Worked on new album

IME then went to work on the proper new album in 2002 with producer David Bottrill (alongside Jag Tanna), taking only a short break to headline the “Canadian MTV Campus Invasion Tour”, then releasing a song as a preview of the new material. The song “Juicy” was pressed as a promo single for the Vin Diesel movie xXx , and despite no push from the label and no video, it received rock radio airplay on its own. It was later included on The Quicksilver Meat Dream , released in early 2003. The album was an even larger departure from past works, with industrial elements replacing the Latin percussion (but not Mansilla, who still toured with the band), and a heavier, more progressive sound than ever before. Universal was unimpressed with the nearly finished product and demanded radio-friendly singles, so IME returned to the studio to appease it. Lead single “Like the Sun” was another Canadian rock hit, but despite its popularity, it failed to sell the record. Due to the dismal sales and arguments with the Tannas over the direction of IME, Universal withdrew all support from the band, leaving it to fund small tours and second single “No Coma” on its own. The song failed to be officially added to rock radio, the video received very limited play, and the band decided to end the album’s run after only seven months. The band provided the theme songs for the MuchMusic TV shows Much on Demand and MuchLOUD , but otherwise went unheard in the media for the rest of the year. Universal officially dropped IME at the end of 2003. In November 2003, I Mother Earth performed a special show in Barrie, Ontario, entitled “Live off the Floor”. Largely considered by those present as their greatest live performance, the intimate, nearly four-hour show featured the band performing in the round of the Georgian College venue, with the crowd on all sides. IME played most of its back catalogue at the show, and it was thought to be the band’s final performance.