Stone Sour has dropped their second EP of 2015, Straight Outta Burbank. Another cover album with songs from five different iconic bands that has influenced each member. The EP was a Record Store Day Release which happened on November 27th, 2015 and was only available at locations throughout certain Record Store Day venues.
To get your hands on the new Stone Sour release, you needed to visit your favourite local music store. If you picked up your copy of Straight Outta Burbank (2015), this more than likely meant you had to weed through the aisles of hemp material made scarves, someone telling someone else they’re a vegan, insanely curly mustachios, and of course people taking selfies with the shop’s vinyls for their Instagram pages (#recordstore #vintage #hipster). Though the album seemed tricky to get your hands on in Canada, at least in my neck of the woods, fear not as the band released the digital copy to iTunes December 11th, 2015.
Straight Outta Burbank is the second EP of the Burbank Trilogy. The first being Meanwhile in Burbank which was released in April earlier this year and didn’t get a whole lot of notoriety. It seemed somewhat pushed aside as it was just covers. That album did have a cover of Love Gun by KISS and was spectacular. However, the second time around ears have perked up as the newest set of covers have quite a different range.
The album begins abruptly with an all-to-familiar riff and tone only recognized as Sailin’ On from Bad Brains self titled debut album released in 1982. It was surprising, but refreshing to hear a band like Stone Sour touch a song like this. This is one of the tracks that stood out most to me; it’s raw, memorable and is a something that many fans will appreciate hearing played at this calibre. The band nailed it; they kept it original but allowed themselves to add their own brand. It could be Corey Taylor’s signature voice, but you are very aware you’re listening to Stone Sour, and that’s not a bad thing.
Gimmie Shelter, the classic and very well known Rolling Stones song seemed to be the song most people took to when listening to the EP, more than likely because it is one of the more widely known songs that the album contains. Corey shares the duty of lead vocals on the cover with contributions from Lzzy Hale, vocalist and guitarist of Halestorm. Her voice brings a certain range that feels totally necessary for this song and the duo compliment each other well. Hopefully the two connect again and work together again on future original projects.
Throughout the album, it seems Stone Sour is having a blast with the songs, especially guitarists Josh Rand and Christian Martucci. The two work well together through the five songs and do a great job of not over playing on the covers, sticking really well with the originals, and showing homage to the musicians who wrote the songs. The groups rendition of Slayer’s, Season’s In the Abyss was kept classic, allowing the inspirations of late Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King to shine through, giving the feeling of nostalgia and almost commemorating Hanneman.
Stone Sour’s covers of Iron Maiden’s, Running Free, and Mötley Crüe’s, Too Fast For Love, both songs off of the respected band’s debut albums, are catchy but just didn’t give the same wow factor or sense of intrigue that the other songs inspire. Though I had to wait a couple weeks before being able to purchase Straight Outta Burbank online, I would recommend picking up the album. It’s a great listen and it’s interesting to hear a newer generation perform the classics they themselves grew up on.
Whether you download Straight Outta Burbank or brave the Starbucks and UGG Boots equipped record store girls to get your hands on the hard copy, you won’t regret the purchase, hell, maybe you’ll want to take a selfie with it – to each their own.
Rating: [star rating=”4″]