Audioslave is what you could call a sad story. It seems as though everyone wants to think of them as Rage Against the Machine with a new lead singer. Because of this, I expect most people to be disappointed by Audioslave's first, self-titled album. This is sad, because it really is a good first album. Granted, one can still hear Rage in this new music. The guitar lines find a good mix between rock and funk, and the bass still bumps in a funky way. The biggest difference between Audioslave and Rage is that whereas Rage had a heavy hip-hop influence, here that influence is nowhere to be found. The new lead singer, Chris Cornell, of SoundGarden fame, leads this music into Rock n' Roll territory.

Cornell has an interesting voice. It is high pitched, and thin and reedy, but rather than being unpleasant, this gives him excellent range. His saving grace is his ability to sing with soul and vibrato, rise in melodies that complement the bass, rhythm and guitar lines. Tom Morello is on guitar here, and he brings many of the same strange effects and wizardry that he became famous for in rage. He has written most of the guitar lines, and they switch between a funk-rock reminiscent of rage, and hypnotic textures. His guitar lines are great because Morello has turned the guitar into an instrument of beat as well as tune. Unfortunately, he uses many of the same scales here, and the music suffers for it. Simply put, the album becomes repetitive. The band itself cannot seem to determine how much of its old sound it wants, and until they do, they will be unable to chart new territory. This band has potential, if they can just break out of the box that they were born into.