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“Meanwhile In Burbank” by Stone Sour

Artist: Stone Sour
Title: “Meanwhile In Burbank” EP
Label: Roadrunner Records
Release Date: 4/18/2015
Genre: Hard Rock
Rating: 4/5

Though I’ve not really been following the adventures of Stone Sour over these last couple of years I still consider myself a fan and will gladly discuss the bands music when the means and time permits me to do so. I’ve always enjoyed their sound and the different band that it is from Taylor’s main project Slipknot. Now before I get into this one, I should admit that I had some hesitation when I learned about their releasing a short covers EP. There was a time a few years ago where the CD section of the brick and mortar outlets were loaded with them since it seemed like everyone was offering up their own take on other groups classic tracks. Truth be told, some of them were solid while others fell short and when I read more about this one by Stone Sour I was more receptive since the band was offering up tracks that were special to them as young music fans. The bands they chose were definitely very relevant with Alice In Chains, Judas Priest, KISS, Metallica and the mighty Black Sabbath. Let’s take a quick overview to the release.

The album begins with Corey offering up his best mimic of the late, great Layne Staley and while it sounded fine to me, it only made me miss Layne’s voice all the more. Musically this was a lock and the rest of the guys keep in proper sync, especially on the dual choruses which is an important factor in any cover of an AIC track. They follow this with Judas Priests classic “Heading Out To The Highway” and while pretty close to a three decades long Priest fan have not felt this one to be my favorite track from their catalog. Sure I will sing along and raise the Metal horns, but would this be a proper Stone Sour cover? I was concerned about the high note hit by the Metal God Rob Halford at the close of the chorus and wouldn’t you know he manages to hit it without any apparent effort. Was this studio magic? I have no idea since I’ve never seen the band try this one in concert. The Metallica staple of “Creeping Death” is as straightforward as it comes and everyone played commendably and speaking of playing, this is actually the first Stone Sour recording to feature guitarist Christian Martucci and bassist Johny Chow.

The whole thing closes up with Black Sabbath’s “Children Of The Grave” which has remained one of my very favorite tracks of the bands catalog. There is such a solid groove to this one and drummer Roy Mayorga not only emulates Bill Ward with precision but also adds some of his own drumming flair to the mix that I liked a whole lot. Taylor sings this one well and overall I found him to be even more of a versatile singer than before. Fans of the band should rally behind this since it’s a lot of fun and isn’t much longer than twenty minutes and I am sure you can devote that much time to a band that you like or are a little curious about. Well done.

Track Listing:
1. We Die Young (Alice In Chains)
2. Heading Out To The Highway (Judas Priest)
3. Love Gun (KISS)
4. Creeping Death (Metallica)
5. Children Of The Grave (Black Sabbath)

Official Website: http://www.stonesour.com

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