‘House of Gold and Bones Part 2’ Stone Sour Album Track List Revealed

Stone Sour have revealed the artwork and track listing to their upcoming album release, ‘House of Gold and Bones Part 2’. The album is due to be released in April, and follows on from ‘House and Gold and Bones’, which was released in October last year.

The track listing is as follows:

12. Red City
13. Black John
14. Sadist
15. Peckinpah
16. Stalemate
17. Gravesend
18. ‘82
19. The Uncanny Valley
20. Blue Smoke
21. Do Me A Favor
22. The Conflagration
23. The House Of Gold & Bones

Stone Sour are playing Download Festival in Donington in June.

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Papa Roach and Stone Sour at O2 Academy Brixton 10/12/12

Opening with ‘Still Swinin’’ from their latest album ‘The Connection’, Papa Roach instantly proved the crowd were in for an incredible night of live music. Jacoby Shaddix’s vocals were on top form, and he seemed genuinely excited to be on stage and perform for the first UK date of their December tour. They played a well-varied setlist, including ‘…To Be Loved’, ‘Getting Away With Murder’ and possibly their most famous song, ‘Scars’. Ending their set with the angry anthem ‘Last Resort’, they played a great set for fans both old and new. Papa Roach are a hugely underrated live band and put on a strong live show.

Stone Sour rocked the world in October with their new album ‘House of Gold and Bones – Part One’, and tonight in London they rocked the whole of the O2 Academy. Corey Taylor has an incredible stage presence; it’s almost impossible to take your eyes of him whilst he’s singing. With both strong screaming vocals and softer singing vocals, he’s the ultimate metal singer. Stone Sour opened their set with ‘Gone Sovereign’ and ‘Absolute Zero’, the first two songs from their latest album. Partway through their set Corey Taylor exclusively revealed that  the rumors were in fact true: Stone Sour are playing at Download Festival at Donington Park in 2013. Jim Root is an incredible guitarist and makes even the hardest of riffs look effortless. Stone Sour played a great setlist, packed full of both old and new songs, including ‘Orchids’, ‘Made of Scars’ and ‘Reborn’. ‘A Rumor of Skin’, one of their newer songs, is incredibly powerful to watch live and the crowd definitely enjoyed themselves, with moshpits filling the sold-out O2 Academy. For the encore Corey Taylor came on stage with an acoustic guitar and played songs such as ‘Bother’ and ‘Through Glass’, which was very moving. Stone Sour are amazing live, and their set at Download Festival is definitely not one to be missed!

Check out Papa Roach here: http://www.facebook.com/paparoach?fref=ts
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Corey Taylor at Download Festival 9/6/12

Corey Taylor is an amazingly versatile musician; famous for screaming in Slipknot, singing in Stone Sour, and more recently in the past year, playing intimate acoustic solo shows. Opening with ‘Bother’, originally a Stone Sour song, he amazed the crowd with his beautiful voice and guitar skills. He played an acoustic version of Slipknot’s ‘Spit It Out’, which actually sounded great, and instead of asking people to sit on the ground then jump up, as he does when he plays the song with Slipknot, he asked everyone to hop on one leg, causing great amusement to the crowd. He debuted a song from the new Stone Sour album, saying it was the first time it had been played live, which was called ‘Taciturn’ and proved Stone Sour are going to be back and better than ever. After playing songs by his two bands, he proceeded to play covers of his favourite songs, including a flawless version of Pink Floyd’s ‘Comfortably Numb’. Lzzy Hale of Halestorm joined Corey on stage for a mind-blowing performance of AC/DC’s ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’. Lzzy’s voice was raw and powerful, matching Corey’s perfectly. Ending with ‘Outsider’ by The Ramones, Corey Taylor proved in this amazing but short set what an incredible musician he is, and how we should definitely keep a look out for many more exciting things to come.

Corey Taylor at the HMV Institute, 13th July 2011

On the 13th July 2011 I was lucky enough to see my favourite musician, Corey Taylor, perform an exclusive concert at the HMV Institute in Birmingham. Before the concert I went to his book signing at Waterstones for his book 'Seven Deadly Sins' and I was able to meet the man himself. He was lovely and truly listened to what I had to say and appreciated my support. He is a truly amazing man and I have the greatest respect for him.

The concert started with a brief introduction from Corey Taylor, and he then read part of a chapter from his book, 'Seven Deadly Sins'. It was amazing to listen to the book being read aloud by the author himself, and further emphasised the unique perspective Corey has on life due to his wide range of experiences. His accent is beautiful and he put on an incredible performance.

After reading a section of his book, Corey had a 'question and answer session', in which the crowd were welcome to ask any questions they had for the Slipknot and Stone Sour front man. One heartfelt moment was when someone asked about his favourite memory of Paul (Gray, bassist of Slipknot who passed away last year) and he descended into a story about them going to 'Disney World' and him scaring Paul on the roller-coasters when he was already terrified (and the thought of Slipknot at such a place seemed rather amusing). After he had finished informing us of his memories of the amazingly talented bassist, a crowd chant of 'Paul Gray' started and Corey started crying and thanked everyone for their support during such a hard time. The future of Slipknot was also questioned, to which he answered that he hadn't healed after the death of his brother and that is was unable to think so far ahead into the future. He was also questioned about his different attitudes towards music whilst in Stone Sour and Slipknot, to which he replied 'When I write a song I can just tell which band it is for...Snuff was always going to be a Slipknot song and 30/30 150 was always going to be  for Stone Sour'. The true meaning of '30/30 150' was revealed; contrast to popular belief it is not about a gun, it was Corey's measurements in high school. 

After a short break Corey came back on stage accompanied with an acoustic guitar. He performed his beautiful version of 'Wicked Game' (originally by Chris Isaak), 'Jolene' (originally by Ray LaMontage) and even 'Nutshell' (originally by Alice in Chains). As he was in Birmingham he decided to cover 'Paranoid' by Black Sabbath, which was very interesting and very different to the original. He played 'Bother' by his band Stone Sour which was incredibly heartfelt and an emotional song that suited Corey's voice perfectly. His cover of 'Freebird' by Lynyrd Skynyrd was astounding and was probably my favourite song of the night; it was just so passionate. Corey brought his son on stage and even sang a cover of the 'Spongebob Squarepants' theme song, which was very amusing and showed he had a good sense of humour. His acoustic version of 'Spit it Out' (by his band Slipknot) was amazing; who knew metal could sound so good acoustic?  His cover of Pearl Jam's 'Black' was incredible and it became obvious throughout the night what bands inspired him and who he admired. He ended the concert with a cover of 'Everlong' by Foo Fighters, which was beautifully calm and emotional. 

All in all, it was a fantastic night and I've gained even more respect for Corey Taylor. 

Hellyeah, Avenged Sevenfold and Stone Sour 28/10/10

Last night I went to go and watch Hellyeah, Avenged Sevenfold and Stone Sour at the Birmingham N.I.A. It was an incredible gig, although it was a rather strange line-up. As much as I love Avenged Sevenfold and Stone Sour, I would have never imagined them playing a gig together a musically they are not that similar. However, I am glad that they did as the atmosphere was incredible. As it was a co-headline tour, Avenged Sevenfold and Stone Sour took it in turns to play last at each gig; tonight was Stone Sour's turn.

The doors opened at 5.30pm, which is extremely early as doors usually open around 7.00pm. As they opened so early, anticipation seemed to build up very quickly amongst the crowd of thousands (I think I remember M. Shadows saying there were 13,000 people attending). After what seemed like years of waiting, Hellyeah arrived on stage at around 7.30pm, greeted by many screaming fans. They opened with ‘Hellyeah’, which was so catchy that even people in the crowd that didn't know who they were found themselves singing along. They then interacted with the crowd, then played 'Matter of Time' and 'Cowboy Way'. They informed the audience that they loved to drink before playing 'Hell of a Time', 'You Wouldn't Know' and 'Stampede'. They then paid tribute to the late Dimebag Darrell and played 'Alcohaulin' Ass', inviting the crowd to sing along with them if they knew the words. As a couple of the members of Hellyeah were in bands with Dimebag Darrell, you could hear the pure emotion in Chad Gray's voice as he paid tribute to the legend. As Chad is also the lead singer Mudvayne, it was amazing to hear how versatile his voice is and to see a different side to him than what is portrayed of him in Mudvayne (don't get me wrong, I love Mudvayne, but I love singers who are versatile and can have completely different personas). All in all, they were an exciting live band and who sound a thousand times better live than on CD. Since seeing them live, I have become a big fan.

After Hellyeah finished their set, the vibe in the crowd was extremely tense. You could tell what everyone was thinking; what would Avenged Sevenfold be like without The Rev? As the first few notes of 'Nightmare' started to play, the tension was building higher and higher. As soon as the guitars kicked in the pyrotechnics started and the crowd went wild. M. Shadows has such an amazing stage presence that you cannot help but to have your eyes glued to him. They then played 'Critical Acclaim', which the lighting and pyrotechnics were even more impressive than for the opening. The set was also amazing; the album cover for 'Nightmare' (with the bigger 'rev' in 'forever' on the gravestone for the late James Sullivan) and cemetery gates around the stage where fire came out. Before 'Welcome to the Family' M. Shadows asked who hadn't seen Avenged Sevenfold before, heard many screams then replied with "Where the fuck have you guys been our whole lives? Welcome to the fucking family!" As this is many people's favourite song from the album, the mosh-pits were insane. Well, thousands of people who had been waiting for so long to see Avenged Sevenfold, what do you expect other than complete craziness? They then played the classic 'Beast and the Harlot' then 'Buried Alive'. The set then changed to a beautiful picture of M.Shadows and The Rev and M. Shadows went into a heart-felt speech about The Rev and thanked the crowd for keeping Avenged Sevenfold strong and welcoming The Rev's favourite drummer (Mike Portnoy - ex-Dream Theater) and went on to play 'So Far Away' as a tribute to The Rev. It was a beautiful moment and the raw emotion in the lyrics and M.Shadow's voice was enough to bring the strongest of people to tears. Near the end of the song M.Shadows asked everyone to raise their lighters and mobiles to the sky to show The Rev; it was incredible. They then played 'Afterlife', and the set went back to the album cover, then M.Shadows asked who in the crowd was religious. He then said that the next song was the most religious song he'd ever written; it was 'God Hates Us'. M.Shadow's screaming was actually very good, however it was not as heavy as it sounded on the album version. 'Unholy Confessions' was then played and as the circle pit was crazy, M.Shadow's said that the audience could pick between 'Almost Easy' and 'Bat Country'; it was a resounding vote for 'Bat Country' and it was an amazing song to finish their set with.

After another half an hour wait, the lights dimmed and an unexpected song played before Stone Sour came on; I think it was a song from Star Wars, however I'm not completely sure about that. Stone Sour then came on an opened with 'Mission Statement'. Corey then interacted with the crowd before playing 'Reborn'. He then asked the crowd to go crazy for the next song; 'Made of Scars', which sounded very heavy and started many mosh-pits. Then, much to the joy of many screaming girls, Stone Sour played their beautiful recent single; 'Say You'll Haunt Me'. They then continued the mix of old and new songs with 'Get Inside', 'Unfinished' and 'Your God'. The rest of the band then left the stage whilst Corey stayed on to play the incredibly emotional song 'Bother' (which was written for his father as he only met him for the first time a few years ago). He also stayed alone on stage to play the most popular Stone Sour track; 'Through the Glass'. Although this song is overplayed on many music channels it was extremely passionate and beautiful live. The rest of the band then rejoined Corey back on stage to play 'The Bitter End'. Corey then announced that he was going to play the next future single; 'Digital (Did You Tell)', which you could tell from the crowd's reaction that it was going to be a very popular single and it should hopefully make Stone Sour make a high entry in the charts. They then played 'Hell and Consequences' and they finally finished with '30/30-150'. At the end of their set, lots of confetti came out of huge cannons on either side of the stage and Corey promised that Stone Sour would be back to Birmingham soon.

All in all, it was an incredible concert and although the acts seemed unlikely to tour together, it actually worked really well and I did not see or speak to one disappointed person with any of the acts.