"Stone Sour's" "Audio Secrecy' album was released on September 7, 2010 !!!
Let's divide the review of this album into two... the Listener side and the Creative side...
The Listener side...
The band's third album continues the line of its first two albums but with a more refined approach, both in lyrics and music (this is the band's only album without the Parental Advisory sticker). It could be called another stage in the band's development or musical maturity, but it feels a lot less rough and aggressive than the previous ones and the level of production involved is high.
There are fewer "gimmicks" and musical exercises, and the structure of the songs is more moderate (and a bit monotonous) but do not think for a moment that the talents of Jim Root, Josh Rand, Corey Taylor, and Roy Mayorga are not felt or expressed here.
Melodic, pleasant, and poppy songs like "Dying", "Hesitate", "Miracles", "Pieces" and "Imperfect" alongside some aggressive flickers befitting "Stone Sour".
It’s always fun to see a band that is able to change its sound without completely losing its essence or DNA, which is exactly what "Stone Sour" achieved here. They prove that it is possible to make the sound of a rock band bigger without necessarily making it more prominent.
The Creator side...
Here is an example of the record company and management intervening to create something different from what the band wants, and how the impact of business interests is reflected in the work itself.
The band worked for two months on some estate in Nashville to write the album and they were ready to go into the studio to start recording. But hold on to your horses...
The record company did not allow the band to enter the recording studio !!
Atlantic, which was the band's management company at the time, did not allow the band to go in to record because they felt the songs were not good enough. They kept demanding the band work over and over again until they brought the songs they were looking for.
Atlantic required the band to work with producer Rob Cavallo to create a more poppy and approachable album for the mainstream, but nonetheless, the band managed to bring in the producer they are used to working with from previous albums Nick Raskulinecz.
Despite opposition from band members, the management company refused to accept the songs they wrote and forced them to include songs that Corey wrote for his solo album such as "Pieces", "Imperfect" and more, despite opposition from the other band members.
They just "took all the wind out of the sails" and the energy out of the songs.
There were a lot of things on this album that the record company forced the band to do and since Corey and his friends were so eager to release this album they succumbed to a great deal of pressure and dictation.
The mix for the album was also done on the road between "Stone Sour" and "Slipknot" and the members had a very minor impact on it.
No wonder Corey described the album as: "One hiccup in my career"
There is a 45-minute film in the Special Edition version called "MAKING OF AUDIO SECRECY" documenting the recordings of the album, we recommend watching the segment of the recording of the song Miracles (funny...)
For some reason since Corey's announcement of the band's permanent hiatus, its Instagram has not stopped working... Interesting ...
Still, we really like this album and it is worth listening to on: Spotify, Apple Music