Dead Memories

Music video

The music video for "Dead Memories" was directed by P. R. Brown. On September 30, 2008, the band's record label Roadrunner Records released a 15-second teaser video on YouTube which featured vocalist Corey Taylor in what appears to be a grave in torrential rain. The video premiered on MTV's Headbangers Ball on October 25, 2008, as part of the Headbangers Ball 20th anniversary special programming. The treatment for the music video was percussionist Shawn Crahan's idea, Crahan calls the music video a "short film" and admits that it was a "very" expensive video. Crahan's initial idea was to have several rooms, he introduced the idea to vocalist Corey Taylor who decided what each room would be.

The music video starts off with Taylor walking from the Iowa State Capitol in downtown Des Moines into a rural area. Taylor walks through empty fields and begins to dig. He seemingly falls through the ground into a room below, now wearing a mask. The room is occupied by turntablist Sid Wilson, who is crawling on the walls and ceiling. Taylor opens the curtains, only to find the view obscured by earth, suggesting that the room is underground. Wilson tries to stop Taylor from leaving the room by grabbing his leg but Taylor manages to escape his grasp. He is able to leave the room and enter a second room, which is occupied by drummer Joey Jordison, who is being assisted and nursed by four women. Taylor spectates the scene, but does not interact with anybody, and then leaves the room. Jordison spots his (Taylor's) reflection in a mirror and turns as Taylor exits. He enters a third room that is occupied by sampler and keyboardist Craig Jones. When Taylor enters the room, the video's colours are reversed and remain so throughout the scene. Taylor walks around Jones, who remains immobile throughout, and inspects his mask, touching one of the nails driven into it. Jones lights up a flare, which temporarily blinds Taylor, who then leaves.

Taylor enters a fourth room, which is occupied by bassist Paul Gray. The room is filled with mirrors and when Taylor passes, he is reflected on them along with Gray. Taylor becomes noticeably unnerved and attempts to ascertain whether it is Gray or not by turning away from the mirror and back to it. He then waves and Gray uses the wrong hand, revealing that he is not a reflection. Gray advances, smashing the mirror, and his image appears in all the mirrors, visibly frightening Taylor. Backing away, Taylor falls backwards, and into another room, occupied by percussionist Shawn Crahan, who is dancing with several women. Again, just like in the second room with Jordison, he does not interact with anybody, although two women persuade him to stay.

When Taylor pushes his way into another room, he is met by guitarist Mick Thomson. The two stand off, only for Taylor to fail pushing past Thomson several times. Thomson advances towards Taylor, who bolts though the door he came through. He enters a seventh room which is occupied by guitarist James Root and several women, this time engaged in a pillow fight. Root spots Taylor but seems too caught up in the moment to interact with him. Taylor walks through the crowd into an eighth room, which is occupied by percussionist Chris Fehn, who is lighting candles. Taylor spectates and eventually blows a candle out while Fehn looks on. At the end of the video he emerges from the pit, where Taylor is also digging as shown at the beginning. On November 5, 2009, a 10-minute "short film" version of the video, featuring narration by Corey Taylor was released.

Reception

During album reviews for All Hope Is Gone, "Dead Memories" was remarked upon for its melody and accessibility. Reviewing for Blabbermouth.net, Ryan Ogle says that the track shows Slipknot's diversity, he went on to state it is "well-written and melodious". Total Guitar's writer Nick Cracknell compared "Dead Memories" to the works of Alice in Chains. Dan Martin of The Guardian compared it to "Enter Sandman" by Metallica and went on to say, "[it] is so listenable it's almost conventional". However, Jim Kaz of IGN said that the track almost detracts from the intensity of the album, stating, "it's at this point the band loses a little momentum". In the same vein Ogle of Blabbermouth.net says that it's a track that "lack[s] the white hot fire that allows the rest of the disc to burn our asses". It was nominated for the Kerrang! Award for Best Single. It is the band's second-highest single, behind "Snuff" which peaked at number 2, on the Mainstream Rock tracks chart peaking at number 3. However, on the Active Rock chart, it peaked at number one.

Track listing

1. "Dead Memories" (Full Original Version) – 3:41
2. "Dead Memories" (Full Length Alternative Version) – 4:00
3. "Dead Memories" (Radio Edit) – 4:28

1. "Dead Memories" (Chris Lord-Alge Mix) – 3:58