Pulse of the Maggots

Man, sometimes life gets in the way of doing stuff you really like doing. I barely have time to listen to records these days, let alone find the right lighting to photograph 'em and then write around the topic for a little while. But thankfully on this Sunday morning I've avoided sleeping in and found some time that isn't quite social enough to play records, but it's damn okay enough to write about them.

From this hype sticker I assume you know what you're in for here. This is the UK/Euro press of Slipknot's Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) on Clear 2XLP available on Record Store Day 2014. It also comes with a nice little RSD hype sticker too. 

Now this had been stuck on my want list for a little while now; but at the £80-100 going rate on Discogs currently, I was willing to push it to the background a little. Plus the fact that I bought both previous full lengths for a steal back in the day made this one a little harder to swallow. 

I'm not sure how common this is with this press but mine seems to have a black splodge or two mixed in with this clear wax. I quite like these little anomalies within pressings that just make for a marginally more interesting variant. All of the centre labels are different colours too which is pretty cool. 

Going from the harsh aesthetic or Iowa, it seemed like the band weren't quite as fucked this time around or at least quite as burned out. Although the record itself is a little less harsh on the ears, it seems to be the one I return to most often nowadays. Maybe it's just pretty fresh to my ears again for owning a copy on vinyl now, who knows? 

A lot of people also seemed to find a few issues with the sound quality on this pressing. To my ears it sounds fine; not spectacular or overly dynamic in any way, shape or form. But there are no huge popping or skipping issues? People on Discogs get on a rant about stuff sometimes right? 

Front and back cover. 

I've always preferred the reverse image here. The picture disc press has this as the C or D side and it fits well with the all black die cut sleeve too.

Insert photos are always a bonus as far as I'm concerned, and even more so here as they're super fun to look at. Almost nostalgic in a way. The inserts on Iowa are definitely something memorable too. 

The photo of the band together here is the most obvious image attached to this record. Up until this year, my only copy of this record was the deluxe 2XCD that comes with this image as a slipcase.

Oh, back to my original point on this point. I never wanted to pull the trigger on this while the price kept on going up and up. I actually found this copy in my local record store whilst having a little dig around behind the counter. It was offered up to me for less than the original asking price; and there's no way I wasn't walking out with it. 

Cheers!

(SIC)Knot

Let's be honest, you all fucking loved this record. 

I was first introduced to Slipknot when this album dropped, and the Wait and Bleed video was played non-stop. Staying up late to watch the creepy semi-animated video of this one; having a (badly) home dubbed cassette of this from my mate as my mum refused to buy me this album on CD. So many good memories. 

Slipknot - Slipknot - Roadrunner Records - 1st(?) Press - Picture Disc - 002068/?

I honestly don't know too much about this record. it was on Discogs for super cheap so I took it. I know a double LP version in a die-cut black sleeve exists. There are also black and green versions available. Some are double LP's and some are singles. Roadrunner aren't really the kind of label to keep the closest tabs on pressing info, and back in '99 I guess it just wasn't a big deal to most people? 

The photo on this LP is a little different to the cover art, and I'd not really noticed that until it arrived (in a Jiffy Bag, like a cool guy). It looks like the same shoot as the standard LP cover, but this image is probably a little more unsettling. Mick Thomson's crazy eye...

Stickered sleeve, numbered 002068. This came in one of those thick plastic poly-sleeves that static sticks to the record. It also came with a dust cover over that, which was cool as the other sleeve was split. 

B-Side. 

Band photo with lyrics from 'Surfacing' lyrics above. 

Track-Listing is also printed on this side. The songs are split 9/5 which is odd, but Scissors is a long exit (much like Iowa). Frail Limb Nursery is missing from this press, and I still want to hunt down the original Digipack CD with all the CD bonus tracks. 

This bottom half is mostly thanks and credits. There's quite a bit of information here, like Joey Jordison did a bunch of mixing for this LP. Also, merch is referred to as 'Gear' here. It made me laugh a little. 

The barcode is apparently a good way of differentiating pressings here. All it really tells me is that this is a US copy, not UK in origin. 

Despite the super sparse packaging of this record, this has a bunch of information. I'm still no way near finding out all the answers, and that is fine by me. I can only really hang with the first 3 Slipknot records, and I'm missing Vol.3. I know the new RSD pressing landed not too long back, but that gatefold Picture Disc set is calling me...

If you're 555

Well, I'm finally dusting off the keyboard and getting back into this. Downside: I've been away a minute or five. Upside: I haven't slowed down on buying records, so there's plenty great posts lined up.

I thought I'd start this up again with a cool one that arrived today. Iowa by Slipknot.

This was a truly great eBay score, not super cheap but not expensive either. Not in mint condition, but not bad considering the age (I think this was released in 2001, so it's aged well). The need to grab a copy of this really came from nowhere. I was talking to a friend about this LP, and they pulled out their copy and showed me how cool this was on wax, and an obsession started. I needed it; and I needed  a proper copy, not one of those corner cut promo copies. I remember sneaking out and heading to my local store for the midnight release of this (someone actually brought a goat to the proceedings, very metal.). Fuck, I must have only been nine years old. Either way, long story short, vinyl copies were available, but I had only saved up my pocket money to accommodate a CD copy. Worst part is I got busted anyway when my Mother strolled in my room to wake me up for school the next day and spotted the copy on my bedside table. So this wax is my 12 year wait in spoiled brat gratification. I'm rambling, on to the vinyl! 

Not too much to note here, plain black vinyl with the Nonogram logos on each side. Super cool, but there's way more aesthetically pleasing features about this records...

The front cover is super cool, I remember being almost afraid of it as a kid, and having it on this format now really brings home the menacing vibe of the whole thing. I believe Clown (member number 6 AKA Shawn Crahan - dude hitting the beer kegs on stage) named the goat Eeyore, but I could be wrong? The silver foil effect really adds something too. Apparently this stuff is prone to a bit of creasing, and mine has suffered a corner ding too. Apparently promo copies of this have a corner cut on the top right hand side, for those that wanted to know, and cut out half of the song 'The Heretic Anthem'. Lame. 

The back cover is more of the same, with the silver foil and super creepy goat thing going on. 

As you open the gatefold cover up, there's another great image of the Nonogram, along with individual photos of the nine members. However, the band members are assigned numbers from 0-8, and they're not in number order in this photo, still cool though. 

The next thing pulled out from the gatefold is this fold out poster of the band. Apparently an intact poster is quite rare, as they've often got blu-tac marks or pin holes from being up on the wall. That's even if a copy comes with it, as they're often forgotten about in the sale. Thankfully mine has none of that, and I love this image. It perfectly captures the band from this particular time. They would change masks and boiler suits for every album cycle and I vividly remember this one coming out, so it serves as a nice reminder.

For me the inner sleeves are where things get a bit weird. This side contains lyrics and some strange symbols and logos, the one on the far right looks like a construction of the Nonogram. The other side however:

To my knowledge that is a goat fetus. A bloody goat fetus, how messed up is that? The other sleeve contains another great group shot, and the text in the top left is a dedication to the fans which is quite cool to read. If anyone is super interested, I get that my photos aren't that great so I can type it out. Just comment if you want to know what it says and i'll drag it out...

Aside from a nostalgic purpose, this album really is something special. It got lumped in with nu-metal, but it's way more complex than that. It's up there with Jane Doe and We're Down 'til We're Underground with the most abrasive and pissed off sounding records I have ever heard. It starts with opener (515), which is DJ Sid Wilson screaming after the news of a family member passing, with samples and noises in the background. I try to not touch on the musical context of an LP too much with this blog, but this record is a true classic for heavy music. The history surrounding the LP is incredible too. Another factor to me hunting this down was the crazy background of this album; it was really born from a dark time. Do a bit of internet searching for the film 'Goat' (I'm sure it's on YouTube) and you'll understand it.