Slipknot’s Taylor reflects on ‘insane’ debut

Slipknot’s Corey Taylor says the band stole the master tapes to their 1999 self-titled debut as their management company didn’t understand their sound.

The frontman reckons their first album is the best they’ve ever made and also says their early days supporting the record were “fucking insane.”

He tells Noisey: “Clown, Joey Jordison, and producer Ross Robinson broke into the studio where the master tapes were, because we weren’t liking the mixes we were getting.

“They stole the tapes and mixed it themselves. I think Paul Gray was there too. I get a call from Clown saying, ‘We committed grand larceny – we just stole our own fucking album.’ They sat down and mixed it because no one else understood it.”

Taylor only expected to sell 200,000 copies of the album which went double platinum in the US and he recalls being stunned by its rise up the charts.

He continues: “People don’t understand just how fucking insane it was. Suddenly we’re the biggest band on Roadrunner, and no one prepared us. We didn’t know what the fuck was going on. We had shitty management at the time, and it was insanity.”

Slipknot are the guest editors of the most recent edition of Metal Hammer magazine which is on sale now. The band will headline this year’s Download on June 12 (Friday) at Donington Park.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more for Louder. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, The Tragically Hip, Marillion and Rush.