Metal Anarchy

During a recent interview with Revolver, Slipknot’s M. Shawn “Clown” Crahan offered another update on “Look Outside Your Window,” the side album that him, Corey Taylor, Jim Root, and Sid Wilson recorded during the “All Hope Is Gone“ sessions. According to him, “there’s still a real good chance it could come out this year.”

Clown said the following:

“I’m glad that you’re asking me about ‘Look Outside Your Window‘, because there’s never been a conspiracy against that project. The album’s been finished for a long time. But the world keeps changing, and so do my feelings on the art — like, what did we create a long time ago, and how does it relate to now? And what are we feeling now, and what is it?

But the reason it hasn’t come out is that every time we’ve agreed that it’s coming out, something happens like COVID and we have to cancel it. Or then let’s say somebody in the band — it could be anybody — goes and does something else, and then what happens is, the focus changes. ‘Look Outside Your Window‘ is never going to be something that barges in on anything else. If it barges in on Slipknot, or anything Corey‘s doing — or myself, Jim, Sid, anybody in the band — if it barges in and interrupts, then it’s not doing what it’s supposed to do.

So, that’s the number one factor why it’s never been released. Because the culture needs to take a deep breath … and go, ‘Ah, this is here!’ And when it is here, everyone just needs to do what they’re going to do with it. Because it’s really that good, and it’s really timeless: It’s last year; it’s 10 years ago; it’s 10 years from now. You’ll never hear Corey Taylor sing like this on his solo albums…

It was created during the whole All Hope Is Gone cycle, and there was a lot of stuff going on, brother. And that’s all in the lyrics. And it hurts, for me; I don’t know what people will take out or understand, but I know what it’s about. Jim and I held it up. It was our thing, because there was too much anger and too much crap happening, and too much non-communicating. And Sid and Corey wanted to be part of it, and I said, ‘Of course!’ [Late bassist] Paul Gray was consistently coming in, saying, ‘I’m going to be on this,’ and I would say, ‘There’s no way in hell you’re going to be on it, because a lot of it’s about you.’

It was a very emotional time, and all those emotions went into creating that album. And that album is timeless; I can actually listen to it now and feel what I was then, and it affects me more now than it would have then. So I would say there’s still a real good chance it could come out this year; you bringing it up makes me remember that I need to bring it up to the team. But it’s a beautiful thing, a serious thing, and I stand by saying that it will be worth the wait.”

Root added:

“I told Clown like five or six years ago, ‘Dude, I’m tired of waiting for it to come out — I’m just gonna put it up on YouTube for everyone to hear.’ [Laughs] I haven’t, though; I know he’s been working on it, and I don’t even think I have a way to listen to that or hear what that’s even like anymore. I just remember that I was going down some serious Björk and Portishead wormholes at the time.

Clown was playing drums and stacking all these sounds, and I’d start playing guitar to it; and then Corey would come in and sing on it, and Sid would come in and play all these crazy instruments. It just turned into this, like, really intense art piece, and I would love for that to get out there someday. I just honestly don’t know what’s holding it up. I’m gonna have to get on Clown about that.”