The Nameless (song)

"The Nameless" is a song by American heavy metal band Slipknot. The song was released as the only single from their first live album, 9.0: Live, while it is also included on their third studio album, Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses). A music video was released for the single in late 2005 and also was featured on MTV's Rock Top 10 as number two.

"The Nameless"
Single by Slipknot
from the album 9.0: Live and Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)
ReleasedNovember 1, 2005
Recorded2003 at The Mansion in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, California; Akademie Mathematique of Philosophical Sound Research and Sound City in Los Angeles, California[1]
Length4:28
LabelRoadrunner
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Rick Rubin
Slipknot singles chronology
"Before I Forget"
(2005)		 "The Nameless"
(2005)		 "The Blister Exists"
(2006)

Musical structure

The Nameless is four minutes and 28 seconds long.[2] The song begins with a high-noted guitar riff, with mixed in samples, leading to the guitar notes getting lower, and lead vocalist Corey Taylor starting the lyrics with a scream. This eventually leads to low noted riffs with minor scales associated in. The song has a "basic minor-key riff," along with "thrash" riffs, and interludes that are much softer. The chorus is slow, emotional and epic. The song is in B minor,[3] like many other Slipknot songs.

Music video
Screenshot of "The Nameless" music video.

The accompanying music video was directed by band member Shawn Crahan,[4] who has also created and assisted with several of Slipknot's other videos.[5][6] The video was featured on their video album Voliminal: Inside the Nine.

The music video depicts Slipknot performing live on their second headline tour The Subliminal Verses World Tour. The videos features various clips and shots of their fans during the concert. The video was directed by the band's co-founder and custom percussionist Shawn 'Clown' Crahan,[4][7] and was featured on Voliminal: Inside the Nine,[8] the band's third video album that received a platinum in the US.[9] Many of the photos featured in 9.0: Live are seen in the video. At the end of the video, a caption says "Dedicated to all the Maggots [Slipknot fans] everywhere".

Promotion of 9.0: Live

Before the 9.0: Live's release, a sample from the live recording of "The Nameless" was made available on the Internet through the band's record label.[10] A music video featuring the live recording of "The Nameless" was created to promote the album.[11]

Critical reception

Blender commented that "Relief from 'Prelude [3.0]' arrives quickly in the basic minor-key riffs and grooves of... 'The Nameless'..."[12] Dan Silver from NME said "'The Nameless' intercuts thrash riffs with softly-strummed interludes".[13] Robert Cherry of Rolling Stone said it "splices a cooing boy-band chorus onto a g-g-gunky speed metal verse".[14] Yahoo!s Chris Heath said the song "confusingly stitches both extremes together – the ludicrously vicous and ridiculously placid – into one track that simply feels awkward, wrong even".[15]

Appearances on other albums
  • "The Nameless" was featured in the album Promo only: Modern Rock Radio in 2005. The album is by various artists including System of a Down, OK Go, Fall Out Boy, and several others.[16]
  • It was also track number eight on Radioactive: Mainstream & Rock series in December 2005. The album features various artists that include many of the artists featured on Promo only: Modern Rock Radio.[17]
  • The song also appeared on The Scorched Earth Orchestra Performs Slipknot,[18] an album produced by Noah Agruss and released on August 12, 2008.[19] With nine other tracks, the tribute album released by Vitamin Records and includes covers of tracks from Slipknot's first three studio albums. The label's website enthuse that The Scorched Earth Orchestra "expand on Slipknot's marching-band-from-hell framework" with "booming percussion, in-your-face horns [and] string sections that rip at your flesh".[18]

Track listing
US single
No.TitleLyricsArrangerLength
1."The Nameless" (edit)Corey TaylorSlipknot3:44
2."The Nameless"Corey TaylorSlipknot4:01
Japan single
No.TitleLyricsArrangerLength
1."Prosthetics" (live)SlipknotSlipknot5:17
2."The Nameless"Corey TaylorSlipknot4:28
3."Before I Forget" (Molt-Injected mix)SlipknotSlipknot4:40
Germany single
No.TitleLyricsArrangerLength
1."The Nameless" (live)Corey TaylorSlipknot3:44
2."The Nameless" (enhanced video)Corey TaylorSlipknot4:28

Chart positions
Chart (2005) Peak
position
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard) 25[20]
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References
  1. "Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) (EXPLICIT) (CD)". Tower Records. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
  2. Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses. Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
  3. Ultimate-Guitar.com The Nameless Tab
  4. "Slipknot cap a year of destruction". 93X Rocks. 2005-10-04. Archived from the original on 2008-01-15. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
  5. "Vermilion" (Insert). Slipknot. Roadrunner Records. 2004.CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. Blabbermouth.net: SLIPKNOT Films 'Sulfur' Video - Mar. 23, 2009. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
  7. Humphreys, Ashley. "Slipknot Biography: MFKR". Slipknot-metal.com. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
  8. Voliminal track listing. Roadrunner Records. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
  9. "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. 2008-08-29. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
  10. "Slipknot: Live Album Sample Posted Online". Blabbermouth.net. 2005-10-13. Archived from the original on 2008-12-13. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
  11. Wiederhorn, Jon (2005-10-03). "Slipknot Cap A Year Of Destruction With 9.0: Live; More Stone Sour On Tap". MTV. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
  12. Ratliff, Ben (2004-05-25). "Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) - Blender review". Blender. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
  13. Silver, Dan (2004-06-08). "Slipknot : Vol 3: The Subliminal Verses". NME. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
  14. Cherry, Robert (2004-06-10). "Slipknot (Metal) - Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 19, 2009. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
  15. Heath, Chris (2004-06-03). "Slipknot - Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
  16. Promo Only: Modern Rock Radio (November 2005). Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
  17. Radioactive: Mainstream & Rock Series (December 2005). Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
  18. "The Scorched Earth Orchestra Performs Slipknot". Vitamin Records. Archived from the original on 2008-12-08. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
  19. "allmusic ((( The Scorched Earth Orchestra Performs Slipknot > Overview )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
  20. "American chart". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
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