IT’S 1999 AND GRUNGE IS DEAD!!!
A half decade has passed since Kurt Cobain died; Pearl Jam have spent much of the nineties willingly decimating their own popularity; The Smashing Pumpkins have gone electro and Stone Temple Pilots leader Scott Weiland is serving a prison sentance after being found guilty of yet another narcotics fueled violation. What was once a burgeoning scene that effectively killed the ill-advised pomp of eighties hair metal has finally been consumed by it’s own excesses.
In amongst the many musical car wrecks came the premature bust up of the one act with the promise to outlive their somewhat generic contemporaries. Soundgarden, with their unique meld of Black Sabbath savagery and Beatles-tinged pop sensibilities, were always left of the centre, their roots firmly buried in the emergence of Grunge whilst conveying an enviable talent to pen a timeless number that would sit as comfortably on a late-seventies Rock playlist as an early-nineties one. Unfortunately the band split in ‘96 citing ‘creative differences’.
Whilst the demise of Seattle’s last hopes was mourned, Generation X could take solace in the fact that Chris Cornell would carry on and anticipation was high to see just where he would go from here. Following a reported stint in rehab where he was treated for depression and alcohol abuse, Cornell burst back onto the alt rock scene with ‘Euphoria Morning’, a heartbreakingly beautiful debut solo album that was heavily inspired by the untimely death of his close friend Jeff Buckley. A very personal and understandably dark record filled with emotionally drenched sonnets showcasing that soaring voice ‘Euphoria Morning’ cemented Chris Cornell’s place as a viable solo artist.
Ten years on and history has somewhat repeated itself.
The new millenium gave birth to a number of musical ’supergroups’ one of the most talked about being Audioslave, a dream line-up featuring Cornell teaming with three members of the politically charged funk upstarts Rage Against The Machine. For the next five years the band crafted three well received albums harking back to the golden age of retro rock, at their best earning comparisons to the legendary Led Zeppelin. Success was shortlived however, as once again interband tensions were blamed for bringing the curtain down early on this most interesting of collaborations.
Needless to say, expectations for Cornell’s next move were gigantic.
Obviously jaws dropped then last summer when the news broke that he had been working on his new solo opus with pioneering hip hop producer Timbaland, a puzzling decision that has shocked the alternative nation. So, was it worth the risk?
Opening with a distinctly medieval trumpet salute that eventually gives way to regurgitated eastern-influenced sitar twangs is not a bad start; but unfortunately this experimentation lasts all of forty seconds, at which point we find ourselves harshly thrown into an appallingly generic pop-dance beat only made worse by Timbaland’s beatbox background din and the shockingly purile chorus of ‘that bitch aint a part of me’. For a man associated with thought provoking, almost poetic lyrical offerings…this is just lazy.
The album limps on reeking of dated studio trickery. It’s all here, eighties inspired synth keyboards, unnecessary loops and samples and, perhaps the biggest offense to anybody who ever gave a damn about nineties alternative rock – vocal decoders, that actually detract from what must be the greatest rock vocalist of my generation. When a singer’s vocals are so prominent they can be used as their own instrument why would one want to digitally tamper with them leaving a slimmed down almost robotic effect that battles for prominence against the music. And that’s when you start to realise this isn’t a Chris Cornell album, oh no, this is a Timbaland album and he uses every opportunity to ensure the listener realises exactly that. Every track segues into the next leaving no time to take stock of what went before and the majority of the musical interludes sound like outtakes from a Nelly Furtardo album.
It’s not all bad, the sleaze rock of ‘Take Me Alive’ sounds more like the Cornell we know and love and the dramatic build up of the title track provides a brief reprieve but these moments are very few and overly saturated by Timbaland’s rejected cinematic compositions. The album clocks in at an obese sixty five minutes which is at least twenty too long. You can’t help but think they were under the impression they were creating a seminal piece of grandoise art, they failed!
Chris Cornell has enjoyed a loyal and dedicated following for over two decades. His devoted deciples ready to support him in his next venture subsequently securing himself a bright future. Having strayed so far from his roots one must ask the question: When the dust has settled on ‘Scream’ just where CAN he go from here.
Rating: 
!!!
3 Comments
well well. . . . . . i fear i may have to miss this one out. i hate to say it, i really do, but i fear he is treading a fine line and is probably going to lose a lot of the fans that put him where he is!
not cool double c, tres not cool
expertly worded review though you spelled furtardo wrong
TL; DR
Haha, sorry Marty, you know I kid.
I must say, I think everyone expected this to be a great steaming pile of dreck, so its nice, in these harsh economic times, for us all to be united in that warm sense of self righteousness that we were correct and this self inflated ego bag is proved to be a talentless hack.
I’m a Chris fan. Careers, just like life never go smooth, we all make bad choices here and there. Fans are like family, stick thru thick and thin, I’ll wait for his next move. Good article.