Ranking Every Slipknot Album From Worst To Best

This is where the albums start to separate themselves from the demo and the slightly disappointing All Hope Is Gone. Subliminal Verses: Vol 3 was the album that put Slipknot on the map to a wider mainstream audience. In part this was down to working with hip-hop super-producer Rick Rubin, bringing their signature sound into a new user-friendly environment.

Some of Slipknot’s most defining songs have come from Subliminal Verses, boasting the band’s powerful anthem in Duality, the Grammy winning Before I Forget and the sombre Vermillion.

Subliminal Verses was the first album in the band’s catalogue to implement more traditional song structures and the usually 'potty-mouthed band' made the choice to create the album without expletives. This choice came as a direct response to critics who said their foul mouths were their only selling point, and after, it was probably time to eat those words.

Due to this approach, the album was released without a parental advisory marker which helped hold the door open to the newer polished sound. Although the songs were more accessible, they managed to do this without sacrificing the heavy, riff-focused anarchy from albums before.

Subliminal Verses allowed Slipknot’s perspective to shift from simply maniacs in jumpsuits to fully fledged artists. The album may not be the very best that they have produced, but it may very well be one of the most important.