Iowa is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot. Released by Roadrunner Records on August 28th, 2001, it was produced by Ross Robinson and Slipknot. The title derives from the band's home state, Iowa, which members have stated is one of their biggest sources of inspiration.
With much anticipation for the band's second album following on the success of their 1999 self-titled debut, pressures on the band were high. Their relationships with each other suffered and was later described as the darkest time of their career. It was also the first time that guitarist Jim Root had been significantly involved in a Slipknot album due to his joining very late in recording of their debut album, as Root was only featured on two songs from that release. Despite troubles within the band and with Iowa's development, Slipknot promoted it for almost a year.
Iowa was a major success, it premiered in the top ten album sales charts in nine countries. Generally positively received, it includes some of their notable songs, such as "Disasterpiece", "The Heretic Anthem", "People = Shit" and the two Grammy-nominated songs "Left Behind" and the remix of "My Plague." Critic John Mulvey proclaimed the album, as the "absolute triumph of nu metal." While more technical than their debut album, Iowa is considered to be the band's heaviest. It has been certified platinum in the United States and Canada.
Production[]
Iowa was recorded and produced at Sound City and Sound Image studios in Los Angeles, California with producer Ross Robinson, who had produced their debut album. Drummer Joey Jordison and bassist Paul Gray began working on new music together in October 2000 and together they wrote material for most of the tracks on the album. During this time other band members wanted a break following the extensive touring which followed their self-titled debut album. However, on January 17th, 2001, Slipknot entered the studio to begin recording Iowa. This period in the band's career has became known as one of their worst for several reasons. Jordison stated retrospectively, "that's where we got into a war" citing the lack of a break for himself and Gray. While other factors, including: vocalist Corey Taylor's alcohol addiction, several other members' drug addictions, management issues and more, affected relations in the band.
Despite being a member of Slipknot since 1999, it was the first album where guitarist Jim Root had been significantly involved. He had joined them during the later recording stages of Slipknot and subsequently became more involved with this album.
During an interview with Guitar magazine in November 2001 he 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 on the record. In an interview with FHM in December 2001, vocalist Corey Taylor revealed that he put himself in specific situations to achieve his performance on the album. While recording vocals for the final song "Iowa" he was completely naked, vomiting all over himself and cutting himself with broken glass. Explaining this, he said, "that's where the best stuff comes from. You've got to break yourself down before you can build something great." While producing the album, Ross Robinson broke his back in a dirt-biking accident, he returned to the studio after a day, reportedly "putting all of his pain into the album", much to the admiration of the band.
Promotion[]
There was speculation over the title before its announcement with Nine Men, One Mission as the expected title in some sources. Iowa was later announced as its title and was named after the band's home state of Iowa. Band members have claimed that Iowa is the source of their energy and they consciously made the decision to stay in the area, partly due to the fear of losing their creative direction. The opening track "(515)" is also a reference to their home state, named after the telephone area code for central Iowa. Initially the album was scheduled for release on June 19th, 2001, and was to be preceded by a five-date warm-up tour. However, the mixing of the album took longer than anticipated, causing the album's release to be delayed and the cancellation of the tour. The album was officially released on August 28th, 2001. In support of the album, Slipknot began touring on their Iowa World Tour. This included: a spot on Ozzfest in 2001, an American co-headlining tour with System of a Down, as well as tours in Japan, Europe and elsewhere.
Prior to the album's release, Slipknot gave away "The Heretic Anthem" as a single limited to 666 copies and was made available to download on their website. The first official single 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". Following this, a second single from the album was released, "My Plague", which appeared on the soundtrack for the film Resident Evil.
Musical and Lyrical Themes[]
The musical style of Slipknot is a contested issue due to the variety of genres their music covers. Sources usually group Slipknot within nu metal while also showing influences from other genres, such as heavy metal, rap metal, and alternative metal. Prior to its release, band members promised a much darker and heavier album than Slipknot, and many sources praised the band for achieving this — effectively fulfilling their promises. During an interview in 2008, percussionist Shawn Crahan retrospectively evaluated their time creating the album, proclaiming that they owe their overtly darker sound to their state of mind during that period: "When we did Iowa, we hated each other. We hated the world; the world hated us." Iowa, unlike its predecessor, saw Robinson capturing the band's technicality as opposed to the raw energy for which Slipknot is known. The band was also praised for its use of an extended line-up consisting of additional percussionists and electronics. NME stated that "every possible space is covered in scrawl and cymbals: guitars, percussion, electronic squall, subhuman screaming." Although Iowa is widely regarded as the band's heaviest album to date, some tracks do include melody, most apparent in "Everything Ends" and "Left Behind"; however these tracks are still considered heavy when compared to the likes of "Vermilion" or "Dead Memories".
Melodies have always been a part of the way Slipknot writes music, and shows in this album on songs like "My Plague" and "The Shape".
The title track, "Iowa", is the longest Slipknot song, and the third longest track. Only "Killers are Quiet" (from Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.) and "Scissors" (from Slipknot) are longer, but both songs feature hidden tracks, with several minutes of silence separating the songs.
Iowa follows the lyrical style that vocalist Corey Taylor established on Slipknot; it includes strong use of metaphors to describe overtly dark themes including misanthropy, solipsism, disgust, anger, disaffection, psychosis and rejection. The album also includes many expletives; David Fricke of the Rolling Stone magazine said "there is not 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." 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."
Track Listing[]
All tracks are written by Corey Taylor except where noted.
The goat on the cover is named Eeyore. Shawn brought the goat to Stefan Seskis (photographer), who took several polaroid photos of it. One of the photos was used for the original cover, and another one was used for the 10th anniversary cover. The goat became somewhat of a mascot for the "Iowa" cycle.[1]
The first few pressings (metallic cover) had a booklet partially made of vellum, which is why the pages are translucent and may have an odd smell.
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