Industry and fans seem to appreciate Stone Sour's rock and roll flavor on 'Hydrograd', the band's sixth album to date. I was a big fan of 'House of Gold & Bones' dual concept in 2012 and 2013. The idea of this new record is less metal and more rock, a move that loses the thrash orientation of Josh Rand's previous playing. These songs are just okay to me but lose the prior crunch and bite that we've come to expect from this. Lyrically, it's love, loss and discovery with warmer riffs. Think of Dokken's "alternative" album 'Shadowlife' as an odd comparison.