Album Review

He was one of Seattle’s fearless leaders in the 90’s. He’s paired up with Tom Morello and Eddie Vedder to front some of the biggest supergroups in alternative rock history. He’s covered everyone from Michael Jackson to Bob Marley to Led Zeppelin. But does Chris Cornell have what it takes to further his solo career? Or was he better off as the frontman of rock successes such as Soundgarden and Audioslave?

I’ll admit, I wasn’t all that impressed with his previous solo album, Carry On. Some of the tracks were a bit too mellow and cheesy for me, and I much prefer him screaming to loud guitar riffs. So when I heard that he was releasing yet another solo album, Scream, I was curious if it would be similar to the prior effort. But then, when I found out he was pairing up with rapper, Timbaland, my curiosity turned to confusion. I was now intrigued.

I managed to see Cornell over the summer on the Projekt Revolution tour with Linkin Park, and I was both surprised and pleased to see that he was sporting the look from the old Soundgarden days; his long curly hair had reappeared and he even performed a lot of those old grunge classics. So, I thought to myself, maybe he’s back to the same Cornell that we all fell in love with back in the early 90’s? Hmm…

It turns out that Scream is not at all similar to the sound of Soundgarden or Audioslave, or even his first solo album for that matter. It’s almost as if Timbaland wrote all the beats himself and asked Cornell to simply provide the vocals. It’s all very strange.

Spin magazine described some of the beats as “Phil Collins–derived synths,” which isn’t exactly a compliment. The entire album is infused with hip-hop beats and buffed-up vocals. Apparently Cornell likes to challenge his fans, but the question is: are his fans going to be reciprocate this enthusiasm? I mean, how can the guy who wrote “Black Hole Sun” do a complete 180 and sing on a Timbaland album? It’s definitely a shock, to say the least.

The songs on the album aren’t bad, they’re just surprising. The beat to “Scream” sounds eerily similar to One Republic’s “Apologize,” while the dancy “Watch Out” is fun and upbeat, but a complete departure from Cornell’s signature style.

I have to admit, the jazzy, bluesy “Ground Zero” is very catchy and probably my favorite on the album. Don’t get me wrong, I still think it’s odd that Cornell would go the R&B route, but when it comes down to it, music is music. I don’t discriminate.

The album was scheduled to be released on October 14th, but has now been pushed back to November 4th. So, for all the die-hard Cornell fans that aren’t enthused about his new career move, be prepared to “scream.”

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