Could it be already ten years since the grunge movement was in full throttle and Seattle bands Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Nirvana ruled the charts, and flannel was a fashion statement? The heavily anticipated debut from supergroup Audioslave, featuring ex-Soundgarden lead singer Chris Cornell and Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine, clash their styles into an album that, although powerful, never reaches the crescendo of its full potential.
The self titled debut opens with "Cohise," the albums first single, which strikes overdrive within a signature Morello riff in the vain of Pantera's "Cowboys from hell." This opener will not only help start your car on a cold day, but get you pumped up for work on a hangover. It's a strong opening for a band clearly looking for indentity, in a merging of distinct styles. The next track reeks of Rage's "Bombtrack." Instead of Zach de la Rocha's screaming high-pitched vocals, we become introduced to Chris Cornell's trademark range. His voice echoes of rock legend, as almost any note is possible within his majestic voice.
From this point on, the album falls into the spell of a Soundgarden vibe. Although Tom Morello's guitar experiments play a major part in building this album to an intense first, second, and even third listen, Cornell's vocals are just so damn overpowering that the album resonates in a Soundgarden spell. Even a song like "Set if Off", with Morello's "Killing in the name of" riffs, fall to the background of Cornell's vocal chords. This guy is lead singer to the extreme for the good or bad of Audioslave. "I am the Highway" is a 2002 version of "Black Hole Sun," with a new rhythm section. Cornell's expressive vocals make this slow tempo tune a welcome fit onto any mid90s Soundgarden album.
Although Rage Against the Machine pioneered the signature sound that blended rock, hip-hop, funk, and metal 10 years ago into a wall of collapsing thunder; it's just hard to feel the hybrid Rage aggression that we are familiar with. Maybe it's a case of too much of a good thing, but this album seems to conflict within its group of alpha leaders. Perhaps that is why Cornell left the recording sessions of Audioslave, and some even doubted if they'd ever actually see the final results of this collaboration.
"What you are" feels like it was a Soundgarden track that never made the recording block, as it is heavily influenced with a Kim Thayil influenced guitar vibe. The overall tone screams of his dark distortion fed electric guitar sound that redefined the gloomy sullen Seattle sound of the early to mid 90s, along with Jerry Cantrell.
The album is a fabulous showcase of Cornell's amazing vocal capabilities, as his harmonies carry most of the album, and make you wonder, how these songs could have been pulled off without him. The lyrics chant of a rebellious tone but don't reach the political velocity of Rage's shake the world up aggression. If these four band members were intending to record an album of vocally influenced rock songs, than the objective was clearly met. If not, it sounds like a battle between a strong voice and a powerful band. Who will win? It's clearly in the conclusion of the listener in what gets their rocks off: vocals or metallic riffs. For most die-hard Rage fans, parts of this recording might be a disappointment, but the high points speak well for themselves. Audioslave will be touring this spring, and it will be intriguing to see what their live shows add to a recording dynamic that produced a rather inconclusive purpose.
