Vote up the albums you think are Slipknot's best work to date. Vote down the albums you think are the weakest links in the band's discography.
Iowa metal favorites Slipknot first threw their heavy hat into the music arena in 1996 with a demo titled Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat., but not until their 1999 self-titled debut studio album did the nine-piece truly started making waves on the metal scene.
Clad in matching jumpsuits and disturbing, custom-made masks, the band struck some metal fans as nothing more than a gimmick, but Slipknot's ferocious blend of nu-metal spoke for itself. And Slipknot's fans - affectionately dubbed “maggots” - have been eating it up ever since.
Slipknot have released several albums since that 1999 debut. Vote up the albums you think are Slipknot's strongest, and vote down the albums you think are the band's weaker work.
Slipknot's highly anticipated sophomore release, titled Iowa in honor of the band's home state, was released in 2001. Much like the band's self-titled debut album, Iowa was produced by Ross Robinson.
Iowa has since been certified Platinum in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
In a 2018 interview with Revolver, former drummer Joey Jordison (who passed away in 2021) said, “When we did Iowa, it was a very dark time for the band. Some of our strongest and most meaningful songs are on that record, but we were all on drugs and drunk, and it sucked.”
Slipknot's self-titled debut album was released in 1999. It peaked at number 51 on the Billboard 200 and has been certified double platinum in the United States.
The album was produced by Ross Robinson, who's also worked with Korn, Deftones, Glassjaw, The Blood Brothers, and several other artists.
Kerrang's original review of the 1999 debut called it, “Thoroughly unpleasant and truly unforgettable.”
Release Date: June 29, 1999
Singles: “Wait And Bleed,” “Spit It Out”
Label: Roadrunner
229 votes
Photo: Slipknot - Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) / Roadrunner
3
205 VOTES
Slipknot - Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)
Slipknot's third release, Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), is the metal band's only album produced by the famed Rick Rubin (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys, Johnny Cash, Metallica). The album is certified Platinum in five countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom.
In a 2004 review, the BBC's Nick Reynolds called Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) a “fascinating, moving, beautiful record.”
Release Date: May 25, 2004
Singles: “Duality," “Vermillion,” “Vermillion Pt. 2,” “Before I Forget,” “The Nameless,” “The Blister Exists”
Serving as Slipknot's fourth studio album, All Hope Is Gone was released in 2008 and produced by lesser-known producer Dave Fortman, who, at the time, had worked with Evanescence, Mudvayne, and pop-punk band Simple Plan.
In a 2008 review, The Guardian's Dan Martin praised Slipknot for moving away from their signature nu-metal sound, stating the band had “taken their place among metal's most acclaimed behemoths; the nearest thing today's world has to Metallica.”
Release Date: August 26, 2008
Singles: “All Hope Is Gone," “Psychosocial,” “Dead Memories,” “Sulfur,” “Snuff”
Label: Roadrunner
192 votes
Photo: Slipknot - We Are Not Your Kind / Roadrunner
5
150 VOTES
Slipknot - We Are Not Your Kind
For their sixth studio album, We Are Not Your Kind, Slipknot returned to producer Greg Fidelman, who produced their previous album, .5: The Gray Chapter. Widely regarded as one of the best metal albums of 2019, We Are Not Your Kind debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200.
In a 2019 review, Rolling Stone writer Kory Grow wrote, “We Are Not Your Kind sounds more like the head-turning, self-titled debut [Slipknot] put out 20 years ago than any of their releases since. But what’s different here is a new sense of (gasp!) sophistication.”
Release Date: August 9, 2019
Singles: “Unsainted," “Solway Firth,” “Birth of the Cruel,” “Nero Forte”
Label: Roadrunner
150 votes
Photo: Slipknot - .5: The Gray Chapter / Roadrunner
6
140 VOTES
Slipknot - .5: The Gray Chapter
Slipknot's fifth studio album, .5: The Gray Chapter, was released in 2014 and produced by Greg Fidelman (Metallica, System Of A Down, Johnny Cash, Slayer). .5: The Gray Chapter was the first Slipknot album to not feature founding bassist Paul Gray, who died in 2010, and founding drummer Joey Jordison, who was fired from the band in 2013.
In a 2014 interview with Loudwire, Slipknot vocalist Corey Taylor discussed moving forward as a band after Gray's death and how it affected the new album:
It felt very positive again to be making music, and not only making music, but making music we were stoked about and realizing that we had an opportunity to kind of let go of a lot of the heaviness that accompanied the last four years. I mean, the album is really the story of the last four years of everything that we had to deal with as far as losing Paul.
