Songfacts®:

• Drummer Joey Jordison told Kerrang! magazine June 21, 2008: "'All Hope is Gone' is a classic style Slipknot track pure and simple, but this f--ker is jacked up a few thousand volts! The song, music and theme speak for itself. It's a song about the world at stake: all the situations at hand, be it personal or worldly, and trying turn things into a positive. Sometimes you have to face the grotesque to bring about something amazing."
• This collaborative effort was one of the final songs recorded for the album. Jordison explained to Kerrang!: "I actually demoed this song alone and didn't know what would come of it as were nearing the end of the album. I was hoping it would make it. I knew it would, once everybody spewed their venom on it. A lot of the grind riffs for the verses changed into riffs Paul (Gray, bassist) had years ago, way before Slipknot. Funny how things won't die. Mick (Thomson, guitarist) came in and set fire to the track and Jim (Root, guitarist) followed as well. Once Corey (Taylor, frontman) put his vocals on it, that was it, man. That guy's voice and conviction could sell narcotics to a nun."
• Lead singer Corey Taylor (from Kerrang! July 19, 2008): "A lot of people look at this in a very negative way. And in a lot of ways, it is if you continue to try and solve your problems the same way over and over again. That said, this track is also a reflection of what Slipknot is. Just when you thought you had us all figured out, give up all hope because you're never, ever going to. Besides, we like it that way!"
• The All Hope is Gone album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart but the Iowan nontet nearly lost out to rapper The Game. Originally it was second to The Game's LAX by a mere 13 copies but the official chart monitoring company Soundscan did a recount. Final figures revealed that Slipknot sold 239,516 copies in its first week of sales, 1134 more than the West Coast rapper.
• Joey Jordison was declared in 2010 the #1 rock drummer by Rhythm magazine. Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater came second in the poll, followed by Gavin Harrison of Porcupine Tree.