. Described as a cross between
, the group spent several years playing the Iowa bar circuit before the two men joined
.
re-formed in the early 2000s, though, and quickly distinguished themselves with a pair of gold-selling albums and three Grammy nominations.
The band's reunion began in early 2002, when
Root and
Taylor contacted original guitarist
Josh Rand and bassist
Sean Economaki about recording a full-length
Stone Sour album. The bandmates had released several demos during their initial time together, and some of those songs were re-recorded for
Stone Sour's self-titled debut, which earned two Grammy nominations and was RIAA-certified gold. Drafting in drummer
Joel Ekman, the band released a song for the
Spider-Man soundtrack ("Bother," credited only to
Taylor) while recording the album in Los Angeles. A tour followed, and
Stone Sour took a short break while
Taylor and
Root returned their attention to
Slipknot for the recording of Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses.
Several years later, the band returned to the studio to work on a second album.
Come What(ever) May was produced by
Nick Raskulinecz (
Foo Fighters,
Velvet Revolver) and released in August 2006, where it hit number four on the Billboard charts and spawned the successful single "Through Glass."
Stone Sour hit the road that same year on the Family Values tour with high-profile headliners
Deftones and
Korn, and they released a digital concert album, Live in Moscow, in 2007. Once the touring was over,
Corey Taylor and
Jim Root shifted their focus to
Slipknot once again, this time for the creation of 2008's All Hope Is Gone.
Stone Sour's hiatus was shorter this time around, though, as the band returned in 2010 with a new album, Audio Secrecy, a more subdued effort that found the band maturing as songwriters. This trend continued into 2012 with their next release, House of Gold and Bones, Vol. 1, which would be the first part of an ambitious concept double album.
–
Bradley Torreano, Rovi