What many people don't know is that Stone Sour was the original project, not Slipknot; Slipknot just happened to become famous faster. But in Stone Sour, you can see more introspection, more elegant pain in Taylor's lyrics, and more musical exploration than Slipknot's traditional pounding double-percussion hits. Musically, it's the better band, especially with Taylor's characteristic clean-to-scream vocals winding through Jim Root's intricate guitar solos.
The latest record, which is part one of a two-act concept album (part two to be released in May), doesn't disappoint. While it's definitely angrier than 2010's Audio Secrecy, with more of a punk sensibility on tracks like "Absolute Zero" and "RU486," there are also the delicate piano and acoustic guitar of "The Travelers (Part One)" and "Taciturn."
I'll be honest: When I played the opening track, "Gone Sovereign," I was a little underwhelmed: it sounded like a harder-edged version of Slipknot's "Snuff." But everything spiraled upward from there. This album is indeed a journey, and by the end of it, you feel like that journey is your own.
Taylor recently said in a Loudwire interview: “It’s really a morality play. It’s about a person trying to find himself, or herself. You know, everyone in their lives finds themselves inevitably at a crossroads when it comes to personal evolution and whatnot. Trying to figure out what they want to do with the rest of their lives.”
With the recent fizzle of record-now-release-later multi-part albums such as Green Day's recent three-part set, I had grown wary of the genre. But this is one album sequel I am definitely anticipating.
My favorite tracks: "RU486," "Last of the Real," "The Travelers (Part One)"
No comments:
Post a Comment