DUFF MCKAGAN Says COREY TAYLOR Is 'One Of The Smartest Dudes Out There'

In the latest installment of his column, which appears on Reverb at SeattleWeekly.com, VELVET REVOLVER and former GUNS N' ROSES bassist Duff McKagan writes about SLIPKNOT/STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor's new book, "Seven Deadly Sins - Settling The Argument Between Born Bad And Damaged Good". He states, "I've known Corey on a personal level for the last few years, and have come to know that he is one of the smartest dudes out there. When he told me about his journey into authordom, I had no doubt that whatever topic he chose to write about would be deep and heavy.

"I just picked this book up last night and gave it a cursory browse. It looks fascinating. It's a funny yet poignant look at Corey's own dip into drugs and vice and asinine behavior in his youth, while also studying the age-old question of whether certain personal traits are learned or bred into a person.

"Corey Taylor is one of those people that just seems impossibly good at whatever he chooses to pursue, and I have no doubt that this tome will reflect this fact.

"I can't wait to see what Corey's version of 'Sloth' is! I shall report back to you all."

Released in the U.S. on July 12 via De Capo Press, "Seven Deadly Sins - Settling The Argument Between Born Bad And Damaged Good" sees Taylor speaking directly to his fans and sharing his worldview about life as a sinner. While the 256-page hardcover book is Taylor's personal story, it's also described as "a larger discussion of what it means to be seen as either a 'good' person or a 'bad' one."

While the rumored team-up of Corey Taylor with VELVET REVOLVER never officially took off, VELVET guitarist Slash did confirm that the band got together with Taylor to jam and even record some new material. The Pulse Of Radio asked Taylor what they worked on at those sessions. "We did a bunch of stuff, you know," he said. "We did a bunch of stuff from the first album, we did a bunch of stuff that we had been kind of demoing back and forth and whatnot, seeing if it would work, you know, just like that, and it was a lot of fun, man. You know, we ended up writing a bunch of stuff as well and just kind of seeing what would happen in that creative sense, you know."

Slash admitted in a recent interview that he was the main reason why Taylor didn't get the frontman job, explaining, "It just didn't seem to fit right to me. And he's great, and I love Corey, but it didn't seem like the answer to the VELVET REVOLVER problem."

Taylor told a Canadian radio station after hearing of Slash's comments, "I guess it just wasn't working for him, which . . . He's Slash and he's entitled to have that, and I'm not gonna argue with him. But it was cool to just be able to get together and jam with those guys and I made some really cool friends."