be released through Roadrunner, whom the band signed with in 1998. It is the first studio album to feature percussionist Michael Pfaff, who joined the band in 2019 and is their final studio album to feature sampler and keyboardist Craig Jones and drummer Jay Weinberg before their respective departures in June and November 2023.
Fortunately, the band members were able to channel their animosity into their music, creating their most extreme album yet. Songs like "Disasterpiece," "People = Shit," and "The Heretic Anthem" draw far more from death metal's scathing currency than nu-metal's trendy angst.
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