Editing Iowa (album) (section)

==Recording and production==
''Iowa'' was recorded and produced at [[Sound City Studios]] and Sound Image Studios in [[Los Angeles]], [[California]] with producer [[Ross Robinson]], who had also produced their [[Slipknot (album)|debut album]].<ref name="MoreMaxSlip" /> Drummer [[Joey Jordison]] and bassist [[Paul Gray (American musician)|Paul Gray]] began working on new music together in October 2000, and wrote material for most of the album.<ref name="drum!" /> During this time, other members took a break after the extensive touring that had followed their debut.<ref name="drum!">{{cite news |title = Joey Jordison plunges into Slipknot hell |work=Drum! |pages = 44–45 |date = October 2008}}</ref> On January 17, 2001, Slipknot entered the studio to begin recording new material.<ref name="ArnoppBook" /><ref name="RapcoreBook">{{cite book |last = Porter |first = Dick |title = Rapcore: The Nu-Metal Rap Fusion |publisher=Plexus|location=London |year = 2003 |isbn = 0-85965-321-8}}</ref> Recording began on January 22.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 23, 2001 |title=The Sickest is Yet to Come |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/artists/Slipknot/news.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010127063900/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/artists/Slipknot/news.asp |archive-date=2001-01-27 |access-date=2024-05-02 |website=roadrunnerrecords.com}}</ref> This period in the band's career became known as one of their worst. Jordison recalled, "That's where we got into a war," citing the lack of a break for himself and Gray.<ref name="drum!" /> Other factors, including vocalist [[Corey Taylor]]'s alcohol addiction, other members' drug addictions, and management issues affected relations in the band.<ref name="Rocksound" />

"Recording ''Iowa'' was fucking hell," recalled [[Shawn Crahan]]. "I wanted to kill myself. There was drugs, bitches, rock 'n' roll, all that shit. People expected so much of us then. 'People = Shit' was our way of saying, 'Fuck off and leave us alone.'" "There was nothing happy about ''Iowa''," confirmed Taylor. "All of a sudden we were these metal stars and we weren't really planning for it… We'd all got caught up in the lifestyle and the problems that come with that. A darkness set in at the beginning of ''Iowa'' that none of us quite recognised." Jordison, however, noted, "''Iowa'', even more than [[Slipknot (album)|the first record]], was the album we really wanted to make."<ref name="Bryant">{{cite magazine|first=Tom|last=Bryant|title=Hell unleashed|magazine=[[Kerrang]] #1423|date=14 July 2012|page=23}}</ref>

It was the first album where guitarist [[Jim Root]] had been significantly involved,<ref name="GuitarMag">{{cite news |title = Wrecking crew |work=Guitar |date = November 2001}}</ref> after joining during the later recording stages of ''Slipknot''.<ref name="ArnoppBook" /> During an interview with ''Guitar'' magazine in November 2001, Root explained, "It was so exciting as well as scary to be part of this whole huge process," adding that there was a lot of pressure from fellow guitarist [[Mick Thomson]] to perform well.<ref name="GuitarMag" />

To ''[[FHM]]'', Taylor revealed that he put himself in specific situations to achieve his performance on the album.<ref name="FHM">{{cite news |title = Slipknot |work=[[FHM]] |pages=76–80 |date = December 2001}}</ref> While recording vocals for the closing title track, he was completely naked, vomiting all over himself, and cutting himself with broken glass. "That's where the best stuff comes from," he explained. "You've got to break yourself down before you can build something great."<ref name="FHM" /> While producing the album, Ross Robinson was injured in a [[Types of motorcycles#Off-road|dirt bike]] accident, suffering a [[spinal fracture|fractured back]] in the process. He returned to the studio after a day of hospital treatment, reportedly "putting all of his pain into the album", much to the admiration of the band.<ref name="Rocksound" /> 

Recording was completed on March 16, 2001.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 14, 2001 |title=Updates from the Studio |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com:80/artists/Slipknot/news.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010331060647/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com:80/artists/Slipknot/news.asp |archive-date=2001-03-31 |access-date=2024-05-02 |website=roadrunnerrecords.com}}</ref>