History Trivia / Slipknot

* ColbertBump: For "Psychosocial" after "Psychosocial [[Music/JustinBieber Baby]]" happened. Then it happened again after it was mashed up with "[[Music/TheWiggles Fruit Salad]]", creating "Psychosalad". It's actually a pretty seamless mashup.

** ''Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.'' has pretty much been disowned.

* BlackSheepHit: "Snuff" from ''All Hope Is Gone'' is a slow, mournful ballad that sounds very different from Slipknot's usual stuff, and generally would have been far more at home in Stone Sour's catalog. It went on to become Slipknot's most successful single ever, reaching number 2 on the ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. They also have not played it live since 2012 and have no intention of bringing it back, though Corey Taylor has played it at solo appearances.
** [[TheBusCameBack The song eventually returned in March 2022 during a show at the Fargodome.]]

** In the band's 2014 Google Autobiography, most of the members admitted that they consider ''All Hope Is Gone'' to be their worst album, with cited reasons including issues with their producer at the time, feeling that they were "playing it safe" with the album's sound, and problems with getting all nine members together to record. Shawn Crahan even stated that he was never fully on board with the album's title because it conveyed a message he didn't agree with (as he believes that even in darkness, there is ''always'' hope), an opinion he doubled down on after Paul Gray's death, which he believed [[HarsherInHindsight the title unintentionally foreshadowed]]. The band abandoned the album save for "Psychosocial" in setlists for virtually all of the 2010s. However, other tracks have started to creep back in, and they have warmed up to it in recent years, admitting that much of their dislike for it stemmed from its fractured and dysfunctional creative process and their memories of Gray's massive decline and steadily worsening addictions around that time.

** ''Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.'' has pretty much been disowned. And apparently, their unreleased second demo album ''Crowz'' never existed.[[note]]From a certain standpoint, this is technically correct at least. ''Crowz'' is just a loose collection of demo tracks recorded around the period that both Corey and Anders were in the band, and the name comes from a band in-joke about one of the members at the time turning down a street on the way to the studio and seeing an unusually large number of crows.[[/note]]

** In the band's 2014 Google Autobiography, most of the members admitted that they consider ''All Hope Is Gone'' to be their worst album, with cited reasons including issues with their producer at the time, feeling that they were "playing it safe" with the album's sound, and problems with getting all nine members together to record. Crahan even stated that he was never fully on board with the album's title because it conveyed a message he didn't agree with (as he believes that even in darkness, there is ''always'' hope), an opinion he doubled down on after Gray's death, which he believed [[HarsherInHindsight the title unintentionally foreshadowed]]. The band abandoned the album save for "Psychosocial" in setlists for virtually all of the 2010s. However, other tracks have started to creep back in, and they have warmed up to it in recent years, admitting that much of their dislike for it stemmed from its fractured and dysfunctional creative process and their memories of Gray's massive decline and steadily worsening addictions around that time.
** Taylor also isn't fond of ''Vol. 3'' for similar reasons. The recording process was unpleasant due to in-house tensions and Rick Rubin being, in Taylor's words, "completely fucking useless," his attempts to expand his vocal range led to lots of results that he felt should have gone back to the drawing board, and his drinking problem at the time led to lots of bad (from his perspective) vocal takes making it onto the final product. Rubin also reportedly didn't spend a lot of time with the band, as he was juggling several projects at once. When he did appear, it usually was for less than an hour, and he would usually lay down, play a couple pre-production tracks, make a few comments, and then leave. He and Taylor also got into a heated argument over the chorus of "Before I Forget," which Rubin argued wasn't catchy enough, but Taylor refused to change in any way. Nonetheless, "Before I Forget" ended up becoming a {{Signature Song}} for the band, alongside "Duality".

* OldShame: ''Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.'' has pretty much been disowned. And apparently, their unreleased second demo album ''Crowz'' never existed.[[note]]From a certain standpoint, this is technically correct at least. ''Crowz'' is just a loose collection of demo tracks recorded around the period that both Corey and Anders were in the band, and the name comes from a band in-joke about one of the members at the time turning down a street on the way to the studio and seeing an unusually large number of crows.[[/note]]

* Fittingly, while doing the song "Eyeless", [[EyeScream Clown slammed his eye into the microphone stand]].

** In the band's Google Autobiography, most of the members admitted that they consider ''All Hope Is Gone'' to be their worst album, with cited reasons including issues with their producer at the time, feeling that they were "playing it safe" with the album's sound, and problems with getting all nine members together to record. Crahan even stated that he was never fully on board with the album's title because it conveyed a message he didn't agree with (as he believes that even in darkness, there is ''always'' hope), an opinion he doubled down on after Gray's death, which he believed [[HarsherInHindsight the title unintentionally foreshadowed]]. The band abandoned the album save for "Psychosocial" for virtually all of the 2010s, though other tracks have started to creep back in, and they have warmed up to it in recent years and admitted that much of their dislike for it stemmed from its fractured and dysfunctional creative process and their memories of Paul Gray's massive decline and steadily worsening addictions around that time.
** Taylor also isn't fond of ''Vol. 3'' for similar reasons; the recording process was unpleasant due to in-house tensions and Rick Rubin being "completely fucking useless," his attempts to expand his vocal range led to lots of results that he felt should have gone back to the drawing board, and his drinking problem at the time led to lots of bad (as far as he was concerned) vocal takes making it onto the final product. Rubin also reportedly didn't spend a lot of time with the band, as he was juggling several projects at once. When he did appear, it usually was for less than an hour, and he would usually lay down, play a couple pre-production tracks, make a few comments, and then leave. He and Taylor also got into a heated argument over the chorus of "Before I Forget," which Rubin argued wasn't catchy enough, but Taylor refused to change in any way. Nonetheless, "Before I Forget" and "Duality" ended up becoming {{Signature Song}}s for the band.

* GenreKiller: For nu metal, in a way. When ''Slipknot'' dropped in 1999, there was nothing else like it, and its sense of chaos and unhinged rage was very much an antithesis to what was becoming an increasingly safe and formulaic genre. The band went from supporting to headlining tours over the course of a few months because anything placed over them invariably faced massive walkouts and a fraction of the crowd that they would play to. It then quickly became apparent that while the band may have gotten big because of nu metal, they had transcended the genre and quite simply did not need it past 2001. While most people will blame Music/LimpBizkit and the glut of formulaic third-tier acts for killing the genre, Slipknot also helped kill it by attracting a rabid, cult-like fanbase who often did not care about nu metal as a whole, and generally demonstrated that they were the only new act that stayed true to nu metal's original principles while everyone else was sticking to well-trodden ground.

** In the band's Google Autobiography, most of the members admitted that they consider ''All Hope Is Gone'' to be their worst album, with cited reasons including issues with their producer at the time, feeling that they were "playing it safe" with the album's sound, and problems with getting all nine members together to record. Crahan even stated that he was never fully on board with the album's title because it conveyed a message he didn't agree with (as he believes that even in darkness, there is ''always'' hope), an opinion he doubled down on after Gray's death, which he believed [[HarsherInHindsight the title unintentionally foreshadowed]]. Nowadays, the only song to remain on setlists is its big single "Psychosocial", with the rest being dropped (aside from "Sulfur", which quietly crept back onto their setlists in 2019).

** In the band's Google Autobiography, most of the members admitted that they consider ''All Hope Is Gone'' to be their worst album, with cited reasons including issues with their producer at the time, feeling that that were "playing it safe" with the sound and problems with getting all nine members together to record. Crahan even stated that he was never fully on board with the album's title because it conveyed a message he didn't agree with (as he believes that even in darkness, there is ''always'' hope), an opinion he doubled down on after Gray's death, which he believed [[HarsherInHindsight the title unintentionally foreshadowed]]. Nowadays, the only song to remain on setlists is its big single "Psychosocial", with the rest being dropped (aside from "Sulfur", which quietly crept back onto their setlists in 2019).

** "Purity" and its intro track "Frail Limb Nursery" had to be cut from later editions of the self-titled album for copyright reasons -- essentially, the band themed these tracks around what Taylor thought was a real murder case but was actually an entirely fictional AlternateRealityGame (known as ''Crime Scene''), and the creator threatened to sue. "Purity" was eventually included on the 10th anniversary edition of the album, but "Frail Limb Nursery" was still cut because it sampled audio from ''Crime Scene''.

** In the band's Google Autobiography, most of the members admit that they consider ''All Hope Is Gone'' to be their worst album, citing issues with their producer at the time, feeling that that were "playing it safe" with the sound, problems with getting all nine members together to record, and even Crahan saying he felt the name of the album was pretty bad because it conveyed a message he didn't agree with (as he believes that even in darkness, there is ''always'' hope) and [[HarsherInHindsight unintentionally foreshadowed Gray's death]]. Nowadays, the only song to remain on setlists is its signature "Psychosocial", with the rest being dropped (aside from "Sulfur", which quietly crept back onto their setlists in 2019). Jordison liked the album, though.
** Taylor also isn't fond of ''Vol. 3'' for similar reasons; the recording process was unpleasant due to inter-band tensions and Rick Rubin being "completely fucking useless," his attempts to expand his vocal range led to lots of results that he felt should have gone back to the drawing board, and his drinking problem at the time led to lots of bad (as far as he was concerned) vocal takes making onto the final product. Rubin also didn't spend a lot of time with the band, as he was juggling several projects at once; when he did appear, it usually was for less than an hour, and he would usually lay down, play a couple pre-production tracks, grunt out a few comments, and then leave. He and Taylor also got into a heated argument over the chorus of "Before I Forget," which Rubin argued wasn't catchy enough, but Taylor refused to change in any way. Nonetheless, "Before I Forget" and "Duality" ended up becoming {{Signature Song}}s for the band.
* CreativeDifferences: One of the reasons behind Jordison's departure, although the biggest reason was due to the fact Jordison developed a condition that was slowly making him unable to play the drums. It's believed Jordison's firing was less due to the creative differences and more on not wanting him to overly stress his body out (with the additional effects of Paul Gray's death on him). This could have been the case due to Jordison's passing in 2021, several years after his departure.
* CreatorsFavoriteEpisode: According to Taylor's album ranking on Noisey's "[[http://noisey.vice.com/columns/rank-your-records Rank Your Records]]", ''Slipknot'' is his favorite album.

* GenreKiller: For nu metal, in a way. When ''Slipknot'' dropped in 1999, there was nothing else like it, and its sense of chaos and unhinged rage was very much an antithesis to what was becoming an increasingly safe and formulaic genre. They went from supporting to headlining tours over the course of a few months because anything placed over them invariably faced massive walkouts and a fraction of the crowd that Slipknot would play to, and it quickly became apparent that while Slipknot may have gotten big because of nu metal, they had transcended the genre and quite simply did not need it past 2001. While most people will blame Music/LimpBizkit and the glut of formulaic third-tier acts for killing the genre, Slipknot also helped kill it by attracting a rabid, cult-like fanbase who often did not care about nu metal as a whole, and generally demonstrated that they were the only new act that stayed true to nu metal's original principles while everyone else was treading well-trodden ground.

** Their demo album, ''Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.'', was limited to only 1,000 copies and is a sought-after rarity among fans. None of the band members even have a copy of the album anymore. Its legacy is kept alive by bootlegged [=CDs=] and [=MP3s=].

* TheMerch: In perhaps one of the more ill-thought moves of their career, the band launched their own clothing line in 2008, titled ''Tattered and Torn'' after the song. Taking many cues from the ''Affliction'' brand, T&T doesn't explicitly specialize in ''Slipknot'' merch, but [[http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=101703 many designs]]. These are sold at [=HotTopic=].
* ''Franchise/StarWars'' reference: Sid Wilson currently wears not only a mask, but an entire costume complete with a hood that clearly resembles the Star Wars character Darth Sidious, thus parodying his own name.
* OldShame: ''Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.'' has pretty much been disowned. And apparently, their unreleased second demo album ''Crowz'' never existed.[[note]]From a certain standpoint this is technically correct at least. "Crowz" is just a loose collection of demo tracks recorded around the period that both Corey and Anders were in the band, and the name comes from a band in-joke about one of the members at the time turning down a street on the way to the studio and seeing an unusually large number of crows.[[/note]]

** Prior to joining in 1997, Corey Taylor (who was solely the frontman of Stone Sour at the time) attended the very first Slipknot performance, and recalls being "mesmerized" by their music and vowing to himself that he'd be their singer one day. A year later, they approached him with the opportunity.

* ReclusiveArtist: Craig Jones. Only a few photos exist of him unmasked, and he's known for being a very private person compared to his bandmates.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Thomson and Root apparently tracked at least a few solos on the self-titled and possibly ''Iowa'' as well, but they wound up getting cut from the final product.

** "Purity" and its intro track "Frail Limb Nursery" had to be cut from later editions of the self-titled album for copyright reasons -- essentially, the band themed these tracks around what Taylor thought was a real murder case but was actually an entirely fictional AlternateRealityGame, and the creator of the ARG threatened to sue. "Purity" was eventually included on the 10th anniversary edition of the album, but "Frail Limb Nursery" was still cut because it sampled audio from Crime Scene, the aforementioned ARG site.