Slipknot’s Sid Wilson Reflects on the Making of Their ‘Iowa’ Album

Today Roadrunner Records issued a 10th anniversary edition of 'Iowa,' Slipknot's second studio album. The new double-disc, single DVD digipak captures the usual extra treats one comes to expect from these kinds of things, but it truly is the ideal way to present this crucial moment in the band's earlier career.

Coming out of the Platinum-selling success of their 1999 self-titled album, many music industry pundits expected Slipknot to go into a more radio-friendly direction on 'Iowa,' but they were gravely mistaken.

"There was a lot of pressure from our label to come up with more commercial kinds of songs like the first album's 'Spit it Out' and 'Wait and Bleed," Slipknot turntablist Sid Wilson aka #0 tells Noisecreep. "Everyone thought that they knew what we should do, but we were like, "Wait a minute, this is our band." So instead we turned in songs like 'Peope = S-t' and 'Disasterpiece,' which are kind of like a middle finger to those people. We just wanted to stay true to our metal roots and we definitely did that on the 'Iowa' album. I'm proud of that."

Watch a Trailer for 'Iowa 10th Anniversary Edition'

'Iowa' was the first album where guitarist Jim Root actually got to write and record with Slipknot. His contributions helped shape the album's forward-thinking direction. "On the first album Jim came in after we had already recorded the entire thing, so he couldn't add his stamp to anything. We had another guitarist named Josh Brainard in the band, but he quit right before we were going to go out on tour. So we called Jim up and he was into doing the tour and joining Slipknot.

"We were really excited to record 'Iowa' since it was the first time the public was going to be able to hear what Jim brought to our sound. He brought in another dimension to what we were already doing. By that time he had played in a lot of other metal bands and has a different type of playing style than our guitarist, (Mick Thompson), has. Not only that, he also listened to a lot of experimental types of music and he started bringing that kind of flavor to what we did on the 'Iowa' album," says Wilson.

Roadrunner Records

Produced by Slipknot and Ross Robinson (Korn, Glassjaw), the sessions for 'Iowa' found the band enjoying some of the comforts the commercial success of their previous album afforded them. "When we recorded the self-titled album, the band was in a house all living together. We were around each other 24 hours a day.

"On 'Iowa' we rented a bunch of apartments for the band members so that we could all have some private time when we needed it. But I think that's why the album is so dark. It was the beginning of us not being as close as a family anymore. That contributed to the record's darker tone and feel."

The official track listing for the new edition of 'Iowa' is below:

Disc 1: 'Iowa'

'(515)'

'People = S--t'

'Disasterpiece'

'My Plague'

'Everything Ends'

'The Heretic Anthem'

'Gently'

'Left Behind'

'The Shape'

'I Am Hated'

'Skin Ticket'

'New Abortion'

'Metabolic'

'Iowa'

'My Plague (New Abuse Mix)'

Disc 2: 'Disasterpieces - Live In London 2002'

'(515)'

'People = S--t'

'Liberate'

'Left Behind'

'Eeyore'

'Disasterpiece'

'Purity'

'Gently'

'Eyeless'

'Drum Solo'

'My Plague'

'New Abortion'

'The Heretic Anthem'

'Spit it Out'

'Wait And Bleed'

'742617000027'

'(sic)'

Surfacing

Disc 3: 'Goat'

Hour-long film capturing the insanity of 'Iowa' – directed by M. Shawn Crahan.

Music Videos:

'My Plague'

'Left Behind'

'The Heretic Anthem (Live)'

'People = S--t (Live)'