Slipknot: Vol III The Subliminal Verses (2LP Violet Vinyl)

Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot, released on May 25, 2004, by Roadrunner Records. A special edition, containing a bonus disc, was released on April 12, 2005. It is the band’s only album produced by Rick Rubin.

Following the band’s tour to promote its second album in 2002, speculation regarding the future began. Some band members had already been involved in side projects including Murderdolls, To My Surprise, and the reformation of Stone Sour. In 2003, Slipknot moved into The Mansion to work on the album. Initially, the band was unproductive; lead vocalist Corey Taylor was drinking heavily. Nevertheless, the band managed to write more than enough material for a new album. Vol. 3 is credited as Slipknot’s first to incorporate more traditional, melodic song structures, guitar solos and acoustic instruments.

The album received generally positive reviews. Slipknot was praised by AllMusic for its “dedication to making it a Slipknot album”, while Q added that the album was “a triumph”

The album peaked within the top ten in album sales across eleven countries, and went Platinum in the United States. The band also received the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for the song “Before I Forget”. At the end of 2009, “Before I Forget” was listed as “AOL’s Top Metal Song of the Decade”.

Roadrunner Records have listed the music video for “Duality” as the best music video in Roadrunner history.

Slipknot recorded Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses with producer Rick Rubin at The Mansion in Los Angeles in 2003. There had been speculation regarding the possibility of a third album and the band’s future, owing to members working on other musical projects. After the album was completed, the band said these side projects “saved the band” and “helped [them] break out of the box [they] were in”.Coming back together and working out their differences hindered the writing process initially. In 2008, drummer Joey Jordison said, “We didn’t talk to each other for three months, we just sat there wasting money in the fucking Houdini mansion.” Percussionist Shawn Crahan stated, “Eventually we got sick of waiting for shit to happen. We got together, had a few beers and wrote a really artsy, fucked up song called ‘Happy Ending’.”

In a 2003 interview, Jordison explained that despite the initial problems more than enough material was written for the album and added that “it’s better to have stuff to pick from than to settle for shit”, in contrast to how Slipknot settled too soon with fewer songs on previous albums. Band members were divided over their experience of working with producer Rubin; some doubted his commitment to Slipknot as he split his time between many artists at once. Lead vocalist Corey Taylor admitted in an interview that he drank heavily throughout their time in the mansion, saying “I would drink from the moment I got up until the moment I passed out.” He explained that; “everything I did while I was drinking sounded like shit”, while expressing how unhappy he was with the choice of vocal takes which ended up on the album.During this time, percussionist Crahan worked on Voliminal: Inside the Nine, a video documenting the creation process of the album and the touring which would follow.

In a Q&A for his book You’re Making Me Hate You, Taylor stated that the first verse and chorus of the track “Circle” was written and recorded during the Iowa tour in 2001, and that it was the same take that ended up on the album.

The group had mixed opinions regarding their experience of working with Rick Rubin. In 2008, Taylor said he met Rubin only four times during the entire recording of Vol. 3… and that Rubin barely showed up to the studio: “We were being charged horrendous amounts of money. And for me, if you’re going to produce something, you’re fucking there. I don’t care who you are.” He added: “He is overrated, he is overpaid, and I will never work with him again.” Conversely, guitarist Jim Root said in that same interview, “A lot of the guys in the band say Rick was unavailable. And yeah, he takes on a lot of projects at one time, but he also does things that are beneficial. He would listen to what we’d done, then have us retrack things that needed work. He’s kind of like Big Brother up on the hill. Even though he wasn’t there physically every day, he was. [Vol. 3 is] my favorite record we’ve done.”