Back in 2020, I read Dan Franklin‘s excellent history and examination of heavy metal, Heavy. His latest book, which I somehow missed until yesterday, is Somewhere Between Screaming and Crying, a new biography of the band Slipknot. Published yesterday by Constable, the book’s release was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the band’s second album: Iowa.

The album was released shortly before I started university (and, less nostalgically, a couple of weeks before 9/11). I have many fond, quite vivid memories of buying the album on release-day, and spending the following days walking the streets of Oxford, discman in my cargo-pants side pocket, the album on repeat. It remains an excellent album, although (in my humble opinion), the follow-up — Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) — is better. I’m really looking forward to reading Franklin’s new book, and revisiting those heady days of nü-metal dominance. With Iowa blasting the background, of course…

Here’s the book’s official synopsis:

A captivating biography of Slipknot by acclaimed music writer, Dan Franklin, to coincide with the 25th Anniversary of Iowa: an album that redefined metal.

Slipknot is one of metal’s most iconic and recognisable bands. In late August 2001, Slipknot released their extraordinarily brutal second album, Iowa. With it, nine masked maniacs from the American Midwest captured the zeitgeist and reimagined the genre. The album’s emotional intensity and aggression was matched only by its commercial success, as it topped album charts and defined the nu metal era.

Two weeks after its release, the world changed forever. After the attacks of 9/11, Slipknot collided with history and a generation in upheaval. As the band’s members struggled with their own demons, it wasn’t certain that Slipknot would survive. What followed is a story that’s as tumultuous, gripping, and as real as it gets.

Somewhere Between Screaming And Crying is the story of Iowa‘s difficult birth and its remarkable impact in a world seemingly coming apart at the seams. As nu metal is embraced by a new generation today, Dan Franklin unravels how and why this much-maligned subgenre still connects so strongly and explores the ongoing influence of Slipknot as one of the most recognisable and artistically vital bands in metal today.

Dan Franklin’s Somewhere Between Screaming and Crying is out now in the UK, published by Constable. (At the time of writing, I couldn’t find any information about a North American publisher.)

Also on CR: Review of Heavy

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