Band: Stone Sour
Song: Tired
Album: House Of Gold & Bones Part 1
Genre: Hard Rock, Metal
I'll be honest, I chose this song because it's 3:33 in the morning and I'm tired. I've been putting time into figuring out what an RSS feed is and working on podcast episodes, which has been keeping me up a little bit. It'll be great when it's finally done, but my goodness it's rough right now. So yeah, check out my website from time to time to see if we can manage to get this podcast off the ground, yeah? #SupportMe
It's a really good song though. It really highlights the Alice in Chains influence that members of Stone Sour have in their music. Like, that riff is straight up lifted from some AiC song, I know it. I love it though, seeing they're one of my favorite bands. Anything that mimics that flavor of grunge is cool with me.
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Band: Stone Sour
Song: Sillyworld
Album: Come What(ever) May
Genre: Metal
Language: Mild
Act 4, one of the main headliners!
Honestly, I wasn't sure how I was gonna feel about this show. I know Corey is a pretty terrific showman from his work with Slipknot, but I didn't really know what to expect from a Stone Sour show.
Happily, I was not disappointed.
They played a couple of my favorite songs, they got people to sing along to the intro of Absolute Zero and in general had the second most hyped crowd of the night. Straight up fantastic.
When they got to the last song though is when things got really crazy. Corey did some talking then kicked into Fabuless. I want you to check out that video at least real quick and, if you don't want to watch, skip to the 1 minute point.
As soon as the song kicked in we got greeted with 5 of those waving dudes from used car dealerships. Here's a pic I took. Not too clear, but you can kinda see it.
Band: Stone Sour
Album: Hydrograd
Genre: Metal
Release Date: June 30th, 2017
Well let's start out right off the bat here, Corey Taylor's voice sounds fantastic on this album. Quitting smoking has treated him incredibly well.
Also I still dislike the greaser they picked up as the new guitarist, Christian Martucci. Not just because he's a man who simultaneously looks like the singer from Theory Of A Deadman while also needing to let go of the 40s, but because I'm suspicious he had a hand in the butchery of the solo in their Creeping Death cover. I understand Josh Rand is a huge fan of Metallica and I really hope he isn't the one that gave me this absolutely trash solo that just felt like it was about hitting all the notes, regardless of if they were in key or not.
That being said, this album is actually really solid. While I enjoy the edge that Jim Root brought to the group, the difference between Slipknot and Stone Sour is a lot bigger now. It's been pretty prominent for a while, but the early albums had a couple songs that could have been traded back and forth easily enough, and House Of Gold & Bones had one or two as well.
Listening to this album I'm kinda picking up what Corey had been hyping it as. He was talking about how the album was "flat out Rock ‘n’ Roll in its best form", and I get that vibe from a lot of it. There's a very different feeling to this album than there was to any of the others. There's more songs that are low key, and there's less angry songs in general. I mean there's some really obvious examples of solid old school SS songs, but one the whole it's just more subdued than previous work.
While I did trash on their new guitarist for that Creeping Death solo, his work on this album is pure gold. I may not have liked a couple of the songs here and there, but I can't deny that the guitar work was amazing across the board. The band has really hit a solid groove with this album that I was worried they wouldn't hit again.
The Tracks:
After that intro track we hit Taipei Person/Allah Tea, and while it grooves in a different way than other Stone Sour tracks of the past I can't actually say that it's bad. It's a solid new step in their sound that actually is managing to get me excited about the band again; something I lost with the back to back cover albums.
The album starts out really strong in this way. It's clear that they put their songs that sound more typical to their sound closer to the beginning to make sure to draw you in and "trick" you into liking the rest of the album. Let's be real, fans are brutal when it comes to bands "having the nerve" to change their traditional sound. I mean heck, the intro riff to the song Hydrograd even sounds similar to Absolute Zero for a second to help make that bridge feel stronger. Not for long, but that initial walk is there for sure.
Song #3, which is actually the 5th song on the album is one I don't like as much. I heard it as one of the singles released for the album a while ago and I gotta be honest, in my mind it sealed Stone Sour's doom to the radio rock folder of music, and that made me really sad. Listening to it in the context of the rest of the album I know it was definitely made to be one of the radio singles, but happily, it doesn't reflect the rest of the album as a whole.
Fabuless is a very classic sound for sure. I feel like it's a really good song to have put after Song #3 to make sure they don't lose people who are listening through the album. The harmonies and song structure are incredibly reminiscent of House of Gold & Bones 1 & 2. Outside of lyrical differences I could see them getting put in as one of the tracks there.
Don't get your nostalgia hats on too quick though, cause we switch back to the newer sound in The Witness Trees. It's not the radio feel of #3, but it's not as typical a Stone Sour song as say, track 3, Knievil Has Landed.
Rose Red Violent Blue (This Song Is Dumb & So Am I). What a title. Dude. The song is ok, but also another one that's solid for radio, but not much else in my opinion. I find it's musical theme to be a little all over the place.
Thank God It's Over is a good one though. It's a rather straightforward tune, but not like, in a bad way. It feels like a placeholder that's supposed to sit toward the end of the album and, go figure, that's where it sits. For what it is, it's a good song.
St. Marie on the other hand is... Acoustic. Not in a good way like Bother, some of the crappy songs on Come What(ever) May, or anything like that. It's like, a country song. Corey's voice fits it well, but I feel like the song has no place on the album. It could be a bonus track on some special edition, or like, just a song Corey plays on his book tours, just not here.
Mercy grants us it's aptly named mercy in getting us far away from the track that shouldn't be here. It has that heavy bass line groove that Stone Sour uses so well and even though I'm not a huge fan of the flow of the vocals in this song it fits in with the new album's tone very well.
Whiplash Pants worried me at first with how low it starts out, but it manages to pull back into their classic heavy sound again. It highlights something I'm really not sure of for the album though, so many of the songs have an into that I feel doesn't really fit the rest of the song. I'm fine with contrasting intros, but there's just so many of them on this album.
That scratchy raspy lead tone on Friday Knights is dope though. The verse pulls back down again to the clean sound, but while the song is up it holds it's own as one of my favorite tracks on the album.
Somebody Stole My Eyes is probably the angriest song on the album. Check out the into up till about the 30 second point. It's all go go go but then Corey says the word "stop" and it feels like the song just takes a breath. It's so slick, just a solid piece of work in general.
When The Fever Broke is the last track and SS decides to leave you on a sad note. The track is a little ethereal with a haunting guitar lead that kinda floats through it. It's a really bold move to end on that I'm glad they did. For people like me that went into the album expecting to hate it the song helps end me on a song that's a heavier dose of the new than the old, bringing the whole experience together. The structure of the album just feels like it was leading to this point, and then it rounds off really well.
As far as angry songs go, all we really have on the album are Fabuless, Whiplash Pants, and Somebody Stole My Eyes. Heck, they aren't even angry the whole way through like their old school angry tunes. That's not bad since the first album was probably the only album they released that was all hard, but it's the sound I associate with them a lot.
The Wrap-up:
Long story short, I suppose if you're looking for "old" Stone Sour, you're probably gonna be disappointed. It's not like their old stuff, this is a new face for the group. I'm not mad though, I think this is a solid direction for them. While I'll miss the brutal material of the first album, the edge of the concept albums, and the sheer enjoyability of Come What(ever) May, I think this is the right path for these guys to take. It makes sense with how Corey is getting older that he wouldn't try to keep up with 2 really intense bands at once, and if he's gonna calm down somewhere it would be here. And the most important part of that is that they didn't totally sell out to do it.
There's a few tracks I wouldn't have put on here, but as a new path for the band I guess I'm not really mad about it. It's a package deal and, when it comes down to it, it's not all bad. I don't even think I really missed Jim Root by the end of the album, it all worked together really well.
It's a solid album that's worth a listen, so go ahead and give it an hour of your time.
Band: Stone Sour
Genre: Metal, Alternative
Language: Some
This is a rather depressing song honestly. I never really remember how much of a downer it is until I listen to it, but it's really really good.
I know a lot of people say this, but old Stone Sour like this is so much better than the new stuff. They recently put out a cover album that was mostly disappointing to be totally honest. The songs they chose to cover were only ok, and the guitar work on some of them is just sad. They never should have kicked out Jim Root.
This is a good one from the first album though, so it's safe. It's not their usual sound, much more chill. Really feels kinda like an Alice In Chains song.
Yo, I feel like I've only scratched the surface with a lot of bands like this that I've posted a few times so let's return to a couple more frequently posted artists that I happen to know a relatively large amount about compared to some of the other artists that I only know a couple of their songs.
I mean we should talk about the album this is on first. For the most part in this 2 part album there is a track that is at least similar to another between parts 1 and 2. It's a rather cool dynamic actually, I'd advise checking the whole album if you have the time. It's got a whole story that goes on, rather cool stuff.
This song kinda mirrors A Rumor Of Skin from Part 1. You'll really hear the similarity around the 3:22 mark, so there ya go. You've gotta listen to all of Do Me A Favor yourself though, I'm not gonna help you there. I can't ruin all the fun, right?
Those of you who've followed me for a while, or at least since halfway through the A to Z might remember Stone Sour. They are the band with Corey Taylor and Jim Root of Slipknot, and that the follow a generally angry, but versatile style.
This song comes off of an absolutely fantastic album called Come What(ever) May. I like it a lot, it's got a gigantic amount of killer songs on it and if you're a fan of Hard Rock or Metal I'd strongly advise you check it out.
You guys are lucky, you get a double album for "H"!
Stone Sour is a Metal band fronted by Slipknot singer Corey Taylor. They're really a pretty good band and have put out at least 1 song that you'll know, Through Glass.
The albums we have today are a 2 part story that is meant to be listened to along with a story that comes in the album booklet. It follows a character named Alan and his adventures through another world.
Musically these are really solid albums with a lot of dynamic, so I'll give you some of the best tracks. I don't know the first album as well, so there are a few other tracks that I like on it that I'm just not sure which they are.
Part 1
Gone Sovereign + Absolute Zero
RU486
Part 2
Red City
Black John
Gravesend
'82
Do Me A Favor
House of Gold & Bones
This album was strongly influenced by Alice In Chain's album "Dirt" and Pink Floyd's album "The Wall"
This is a band that was a side project of Jim Root and Corey Taylor of Slipknot up till recently (meaning Root quit this band) and they have some pretty good music. It's a way for Corey to display his vocal talent better, and Root got to work with guitarist Josh Rand with different things going on.
The band also has Roy Mayorga on drums, who is a freaking beast. He manages to keep the drum sound full without overplaying up the wazoo. It's pretty cool.
This song starts with a voice mail that was left on Taylor's phone one night from a couple members of the band who were up late drinking and keeping an eye on the band's equipment. Though they doubted he would do this, he managed to save the voice mail and had it put at the beginning of this song. It's amazing.
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