Hall Of Fame – Iowa

Every so often, an album comes along that is so amazing, so impactful, so special, so timeless, and just so fuggin’ awesome that it deserves a spot in every hall of fame, every top 10 list, every greatest of all time discussion, and needs to be heard by everyone. 

The first album to be inducted in to the Red Dragon Reviews hall of fame is easily Slipknot’s Iowa. If this isn’t on your top 10 list, you’re wrong! Whether you listen to heavy music or not, you’ve heard of Slipknot. Everyone knows who Slipknot is. 

After bursting on to the scene with their self-titled debut in 1999, Slipknot instantly drew a crowd from their appearance, their wild stage shows, and their aggressive sound. After a run on the 1999 Ozzfest tour, people knew who Slipknot were and people were paying attention. So many bands feel the pressure of, and fall victim to, the sophomore slump; where they fail to live up to the hype of their debut album and end up leaving fans with much more to be desired. Not Slipknot, though. After the release of their debut, Slipknot promised that their next album would be much heavier and more intense (that’s what they all say!), and they were right. 

In 2001, Slipknot released one of the greatest albums ever written; Iowa. Fresh off the success of their first album and finding themselves thrown into the spotlight of metal superstardom, there was a lot of pressure on the band to write a successful follow up. The band delivered, but at what cost? Strained relationships with each other, drugs, and alcohol made this Slipknot’s darkest period until this point. Percussionist Shawn Crahan has said that the making of Iowa “was fucking hell.” He also stated that the band hated each other during the writing of this album. Other band members have agreed that making Iowa was difficult. The darkness and the demons that the band weathered in the studio, though, is what allowed all of us high school freshmen to be walking around with our Walkmans on yelling “People = Shit!” in the hallways. The result of Slipknot’s inner turmoil is their darkest, heaviest, rawest, and most incredible album. 22 years later, this is still my personal favorite Slipknot album and it is beloved among the metal community.

To create such a genuinely dark sound and atmosphere, vocalist Corey Taylor would record while totally naked, and cut himself with broken glass to make sure you really feel the pain in those screams. Speaking of screaming; the screams we hear at the beginning of album opener (515) aren’t just random screams. Sid Wilson was having an emotional breakdown in the studio after he received a phone call stating that his grandfather had passed away. The band captured the screams and turned it into the opening track. 

With Iowa, Slipknot created a piece of art. Something magical, intense, beautiful, violent, and chaotic. Something that could never be replicated, as much as fans wished it would be. I think that’s what makes this album so special, though. Slipknot reached a level with this album which they haven’t reached since. And I’m okay with that. This is what makes Iowa so unique and such an exciting journey.

The band are still going strong more than two decades later so the energy they harnessed in the studio during the Iowa sessions clearly worked for them. The album was a huge success and put Slipknot on the trajectory of being one of the biggest modern metal bands in the world.  We owe a lot to Slipknot and to this album. They both did big things for heavy music.