Chad Kroeger: Stone Sour ‘Sound Like Nickelback Lite,’ Slipknot Are a ‘Gimmick’
Ding ding! And the gloves are off as Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger recently laid into his former Roadrunner Records labelmate, Stone Sour and Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor, in a recent interview. Kroeger pointed out how Taylor has slammed him in the press in the past and dished out some shots of his own, describing how Stone Sour pale in comparison to Nickelback among other things.
Speaking with Metal Covenant (video below), Kroeger first began praising the musical diversity of Nickelback, stating, "I can't think of another band that's as diverse as we are. I can't. And I don't think that's me talking from pride or ego." The singer then challenged the journalist to name another group who covers such a wide musical spectrum, which led to Stone Sour's name being called.
"Yeah, because they're trying to be Nickelback," Kroeger fired back, adding how Taylor has said "some really nasty things" about him publicly. Mentioning that the Stone Sour singer has called writing a hit song easy, the Nickelback frontman implored Taylor, "Well, show me. Show me. Write one. I have yet to hear one."
"They're okay, but they're not as good as Nickelback. They sound like 'Nickelback Lite,'" Kroeger continued before switching gears to Taylor's primary band, Slipknot. "They had to put on masks and jump around," he commented, posing the question, "How good can your music be if you've got to beat each other up on stage, throw up in your own masks every night?" Noting that "music shouldn't come with a gimmick," Kroeger reloaded, taking another shot at at Taylor when he said, "And he got tired of sitting behind a mask — he wanted people to know what he looks like — so he started Stone Sour."
It should be noted that Corey Taylor founded Stone Sour in 1992, a full three years before the formation of Slipknot and five years before Taylor even joined Slipknot. The group disbanded in 1997 as Taylor and Jim Root placed a primary focus on Slipknot, but was reactivated in 2000 after Slipknot's wildly successful debut was released.
Regarding Taylor's past transgressions toward the multi-platinum Canadian rockers, the singer expressed issues with Slipknot and Nickelback's shared label, Roadrunner, in a 2002 interview with Rock Sound. He went on to call Kroeger "Shaggy from Scooby Doo" while branding the group "f--king pretty boys."
Both Nickelback and Stone Sour have new albums seeing a June 2017 release. Nickelback's Feed the Machine is out now with the title track and "Song on Fire" serving as the record's singles while Stone Sour's Hydrograd will be issued on June 30 with "Fabuless," "Song #3," "Taipei Person/Allah Tea" and "Mercy" all shared in advance.
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