Audio Secrecy

Audio Secrecy is the third studio album by American rock band Stone Sour. It was recorded and produced by the band and Nick Raskulinecz at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. On June 10, the band released a free download of "Mission Statement", which was later released as a single on iTunes. The first official single, "Say You'll Haunt Me", however, was released on July 6, 2010. Audio Secrecy is also the first album by the band to not feature a 'Parental Advisory' sticker and is dedicated to Slipknot bassist Paul Gray, who had died earlier in 2010. It is also the band's last album to feature bassist Shawn Economaki.

Audio Secrecy
Studio album by Stone Sour
Released	September 7, 2010
Recorded	2010 at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee
Genre	Alternative metal post-grunge alternative rock
Length	54:23
Label	Roadrunner
Producer	Nick Raskulinecz
Stone Sour chronology
Live in Moscow (2007) Audio Secrecy (2010) House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012)
Singles from Audio Secrecy
"Mission Statement" Released: June 21, 2010 "Say You'll Haunt Me" Released: July 6, 2010 "Digital (Did You Tell)" Released: November 21, 2010 (UK, US, Japan) "Hesitate" Released: February 11, 2011 (Germany, France, Italy)

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com	[1]
Allmusic	[2]
Associated Press	positive[3]
Evigshed	10/10[4]
Kerrang!	[5]
Rock Sound	9/10[6]
411mania.com	7.0/10[7]

Audio Secrecy received generally positive reviews from music critics. Tim Grierson of About.com compared the band to Slipknot stating that Stone Sour delivers loud and powerful love songs and that the album in whole displayed Corey Taylor's flexibility in music.[1] Gregory Heaney of Allmusic praised Taylor's voice stating that he has made full use of his voice "from guttural to soaring". He also related the "chugging guitar" work of the album to that of Deftones.[2]

Lenny Vowels, a senior critic of 411mania.com awarded the album seven out of ten stars summarizing his review by stating "Stone Sour's newest record does seem to yearn for new heights, but for some reason can't quite reach them. The mood is definitely darker than their previous two albums, though that doesn't mean it's better. Basically, what's good on the album is great, and while nothing's bad, the rest doesn't come off as anything special either. In the band's personal history, I'd rank it above Come What(ever) May overall, but their self-titled album still leads the pack. Either way, this record is worth having if you're a fan of the band, but don't expect much in the way of new."[7]

Sales

Audio Secrecy debuted in the top 10 in various countries. In the US, it sold 46,000 copies in its first week and debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200.[8]

Track listing

All lyrics by Corey Taylor. Music written by Stone Sour

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Audio Secrecy"	1:44
2.	"Mission Statement"	3:51
3.	"Digital (Did You Tell)"	4:01
4.	"Say You'll Haunt Me"	4:25
5.	"Dying"	3:02
6.	"Let's Be Honest"	3:45
7.	"Unfinished"	3:11
8.	"Hesitate"	4:17
9.	"Nylon 6/6"	3:39
10.	"Miracles"	4:08
11.	"Pieces"	4:31
12.	"The Bitter End"	3:34
13.	"Imperfect"	4:23
14.	"Threadbare"	5:47
Total length:		54:23

Japanese Bonus Tracks

No.	Title	Length
15.	"Hate Not Gone"	3:51
Total length:		58:14

Special Edition Bonus Tracks

No.	Title	Length
15.	"Hate Not Gone"	3:51
16.	"Anna"	3:30
17.	"Home Again"	3:54
18.	"Saturday Morning" (US iTunes pre-order/German iTunes bonus track)	3:15
Total length:		68:54

DVD (The Making of Audio Secrecy)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Intro"	1:03
2.	"Mission Statement"	2:10
3.	"Audio Secrecy"	2:38
4.	"The New Album"	5:08
5.	"Scratch Vocals"	4:45
6.	"Fan Questions #1"	2:27
7.	"In the Studio"	6:33
8.	"Drums"	2:10
9.	"Josh's Gear"	2:10
10.	"Fan Questions #2"	3:55
11.	"Randomness"	3:33
12.	"The Songs"	3:22
13.	"Outro"	2:16
14.	"Mission Statement (Live at Download 2010)"	4:04
15.	"Made of Scars (Live at Download 2010)"	4:27
16.	"Hell & Consequences (Live at Download 2010)"	3:31

Unreleased songs

At least two more songs were created during the Audio Secrecy recording sessions. One of them is called "The Pessimist". The song is mentioned in the official Stone Sour biography. "For guitarist Josh Rand, the track 'The Pessimist' holds a special significance. 'It's the heaviest song we've done up to this point. I spent a day and a half studying the Hindu scale for the lead. The guitar solo for that song has a very Eastern sound.' The song sees Rand shredding with a precise, powerful solo that's melodic and metallic. All the while, it preserves a unique feel."[9] Rand stated that they will release the song in the future, but they don't know when or how yet. "The Pessimist" is on the soundtrack of Transformers: Dark of the Moon as an iTunes exclusive track. It is also available on their Facebook page as a free download.

There's also a recording of a spoken word by Corey Taylor, simply titled '2010' (confirmed by Corey) just like "Omega" and "The Frozen" on the previous records. A statement about this by Corey Taylor on MTV UK on Twitter: "I recorded one but we just decided not to release it ~Corey".

The opening lines of the song, "The Pessimist", "Half alive and stark-raving free" became the first lines of Slipknot's song, "Custer" off their album .5: The Gray Chapter.

Personnel

Stone Sour Corey Taylor − lead vocals James Root − lead guitar Josh Rand − rhythm guitar Shawn Economaki − bass guitar Roy Mayorga − drums, percussion Additional musicians Steve Blacke − strings arrangement, strings on track 8

Technical personnel Nick Raskulinecz − producer, engineering Ted Jensen − mastering Chris Lord-Alge − mixing Randy Staub − mixing John Nicholson − drum tech Zach Blackstone − assistant mixing Paul Fig − engineering Nathan Yarborough − assistant engineering Art personnel P.R. Brown − art direction, design, photography

Chart positions

Chart (2010)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart[10]	6
Austrian Albums Chart[11]	5
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[12]	28
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[13]	31
Canadian Albums Chart[14]	6
Finnish Albums Chart[15]	23
French Albums Chart[16]	29
German Albums Chart[17]	3
German LP-Downloads Chart[18]	6
Greek Albums Chart[19]	24
Irish Albums Chart[20]	19
Italian Albums Chart[21]	89
Japanese Albums Chart[22]	16
Dutch Albums Chart[23]	16
New Zealand Albums Chart[24]	12
Spanish Albums Chart[25]	94
Swedish Albums Chart[26]	10
Swiss Albums Chart[27]	7
UK Albums Chart[28]	6
Billboard 200[14]	6
Alternative Albums Chart[14]	2
Digital Albums Chart[14]	5
Hard Rock Albums Chart[14]	2
Rock Albums Chart[14]	2
Tastemakers Albums Chart[14]	6

References

1. Grierson, Tim "Stone Sour - 'Audio Secrecy' Review" Archived 2010-11-18 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2010-09-08
2. Heany, Gregory "Audio Secrey Overview". Retrieved 2010-09-07
3. Harris, Ron "Review: Stone Sour packs punch on 'Audio Secrecy'" Retrieved 2010-09-07
4. Sylgraph "Stone Sour - Audio Secrecy Review" Archived September 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2010-09-07
5. Winwood, Ian "Slipknots Men's 'Other' Band Return With Imposing Third Album Archived August 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2010-09-04
6. Kerswell, Ronnie "Stone Sour - Audio Secrecy". Retrieved 2010-09-07
7. Vowels, Lenny "Stone Sour - Audio Secrecy Review" Retrieved 2010-09-07
8. "Sara Bareilles, Stone Sour Earn Top 10 Debuts".
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16. "Discographie Stone Sour" (in French). lescharts.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-25.
17. "Tarja und Brandon Flowers: Charts-Erfolge auch ohne Band - media control". Media-control.de. 2010-09-14. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
18. "Brandon Flowers: Ab in die Download-Charts - media control". Media-control.de. 2010-09-17. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
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21. "FIMI - Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana - Classifiche". Fimi.it. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
22. "ストーン・サワーのCDアルバムランキング、ストーン・サワーのプロフィールならオリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE". Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
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25. "Discography Stone Sour". spanishcharts.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-24.
26. "Discography Stone Sour". swedishcharts.com. Archived from the original on 2011-08-26.
27. "Discography Stone Sour". swisscharts.com. Archived from the original on 2006-05-18.
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