The official video supporting the single, as premiered by Rolling Stone, was shot at a remote location within California's Mojave Desert. Captured through the lens of director Dale "Rage" Resteghini (HATEBREED, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, TRIVIUM),the video finds Taylor trudging around the desert as a musing Uncle Sam intermingling with members of the band and the CHERRY BOMBS, the all-girl dance group featuring Taylor's wife Alicia Taylor, all the while being surrounded by different versions of himself from through the years — before culminating as a live performance for a mass of fans in the round.
The song "Beyond" harkens back to 2006 in some shape or form. Taylor knew the song was special, but never found the time to bring the tune to its potential.
"I originally wrote it as an aggressive romantic song, but I'm also looking at it now as a kind of ‘come together' song," Taylor explains. "Bringing the masses together and letting them know that I want my music to take them beyond what they may think about me. Maybe they've had a misconception about me. It's not exactly a calling card, more like throwing the bat signal up and being 'alright, let's turn everything on its head.' It's almost a dual threat, because now I look at it from two standpoints."
"CMF2" follows up Taylor's 2020 solo debut "CMFT", which featured the No. 1 Billboard mainstream rock single "Black Eyes Blue" and streaming sensation "CMFT Must Be Stopped" (feat. Tech N9ne and Kid Bookie). The LP hit No. 6 on Billboard's U.S. Top Rock Albums chart.
"My first solo album was kind of where I was coming from. This album is more where we're going," Taylor adds. "CMF2" — where Taylor sings and plays lead and rhythm guitar, piano, and mandolin — packs the energy, experimentation, and forthrightness that's defined a career which has seen him sell more than 12 million albums with his Grammy-winning band SLIPKNOT and several million with chart-toppers STONE SOUR.
"CMF2" is Taylor's first album for BMG and the first on his own label imprint, Decibel Cooper Recordings.
Jay Ruston (ANTHRAX, STEEL PANTHER, AMON AMARTH),who produced STONE SOUR's 2017 "Hydrograd" LP as well as "CMFT", returns for Taylor's second full-length.
"Together we have great ideas, great energy, and are quick to try everything," Taylor says of his studio collaborator. "We're not afraid to tell each other if it's a good idea, or also a bad one; we have that kind of trust."
The CMFT band is:
Corey Taylor (vocals/guitar)
Zach Throne (rhythm/lead guitar)
Dustin Robert (drums)
Christian Martucci (rhythm/lead guitar)
Eliot Lorango (bass)
"CMF2" track listing:
01. The Box
02. Post Traumatic Blues
03. Talk Sick
04. Breath Of Fresh Smoke
05. Beyond
06. We Are The Rest
07. Midnight
08. Starmate
09. Sorry Me
10. Punchline
11. Someday I'll Change Your Mind
12. All I Want Is Hate
13. Dead Flies