All Hope Is Gone
All Hope Is Gone is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot, released on August 26, 2008 by Roadrunner Records. The album was published in two versions: the standard album in a CD case and a special edition packaged in a six-fold digipak containing three bonus tracks, a 40 page booklet, and a bonus DVD with a documentary of the album's recording. With a runtime of 57 minutes and 57 seconds, it is Slipknot's second-shortest studio album behind 2022's The End, So Far. It is also the band's final studio album to feature the Iowa-era lineup with two longtime members: bassist and founding member Paul Gray, who was found dead in an Iowa hotel on May 24, 2010, almost two years after the album's release,[2] and drummer Joey Jordison, who was fired from the group in December 2013.[3]
All Hope Is Gone
Preparation for the album began in 2007, while recording started in February 2008 in the band's home state of Iowa. Before the album's launch, Slipknot released a series of promotional images and audio samples from the album through various websites. All Hope Is Gone was considered the band's most eclectic-sounding album at the time of release, incorporating elements from their previous three. The album shows Slipknot moving away from the nu metal genre towards a groove metal style. Songs such as the opening track "Gematria (The Killing Name)" and the title track espouse the band's more brutal, death metal-influenced edge, reminiscent of songs such as "(sic)" from their debut self-titled album; slow burning, "trippy" elements such as "Gehenna", recalling "Skin Ticket" from their second album Iowa; and more tragic, sentimental tracks such as "Dead Memories" and "Snuff". Lyrically, All Hope Is Gone centers on themes such as anger, disaffection, obsession, and the music industry. The album name also features a more prominent focus on politics than their previous albums. Slipknot promoted All Hope Is Gone on a world tour and at the Mayhem Festival. Generally well received by critics, the album reached the top position on nine record charts worldwide, including the Billboard 200—the first Slipknot album to do so. It was certified platinum by the RIAA on August 10, 2010 for shipments in excess of 1,000,000 albums in the United States.[4]
Style and themes[edit]
Musically, the album sees the band moving away from nu metal[35] and towards groove metal,[1] with elements of death metal[36] and thrash metal.[37] Magazine Yell! wrote that All Hope is Gone "expands on" Slipknot's "thrash metal guitar work and vocal melodies."[37] Prior to the album's release, Slipknot's members displayed interest in making All Hope Is Gone their heaviest album, which Joey Jordison affirmed saying, "It's going to be heavier than Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), but just as weird and as experimental."[5] Corey Taylor reiterated this, describing All Hope Is Gone as a "very dark" combination of the band's two previous studio albums, Iowa and Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses).[38] In All Hope Is Gone, Slipknot expands on their use of traditional song structures, acoustics, and solos that they introduced on their previous album Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses). The song "Snuff" is led by acoustic guitars and has been dubbed as Slipknot's "attempt at a power ballad", though it remains "dark and ominous".[39] In an interview with Artistdirect, Shawn Crahan stated, "Everyone can feel the pain that's in there. It's not forced upon you. You have it in there innately."[12] Slipknot also retained a metal edge harking back to their earlier work. Stephen Erlewine of Allmusic wrote that "Gematria (The Killing Name)" goes from "a cluster of cacophony" to "an onslaught of densely dark intricate riffs".[40] Crahan compared it to the song "(sic)" from their debut album, explaining, "The technique and the style are very reminiscent of the old, brutal shit that we've done."[12] Jim Kaz of IGN stated that the "swaggering, cock-rock groove and an anthemic chorus" of "Psychosocial" gives Slipknot the potential to reach out to new fans "without sacrificing a lick of intensity".[41] Crahan stated he "loves" his parts of "Psychosocial", in which the band incorporates snare drums in the style of "Before I Forget".[12] He also cited "This Cold Black" as one of his favorite songs, saying that it has a "driving tempo and a lot of attitude".[12] The track "Gehenna" incorporates elements of Slipknot's slower, more cerebral edge similar to "Prosthetics" and "Purity" from their debut album, and "Skin Ticket" from Iowa. Crahan called it a "trippy song", explaining, "It's just somewhere we go."[12]
Corey Taylor explained that the phrase "All Hope Is Gone" is aimed at the fans' expectations of the band, further elaborating, "Just when you thought you had us figured out, give up all hope because you're never, ever going to."[42][43] Throughout the album, Taylor incorporates a focus on politics in his lyrics, compared to Slipknot's previous albums. The opening track, ".execute.", features Taylor's response to former United States Vice President Spiro Agnew's speech targeted at Vietnam War protesters.[39] During an interview with Kerrang!, Taylor discussed the song's lyrical content, explaining, "There are a lot of people who are disguising politics as religion and dictating taste and turning it into policy. And that hurts me."[42] Reviewing for IGN, Jim Kaz said that lyrically, "Gematria (The Killing Name)" gives the listener a "heaping dose of Corey Taylor's caustic bravado".[41] On the track "Wherein Lies Continue", Taylor offers a "dressing down of the world as we know it", explaining, "It kinda goes up against any civilization that takes themselves way too seriously and where the 'leaders' are so pretentious that they think they are deemed to speak for the people."[42] He also proclaimed, "It wouldn't be a Slipknot album if I didn't rag on the recording industry."[42] On "Butcher's Hook", Taylor specifically targets "all those little emo boys", commenting, "People give us shit for wearing outfits, but all of those guys look exactly the same."[42]
Reception[edit]
Commercial performance[edit]
All Hope Is Gone was Slipknot's first album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart, outselling LAX from The Game by 1,134 units.[44] Initially, Billboard published an article stating that The Game had secured the top spot with a margin of 13 units, in what was described as the "closest race for number one since SoundScan began tracking data in 1991".[45] After a recount 12 hours later, the article was rewritten and Slipknot was awarded the number one spot, having sold 239,516 units.[45] All Hope Is Gone debuted at number two in the United Kingdom, topped only by The Verve's album Forth.[46] In Canada, the album sold over 20,000 copies in its first week and debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart.[47] The album also debuted at number one on eight other charts worldwide.[48] "Psychosocial", the album's second single, brought Slipknot their first MTV Video Music Awards nomination for Best Rock Video,[49] as well as their seventh Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance at the 51st Grammy Awards.[50] In December 2008, Total Guitar ranked All Hope Is Gone as one of the "50 Best Guitar Albums of the Year".[51] In 2009, it was rated 16th in UK magazine Kerrang!'s "The 50 Best Albums of the 21st Century" reader poll.[52]
All Hope Is Gone has been certified Platinum in the United States of America and Canada by the RIAA and the CRIA respectively. As of January 2012, the album has sold over one million copies in the U.S. It has been certified Gold in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Germany hence being a commercial success. As of 2014, the album has sold 1,106,000 copies in the U.S. alone.[53]