Slipknot is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot. It was released on June 29th, 1999, by Roadrunner Records, and later reissued in December 1999 with a slightly altered track listing and mastering, as a result of the lawsuit launched against them for using copyrighted content in the songs "Frail Limb Nursery" and "Purity". It is considered to be one of the band's darker, more aggressive albums to be produced. It was also the first album by the band to be produced by Ross Robinson, who sought to refine Slipknot's sound rather than alter the group's musical direction.
The album spans many genres but is noted for its extensive percussion and overall dark sound. Slipknot was well received by fans and critics alike and was responsible for bringing Slipknot a significant increase in popularity. The album peaked at number 51 on the Billboard 200 and had gone on to become certified double platinum in the United States, making it the band's best-selling album.
On September 29th, 1998, Slipknot left Des Moines, Iowa for Indigo Ranch Studios in Malibu, California, anxious to record an album after a long wait to be signed.[3][4] The album's recording process was "very aggressive and chaotic," as producer Ross Robinson strove to capture the intensity that the band created when performing live. Within three days all the drums were recorded, which contributed to the raw, live sound on the album that the band considers integral to its musical direction. By November 11th, 1998, the recording of the album seemed complete, and the band returned to Des Moines.[4] During the Christmas period, guitarist Josh Brainard, who recorded on all the tracks to that point, decided to leave the band. The reasons for his departure are unclear. It was widely thought to have been because of family constraints. However, Brainard dispels these rumors, explaining that; "some decisions were made that I wasn't particularly happy with."[5] His replacement was Jim Root, with whom the band returned to the studio in February 1999.[6] Slipknot finished recording during this period, with two extra songs: a re-recording of "Me Inside", and a new track called "Purity". The mixing stages were very challenging, as drummer Joey Jordison and producer Robinson mastered the entire album by hand, with traditional equipment, instead of the then more common method of using digital formats.[4]
Musical and Lyrical Themes
The musical style of Slipknot is a continually contested issue and the genres that the band are categorized in vary depending on the source, however, the group is regarded as nu metal, while showing influences of many different styles.[7] The effect of death metal on the album is clear, and on the subject Jordison stated; "the roots are death metal, thrash, speed metal, and I could go on and on about all those bands."[8] The album also shows influences from alternative metal and rap metal.[9]Slipknot has a raw, live sound due to the band performing in the studio as they do during their live shows, which are often considerably loud. Due to the band's great line-up consisting of additional percussionists and electronics the album has a very dense, layered sound. Alternative Press stated that the album used "inventive sampling, creative guitar work and an absolute percussive overload,"[10] while Q described the album as "a terrifying racket."[11]Slipknot also includes melodic aspects, most notably in the single "Wait and Bleed" and is considered to be done with expertise and precision.[8]
The album featured Corey Taylor as lead vocalist; he had previously appeared on the 1998 Demo which, in turn, resulted in them signing to Roadrunner Records. However, he did not appear on Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. upon Anders Colsefni performing as the lead vocalist of Slipknot at the time. Rick Anderson of Allmusic noted that on "Scissors", Taylor "actually sounds like he's about to burst into tears."[9] Taylor's aggressive, expletive-filled lyrics were described as, "lyrics that are discernible are not quotable on a family website; suffice it to say that the members of Slipknot are not impressed with their fathers, their hometown, or most anything else."[9] "Eeyore", a hidden track at the end of "Scissors", plays after a dialogue among band members that was recorded while they were viewing a scene in a pornographic movie involving coprophilia.[4] The song has been rumored to be about a death threat sent to Taylor at a Slipknot concert. This, however, is not the case. It has been proven during an interview with Loudwire that it was about "the dick in the pit", as described by Taylor, nicknamed 'Thor', who would rough up people in mosh pits during live shows. After the crowd "beat the living shit out of him" at a Slipknot show, he has since not been a problem.[12] Eeyore has been played live many times and appears on both the DVD Disasterpieces and the live album 9.0: Live.
Controversy
After the release of the album, the band was accused of copyright infringement regarding the lyrics of the song "Purity". Taylor was inspired by a story he had read about a girl named Purity Knight who was kidnapped and buried alive.[13] Although Taylor insisted that he thought the story was true, the author claimed it was fictional. The author objected to its use in the song and Slipknot were forced to remove "Purity" and its short sample-filled prelude "Frail Limb Nursery" from the album. As a result, the band released slightly remastered standard and digipak versions of the album in December 1999, replacing both tracks with "Me Inside".[14][4] Although "Frail Limb Nursery" was never rereleased, "Purity" was included on the DVD Disasterpieces, the live album 9.0: Live, the best of Antennas to Hell, and the 10th Anniversary edition of Slipknot.[15]
"Can you imagine a girl being buried in a box and have all this lecherous bullshit drip down on her from this guy? It just hurts your head."
The song "Spit It Out" is the remastered version, of the 1998 demo, recorded with Greg Welts on percussion.
"Prosthetics" was reused from an earlier demo, for the Self Titled album (just like "Spit It Out"). The song was not recorded at Indigo Ranch.
The album cover photo was taken in Shawn's, parent's garage, in August (or September) 1998, with Anthony Stevens wearing the liar mask. There are different variations of the cover such as, the First Edition has Chris photoshopped over Anthony, and (Jim's) purple hair photoshopped onto Josh. On the reissue version, they "removed" the purple hair from Josh, by just coloring it red so it blended in with Craig's jumpsuit (but you can still see where it is). Finally the 10th anniversary is basically just the first edition cover but reversed.
The reason why the band put purple hair on Josh for some versions of the cover. Is because, it was to show which copies Jim was featured on. Jim only recorded one song, which was "Purity", he did not record "Me Inside", like a lot people think, that song was already recorded with Josh, but it was cut from the original release, and after the lawsuit they had to remove "Purity", and replace it with "Me Inside". On the re-release (without purity), they removed the purple hair from the cover, since Jim wasn't on that version of the album.
The only thing Chris recorded on this album, was the audio track right before Eeyore, where the band is talking and watching a scat porn (called "Mudslide"). Chris was the one puking, supposedly this was his initiation.
Roadrunner Records used the clean version of Wait and Bleed for the "Terry Date" mix, without the band knowing. The label wanted to manufacture something for radio. None of the members liked the remix. Joey has stated "That's one of the drawbacks of being on a label, when they do shit like that".
Craig Jones only did the album cover photoshoot, the photos inside the album booklet is with Rob Agnello, sound engineering assistant for the recording of the self-titled album, he wore Craig's helmet and jumpsuit, since Craig was unavailable for that photoshoot.[19]
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Corey Taylor - Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction? (Part 2). YouTube. Retrieved April 24th, 2022.
