Corey Taylor is a man that needs no introduction (though he’s going to get one anyway) – from fronting Slipknot and Stone Sour, to acting and writing, there’s seemingly nothing the man won’t stop himself from doing.
When it was announced that he’d (finally) release his long-awaited debut solo album, everyone was excited, and understandably so. After all, both of the bands he fronts are among the best in their respective genres. As such, the bar is set high, but is it too high, or can CMFT live up to the hype?
Well…kind of? Don’t get us wrong, it’s by no means a terrible album, à la Metallica’s LULU – there’s some good tracks in here, namely the singles. HWY 666 is a great country metal song, heavily inspired by The Devil Went Down to Georgia, while Black Eyes Blue’s pop rock ballad vibes will certainly get you singing along. The wah-wah filled, politically aimed Culture Head is sure to make you bob your head (and we’re not linguists by any means, but hearing “niche” pronounced as “nitch” made us cringe a little, even considering the rhyme it fits into), and CMFT Must Be Stopped sees Kid Bookie and Tech N9ne show up, to turn this track into *the* rock/hip-hop collaboration of the decade, like the one Aerosmith and Run-DMC did more than 30 years prior.
Sadly, those are pretty much all of the strengths the album has on offer. The rest of the songs are pretty middle-of-the-road, which isn’t necessarily detrimental, but one would expect more from “THE” Corey Taylor’s debut album. Songs such as the painfully repetitive Meine Lux (Taylor did say this song came to him in a dream, but the finished product is anything but), or the European Tour Bus Bathroom Song, which sounds too much like a drunken pub chant accompanied by guitars and drums, prove that this album isn’t as much of a masterpiece as it’s made out to be.
In the end, while it does show off his personality and wide musical taste, and though it contains some diamonds hidden in the rough, CMFT is a disappointing, middle-of-the-road debut offering from Corey Taylor. Let’s just hope the next one will be better!
6/10
Standout Tracks: HWY 666, Black Eyes Blue, CMFT Must Be Stopped (ft. Kid Bookie & Tech N9ne), Culture Head
For Fans Of: Slipknot, Stone Sour, Five Finger Death Punch, Seether
Written by: Florin Petrut
