Corey Taylor’s debut solo album wasn’t quite the sprawl through every sub-genre of rock he could touch as promised. Instead, it was a fairly straightforward rock album with a couple of meanderings, made listenable because of its linchpin and a solid band around him. And while he’s been fairly busy with some other project called Slipknot, he’s managed to deliver another album under his own name with the same band (plus the addition of bassist Eliot Lorango) and long-time collaborator Jay Ruston.
Which is what makes CMF2 another solid entry in Taylor’s burgeoning solo career. It’s more of CMFT with the odd twist and turn whilst managing to sound more refined and focused from a performance standpoint. He’s borrowed the Slipknot formula of an atmospheric opener for the album before kicking down the door. And kick it down he does with “Post Traumatic Blues”. It’s not quite a full-blooded roar you’d hear from him in his day job but it’s decidedly punchier than his Stone Sour vocals and his first solo album, allowing for a rare but welcome and deft left-turn. It’s a display of power; someone who’s approaching fifty can still pull it out of the bag not when he needs to but when he wants to.
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Thankfully, it’s not the only time the album gets ferocious as “All I Want is Hate” is Taylor at his nihilistic best and that’s when he goes full-pelt, backed by a cacophony of machine gun-like drums, sounding unmistakably like Corey motherfucking Taylor. It’s got the punk attitude of “European Tour Bus Bathroom Song” with its gang vocals on the chorus but its intentional lo-fi production has been sanded away to make a fully-fledged number.
However, where the album shines brightest is on the straightforward up-tempo rockers. Like the debut, it’s nothing that hasn’t been done before but Taylor and co. manage to make it significantly better and far more enjoyable to prevent it from falling into the dustbin of genericism. Lead single “Beyond” is a standard fist-pumper that charges ahead remorselessly, full of dynamic range which is built for the start or end of a live set. Meanwhile, “Starmate” kicks it up several gears after the bait-and-switch intro which has Taylor borderline crooning. It quickly gets kicked to the curb for a dark and gritty number, full of intensity as furious drums take centre stage. Elsewhere, “Someday I’ll Change Your Mind” and “Dead Flies” sound like they could have featured on the last Stone Sour album.
Likewise, Taylor has been known how to craft a ballad and even in his tamer moments, there’s emotion and passion pouring from his vocals. Acoustic-led “Breath of Fresh Smoke” has hints of blues within it and the electric guitar on the bridge and solo is taken straight from the Slash playbook. But when Taylor’s vocals belt on the chorus, there’s hints of country tones as a subtle layer, adding extra depth and experimentation without trying to do too much. “Sorry Me” continues the acoustic tones, full of introspection and manages to add in a dynamic edge to evoke hints of “Snuff” without becoming pastiche. “Midnight” is moody and ambient, allowing the introspection to continue without wallowing in it. And “Someday I’ll Change Your Mind” feels a bit more upbeat and could be married perfectly with the right film trailer during its more cinematic and soaring moments.
For a man who has built his career on delivering passionate music whether its anger, anguish or joy, Corey Taylor is able to consistently deliver on it. For an album with a baker’s dozen tracks, there’s maybe one too many slower numbers but it doesn’t bog the album down as the quality is equal across the board on them. CMF2 won’t convert any new members to the church of Corey Taylor nor is it a smorgasbord condensing the past quarter of a century into fifty (ish) minutes for a fan’s wet dream of a listen. It’s more punchy hard rock to follow-up the previous album, just refined into a more solid listen.
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CMF2 is released on 15th September
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