Corey Taylor - CMFT (LP)

Corey Taylor’s first solo album arrives with a wink and a belt-size statement of intent. CMFT, out via Roadrunner in October 2020, doesn’t try to be Slipknot or Stone Sour. It tries to be Corey Taylor. That might sound obvious, but the record’s charm sits in how comfortably he stretches out and lets all his long-held influences breathe. It plays like a jukebox in his head, cranked loud and grinning.

The roll call of musicians gives it muscle and swagger. Taylor leads a tight unit featuring Stone Sour’s Christian Martucci on guitar, plus Zach Throne, Jason Christopher on bass, and Dustin Robert on drums. Producer Jay Ruston keeps it punchy and clean, the sort of sound that could slot next to your favourite hard rock records without losing the grit. They tracked it in Las Vegas with a live, quick-cut energy, and you can tell. The songs snap.

You probably heard Black Eyes Blue first. It went to No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart in 2020, and for good reason. It’s a proper radio rock tune, a big-hearted chorus wrapped in riffs that feel built for summer windows-down laps. Taylor leans into melody without losing bite, and the band rides the groove with just enough push to keep it from feeling soft. It’s the hook that holds the record together.

Then there’s CMFT Must Be Stopped, a gleeful, chest-out rap rock detour featuring Tech N9ne and Kid Bookie. It will split a room, which is half the fun. The video stacked cameos from friends across rock and metal, and the track itself is basically a victory lap after two decades of fronting scene-shaping bands. If you want subtle, you’ll find it elsewhere here. If you want a party starter, this is it.

Samantha’s Gone lands right in the pocket where Cheap Trick and late 80s sleaze intersect, all handclaps and sunburnt chorus lines. HWY 666 shifts lanes into punky cowpunk, a road-movie riff that feels tailor-made for a low-lit pub jukebox on a Friday night. Culture Head punches harder and throws a little sand in the gears, heavier guitars and a bark that reminds you he can still square up when he wants to.

The ballads show a different kind of nerve. Home is a piano-led love letter, spare and straightforward, the vocal sitting right on the mic as if he is singing across your kitchen table. Silverfish turns the lights down even further. No theatrics, just a quietly uneasy melody that lingers. These tracks give the sprawl some shape, and they make the loud songs feel louder when they hit.

What surprises is how cohesive it all feels given the range. Part of that is the band’s chemistry. Martucci and Throne trade rhythmic jabs and little filigrees with no grandstanding, and Ruston’s mix leaves air for the bass and drums to thump without mud. You can hear the room, which makes the more genre-hopping moments feel less like experiments and more like songs written by someone who has actually lived in these styles. Taylor has said some of these ideas had been sitting around for years, and you can hear that road wear in the good way.

Reception at the time clocked the stylistic sprawl, but on vinyl the sequencing makes even more sense. The CMFT vinyl pressing gives the guitars and backing vocals a lovely lift, and that belt-buckle cover looks right at home on a shelf between classic rock and modern metal. If you are crate digging in a Melbourne record store, it is one of those sleeves that asks for a closer look. And if you like to buy Corey Taylor records online, this is the one that clues you in to the wideness of his tastes without the mask or the stadium scale.

As a front-to-back listen, it is less a manifesto than a mixtape from the bloke himself, with enough hooks to keep casual fans pulled in and enough deep cuts to reward repeat spins. Black Eyes Blue, Culture Head and Samantha’s Gone make an easy starter trio. Home and Silverfish seal the deal that he is not hiding behind volume. CMFT Must Be Stopped remains a cheeky sign-off, and it works as one.

If you have got Corey Taylor albums on vinyl already, this slides in as a bright, cheeky counterpoint to the heavier staples. If you are new and browsing vinyl records Australia wide, it is a neat gateway that shows how much fun he has when the guard is down. In short, CMFT is the sound of a lifer enjoying himself, and that spirit carries from the needle drop to the runout.