My Bites and Bytes: Stone Sour just shy of golden

Stone Sour - Come What(ever) May

Right off the bat, I have to state that a) I am a huge fan of Slipknot and all the stuff they've done and b) I wasn't a fan of most of the Stone Sour stuff on their first disc and I didn't buy it.

For those of you who are unaware, Slipknot's singer, Corey Taylor and guitarist “Jim Root” are in Stone Sour but that's where the most of the similarities between both bands ends (well, besides both of them being hard rock/metal).

Stone Sour's second effort, Come What(ever) May, brings a wicked blend of hard rock and metal and will hopefully have the same effect on listeners that it did on me - it blew me away.

I have to say that this CD is another rarity, in that you can actually play this disc in its entirety without having to skip any tracks and easily press play when it's over to have another immediate spin.

The lead-off single “30/30-150” was the song that made me take notice and actually, uh, “sample” the disc before I bought it. The song has an excellent trashy guitar line at the beginning that's accentuated with some killer double bass drumming work thanks to special guest, Shannon Larkin from Godsmack. Ugh…Godsmack….don't get me started on those guys.

The song “Sillyworld” happens to be one of my faves because it mixes the whole vibe of the album in one track. I was going to write it off early during a first listen because I thought it was going to be some cliché ballad. Boy was I wrong.

Although the song does start off slow, the build up to the end is killer and is an excellent showcase of Corey's voice and melody writing. His vocals are nailed on all the other tracks as well.

As for the rest of the band, you can really tell that all the musicians actually took part in writing the tunes and arranging. There's just so much diversity and tight playing. We even get some decent guitar solos in a few of the songs.

Overall, I'm very happy that this CD kicked my ass like it did. I hope that if you haven't checked this disc out because you weren't pleased with the band's initial effort that you do so now…or at least sample the aforementioned songs. I'm giving this one a nine out of ten.