One of the most legendary bands in rock history almost never happened.
Corey Taylor, one of the founding members and lead singer for Slipknot, was ready to quit the band before their first album even came out.
Find out why he got so fed up with his own band that he wanted to leave it!
This metal band came up in the ’90s and has been an inspiration for many artists in the heavy metal music genre.
Slipknot got their name from a song by the band “The Dog Faced Gods.” They were one of Corey Taylor’s personal favorite bands of the time. In 1995, Corey met with drummer Joey Jordison to see if he would be interested in starting a death metal band.
Corey wanted to make the band more aggressive, and Joey agreed with him, so together, they began Slipknot.
The First Album
Slipknot’s first album was an EP called “Mate. Feed. Kill.” It came out in 1996 but did not sell very well at all upon its release!
The music video for their song “(sic)” got some exposure on MTV’s Headbangers Ball.
It gave them enough attention that Roadrunner Records decided to sign Slipknot as a rock act instead of death metal like they were originally trying out for!
Their next album would be much better than this one, though.
Their second album was Iowa (2001). After signing onto Roadrunner records, Iowa became the second studio album released by Slipknot. It was a critical and commercial success, with many magazines praising the album as their best work yet!
The Band’s Most Successful Album
After all of this work to get on Roadrunner Records, Slipknot finally released what they felt would be their most successful album ever: Vol. Three (The Subliminal Verses) in 2004.
This album peaked at number two on Billboard 200 charts. It stayed there for several weeks before eventually getting knocked down one spot by 50 Cent’s “Get Rich Or Die Tryin.”
In total, though, this album has been certified platinum six times over due to its immense popularity back when it first came out.
Why Did Corey Taylor Almost Leave Slipknot?
Yup. You heard right. Corey almost left the metal outfit.
Slipknot became a household name after this album was released. But not all of the band members were happy about that.
Corey Taylor felt like he had to push himself too hard to keep up with other bands in his genre. And this started taking its toll on him emotionally.
At one point during the recording process for Vol. Three (The Subliminal Verses), Slipknot’s lead singer, actually considered leaving!
He didn’t want anything bad to happen because he knew how much fans loved their music.
So instead, Corey decided to take an extended break from touring before coming back again when they would release another record.
Their next record was All Hope Is Gone, which came out in 2008
Did Corey Quit?
Slipknot was on the verge of collapse thanks to Taylor’s decision. But thankfully they were able to keep things afloat.
All Hope Is Gone became their most successful album yet, and Corey has been touring with them ever since – even after getting his own band called Stone Sour!
Rumors of Dissolving
Slipknot band members admitted that they faced the possibility of dissolution at some time in the 90s.
However, they said that the band was able to pull through and stay together! Corey Taylor’s potential departure from Slipknot had many fans worried, but it all worked out in the end.
Corey Taylor Is Back In The Band
Slipknot toured around Europe on their Prepare For Hell tour and will be back for more shows. So, you can expect some nice jams from them later this year as well.
It has been five years since they released any new music, so we can’t wait to see what direction they go with their next record – whenever that may be.
So there you have it. Slipknot may not be what it used to be now that Taylor decided to take an extended break from recording music for the band before coming back again (for real this time). However, as Slipknot fans, you can only hope the band gets back together for some good old classic metal!
