Stone Sour

Consider Stone Sour the yin to Slipknot’s yang. While frontman Corey Taylor and guitarist Jim Root raise hell on earth with the depraved metal anthems that have become Slipknot’s trademark, in Stone Sour they opt for a more level-headed approach to the sonic spectrum. They color that spectrum brilliantly on sophomore release “Come What(ever) May,” banging with the best of them on breakneck opener “30/30-150,” and closing the album with “Zzyzx Rd,” a piano-paced introspective meltdown that bellies Bob Seger’s epic “Turn the Page” up against Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird.” The album is one of the year’s standout efforts, and the band – Taylor, Root, guitarist Josh Rand, bassist Shawn Economaki and drummer Roy Mayorga – will be unveiling the material on this summer’s Family Values tour, sharing a stage with Korn, the Deftones, Flyleaf and Dir En Gray. The tour stops in East Troy at the Alpine Valley Music Theater Aug. 26 – Jim Root offered Maximum Ink this exclusive interview to help pass the time…

The Goo Goo Dolls

From their days as an indie-rock band with punk roots on an upstart Metal Blade Records in the late-‘80s, to their present status as one of the premier Top 40 rock bands in America, the Goo Goo Dolls have been defined by a single constant: Damn-near perfect songs. With the May release of Let Love In, the band’s eighth studio album and tenth release overall, frontman John Rzeznik and bassist Robby Takac have returned with eleven tracks ripe for radio and primed to conquer mainstream America. Days after completing a six-week club tour that debuted the new material, Maximum Ink caught up with the bassist to discuss the evolution of the Goo Goo Dolls, and life as a pop culture staple.

Eagles Of Death Metal

Just when it seemed that rock ‘n’ roll was destined to be overrun by mall rats and emo-chic haircuts, Eagles of Death Metal have returned with no pretense and nothing to pretend. From the sexy-as-fuck swagger that swings through the ‘70s-inspired rock ‘n’ roll sound of new release Death By Sexy, to the sexier-than-thou mustache that frontman Jesse Hughes sports as a proud vestige of his manhood, it’s all part of a much bigger picture: “This ain’t no Bible study, it’s rock ‘n’ roll. I came here to shake my dick and have a good time,” boasts Hughes, who started EODM with his best friend, Queens of the Stone Age frontman and EODM drummer Josh Homme. Sitting backstage at the Coachella Valley Music Festival, an annual musical mecca held not far from the frontman’s Palm Springs home in the Southern California desert, Hughes juggles our discussion amongst a seemingly endless sea of friends, fans and family, and amidst the din of the dissident sounds of bands as varied as reggae throwback Damien Marley, hip-hop heavyweight Kanye West, DJs Carl Cox and Daft Punk, and more emotive indie-scenesters Sigur Ros. But even in such cluttered musical confines, the unadulterated power of rock ‘n’ roll lives, and the sexy-machismo of Eagles of Death Metal thrives. It’s all about the rock, baby, and no one rocks harder than Eagles of Death Metal…

Korn - 2006

In an era where nameless, faceless and meaningless have become standards, Korn have transcended hard rock and heavy metal banality with a sound and vision that defies categorization. They bubbled from the Bakersfield, CA, heavy metal underground more than a decade ago, emerged as a hard rock phenomenon with the breakthrough success of Follow The Leader in 1997, and have exceeded any and every conceivable expectation since then. It may seem premature to consider Korn legends in only their second decade as a band, but not when you acknowledge the facts.

Impressed by numbers? Korn have released seven albums, surpassed the 25 million mark in worldwide sales (more than 15 million of those in America alone), and have had every album since their self-titled debut enter the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart in the Top 10, with all seven of their studio albums achieving Platinum sales (their 2004 Greatest Hits release is certified Gold). The numbers don’t lie, but they don’t even begin to tell the story of Korn, who not only redefined heavy metal with the diabolic, cutting-edge histrionics of their 1994 debut, but turned the industry on end in the years that followed, having a profound influence on today’s heavy music scene and making a marked impact on the way metal has reemerged as a sonic force on the pop-driven musical mainstream.

In one fleeting decade, Korn have single-handedly changed the way America views heavy music. Now, with the release of See You On The Other Side, they’ve opened the doors to even more disarray, taking their trademarked sound to the next level. It’s what they’ve always done, but to even more astonishing depths.

Sevendust 2006

Onstage, Sevendust frontman Lajon Witherspoon is widely acknowledged as one of hard rock’s most gripping performers and electrifying voices. Offstage, he’s seldom heard, mellow as a church mouse, and as mild-mannered as they come.

But something has changed.

Less than a week into his band’s first tour in more than six months, Witherspoon gets notably agitated when asked about the prospects of hitting the road in support of two albums - their first studio effort since joining forces with new label Winedark Records, and the recently issued greatest hits album issued by their former label.

Trans Siberian Orchestra

It’s the day before Thanksgiving, and while the rest of us are worrying about what time we should start roasting our turkeys, Paul O’Neill has a different set of concerns: The 18 semis and 16 tour busses that are transporting his Trans-Siberian Orchestra spectacles across America.

Yes, spectacles.

In seven years, Trans-Siberian Orchestra has not only become the holiday season’s main concert attraction, but also one of the year’s top ticket-sellers. And they accomplish this in less than six weeks on the road, splitting their ensemble into two equally impressive and awe-inspiring bands, each of which is responsible for performing in front of a different half of America in the final weeks of each year. Sound confusing? Try spearheading the whole operation, which O’Neill has done since he conceived the idea that would become the band’s now multi-platinum debut, Christmas Eve And Other Stories, nearly a decade ago. 

Yet in the face of it all, he remains as calm and composed as a freshly fallen Christmas snow.