STONE SOUR – Come What(Ever) May

With a band named after a strong drink, Des Moines, Iowa, USA-based Stone Sour’s new album Come What(Ever) May (produced by Nick Raskulinecz — Foo Fighters) is a hard-hitting album with some nice mellow tunes between the assaults. Originally formed in 1992 by Corey Taylor and then-drummer Joel Ekman, Stone Sour has now released their second album, and that’s 14 years since the beginning, but only two years since their debut album, Stone Sour. In 1997, a burned-out Corey Taylor left Stone Sour to join Slipknot, and James Root soon followed. Shawn Economaki also left to join the Slipknot crew as stage manager. Stone Sour seemed dead. In 2000, Josh Rand approached Taylor with some new ideas for songs, and they began writing again. They got the old members back, and released their first album. A history like this shows great determination and love for music, and for Stone Sour, and those points gets through via their new album. With a new drummer on board, Roy Mayorga, Stone Sour is ready to promote Come What(Ever) May during 2006 and 2007.

Being the little brother of Slipknot, Stone Sour shows more variety in musical style. At their hardest, they sound like Slipknot, but then again, on some songs they’re more along the likes of Grunge.

The album blasts off with the intense “30/30-150,” a great rocker with an amazingly cool chorus. The song resembles classic “mainstream” Slipknot tunes such as “Before I Forget” and “The Nameless.” A great album opener.

Next up is “Come’ What(Ever) May,” a Foo Fighters/Queens Of The Stone Age merged with Korn kind of song … hard riffs and a melodic chorus. “Hell & Consequences” has yet another Slipknot feel to it… it is a great song, maybe the strongest track on the entire album. You’ll be humming the chorus after just one listening. The guitar solo on this track is also very amusing.

Fourth up, “Sillyworld,” is a radio-friendly proposal to female listeners. A boring, soft rocker that you’d typically hear Nickelback doing, the song could also fit quite well in Get A Grip by Aerosmith.

”Made Of Scars” turns up the Metal knob again… dark verses and a melodic and catchy chorus make this song destined to be great live. “Reborn” follows the same recipe as “Made Of Scars,” only with a more upbeat chorus and screaming from Mr. Taylor. The album continues with “Your God,” where the verses are sung softly and the band plays down and quietly, but again there are hard choruses. Stone Sour makes great Metal/Rock songs, but once you have heard one, you basically have heard them all.

”Through Glass,” a soft rocker with acoustic guitars, works for this the album, as it is good to let listeners’ ears have a brake from Taylor’s screaming on the other songs. It’s a classic power ballad, and it’s funny to hear a soft side from this Metal band. “Socio” is a cool song where you’ll bang your head when listening to the chorus, and the verse sounds like Red Hot Chili Peppers combined with Tool.

“1st Person” is yet another song that the “maggots” will love! Taylor and Root could easily play this tune with their other band. Actually, Stone Sour writes those kinds of tracks better than Slipknot because you don’t get bothered with all the scratching and other sound effects.

”Cardiff,” an filler track which should not be on the album, is a boring song that doesn’t lead anywhere. They deliver the same product as they’ve did previously — soft verses, and a Nickelback chorus. It’s not what you expect from Iowa, but then again this is also what is exciting about Stone Sour. They play whatever they want. The last song on the album is “Zzyzx Rd.,” a mellow song with piano. It seems they tried to do what Zakk Wylde did with Black Label Society on Hangover Music Vol. VI, the difference is that Zakk made it work, and this song just sounds corny.

Stone Sour Come What(Ever) May is an “alright” album overall — the first half is great, then it just gets boring. Unfortunately, there are just too many fillers on this album with just a couple of killers like “30/30-150” and “Hell & Consequences.”

Members:
– Corey Taylor – Vocals
– James Root – Guitar
– Josh Rand – Guitar
– Shawn Economaki – Bass
– Roy Mayorga – Drums