Away from the horror movie masks of his day job as the frontman of Slipknot, Corey Taylor sounds like a man unshackled on his debut solo album. Talking recently to Kerrang!, the 46-year-old said it is “definitely the most upbeat, joyful album that I’ve done in God knows how long” — and that is something that shines through on almost every song.
You can practically hear Taylor’s wicked grin as the record pummels its way through classic rock chugs and finger-shredding solos. It means that on the rare occasion he furrows his brow, it sits rather oddly.
Over the grimy riffs of Culture Head, he blasts religious hypocrisy (“So f*** you and you and you and you and you,” he growls in that trademark roar). And there are some duds, like the bleary-eyed piano ballad of Home, where his XL voice sounds like it’s trying to fit into an XS T-shirt.
But mostly it’s refreshing to hear him not taking things too seriously — after all, the album title, CMFT, stands for “Corey mother-f***ing Taylor”. Samantha’s Gone has a beer-soaked singalong of a chorus, while Kansas is straightforward, rose-tinted rock. It’s all hand-claps and key changes, and it’s great fun.
