Iowa by Slipknot

Iowa is the second studio album by the American heavy metal band Slipknot. Released by Roadrunner Records on August 28, 2001, it was produced by Ross Robinson and Slipknot. The title derives from the band's home state, Iowa, which members have stated is one of their greatest sources of inspiration. With much anticipation for the album following the success of their 1999 self-titled debut, pressures on the band were high. Their relationships with each other suffered and this was later described as the darkest time of their career. It was also the first album to have Jim Root record all his guitar tracks on a Slipknot album, the guitarist having featured on only two songs from their debut, due to his joining very late in the recording of that release. Despite troubles within the band and with Iowa's development, Slipknot promoted it for almost a year. Iowa was a major success, premiering in the top tens of nine countries. Generally positively received, it includes some of their notable songs, such as "Disasterpiece", "The Heretic Anthem", "People = Shit" and the Grammy-nominated "Left Behind" and "My Plague". While more technical than their debut, Iowa is considered the band's heaviest and darkest album. It has been certified Platinum in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. With a runtime of 66 minutes and 19 seconds, Iowa is the band's longest album. In addition to being their longest album, it also contains their longest song to date, the title track. A special edition of Iowa was reissued on November 1, 2011 to celebrate its tenth anniversary. It was accompanied by full live audio of the hit DVD Disasterpieces and a film entitled Goat directed by Shawn Crahan, with the four music videos, never-seen-before interviews and footage from the Iowa period.