Stone Sour

Was it the ignominy of a life behind masks, or the fact that their fans were known as "maggots" that drove Corey Taylor and James Root to give Slipknot the slip for a while? Whatever it was, Taylor and Root have suckled up to the side-project sow and taken to the road with Stone Sour, the band that Taylor co-founded ten years ago but ditched in favor of Slipknot. There are some major differences between the two bands. While Slipknot pretty much pummels its listeners, Stone Sour is more riff- and performance-oriented. By "performance" here, of course, we mean musical rather than visual, even when the band follows the typical alt-rock song pattern of alternating between moody, uncluttered verses and roaring, guitar-blasting choruses. Taylor shows that he can sing as well as scream, and while most of the attention is on his melodic (for him) vocals, it's the masterful riff work of guitarists Root and Josh Rand and the solid bass of Shawn Economaki that truly bring something interesting to the table.