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Chris Cornell - Scream
- Before starting a review of Chris Cornell’s new album, Scream, it seems only appropriate that we clarify a bit of the singer’s past to give it some context. As front man for both Soundgarden and Audioslave, Cornell honed his vocal chops in two of the hardest-rocking bands in recent memory. His voice, simultaneously raspy and admirable in its four-octave range, is almost instantly identifiable among the hundreds in the rock and metal communities.
Which is why it’s such a strange experience hearing Scream – a respectable album to be sure, but one that is anything but “rock” or “metal.” Just look at the credits, folks: Timbaland as executive producer, with co-producer credits from Justin Timberlake and Ryan Tedder, among others.
That’s right – Chris Cornell’s gone dance-music on us. And despite a natural urge to automatically dismiss Scream on principle as a heaping pile of garbage . . . you can’t. It’s not the greatest album you’ll ever hear, but it’s a lot better than anyone would have expected.
The selection of Timbaland as executive producer was indispensible. Without his pop/dance sensibilities guiding the recording process, Scream would have been doomed to fail. As it stands, Cornell fails to completely establish himself as a dance music artist but, at the very least, he shows us he could have a bright future in the genre if he saw fit.
At times, Cornell seems laughably out of place, particularly on the opening track, “Part of Me.” The musical backdrop is solid, and his vocal performance leaves nothing to be desired, but all the same, it’s a little hard to listen to the refrain (Oh, that b***h ain’t a part of me/ No, that b***h ain’t a part of me) and not get the urge to chuckle.
Fortunately, by the middle of the album, Cornell starts to come into his own – sounding less forced and more like a force to be reckoned with. Slower numbers like “Never Far Away” and “Long Gone” resonate particularly well amongst the Cornell canon. The former seems almost a poppier interpretation of Audioslave’s “Like a Stone,” with – get this – an even more powerful chorus; the latter delves into more unchartered waters for Cornell, with instrumentation that wouldn’t sound out of place on a U2 album (particularly those chorus guitars, which just scream “EDGE!”).
But in the end, an interesting realization occurs upon listening to Scream. As the album progresses, it becomes less a Chris-Cornell-dance-album than just a generally enjoyable dance album. We start forgetting all the hard rock the guy churned out in the past and focus on the here and now, which yields quite successful results in the end.
That about sums up Scream: Forget the background and just get lost in the music, and you’ll be fine.
Reviewer: Dan Kaplan
new
Reviewer's Rating: 7.5
Reader's Rating: 6.00
Reader's Votes: 3
Added: 13-Apr-2009
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