Review Summary: The hell is this shit?
I remember when "Black Hole Sun" was unleashed unto the radio, ravaging the eardrums of any unsuspecting individual who was caught with his/her guard down. That song, along with the ever-so-brilliant Superunknown, was heaven to my ears, dragging me deeper into the ecstasy that was 90's grunge music. After the demise of Soundgarden, it's head, Chris Cornell, was stitched onto the crumbling body of Rage Against the Machine, and thus, Audioslave and it's phenomenal debut was born. It seems that Cornell could not be stopped, a Godzilla of sorts, crushing anything that dared stood in his way. The he went solo. And then he shat out this....thing.
If you couldn't tell from his past solo efforts, he's become somewhat of a soft rock balladeer, any trace of his earlier rock roots gone. Now, his abandoning what he did best, all for hip-hop, teaming up with Timbaland, who has always wanted to abandon hip-hop to make a rock record. So this all makes perfect sense, if you called this a horrendous train wreck instead if an interesting collaboration. But hey, the most unlikely duo could still, by some divine miracle, try and pull out a decent one, right? Well, in this case, that answer is pretty obvious. Meaning no. ***, no.
While listening to this album, I'd rather call it a coaster, it seems like Chris intentionally wanted to embarrass himself. Almost every single track he performs on is something reminiscent of a wannabe Justin Timberlake, hell, even sounding as ***ty and condensed as Soulja Boy or the Pussycat Dolls. Not only that, but Chris himself gives a seemingly phoned-in performance, severely wasting such an immensely talented artist with an incredible vocal range.
But, unexpectedly, there are a few nuggets of gold that aren't completely devoid of merit. "Time", "Climbing Up the Walls", "Scream" and "Never far away", are surprisingly listenable, with actual catchy beats and grooves serenaded by Chris's vocals. These tracks should've been the true representation of Chris's latest effort, but I guess unintentionally hilarious lyrics and dated beats seemed like a better idea.
When it all ended, was completely heart-broken. Going from a grunge titan, to a hard rock master, to this repugnant ***? Talk about falling from grace. I remember in an interview with Cornell being asked if a Soundgarden reunion was possible. This is what he said:
"No. It's almost like we sealed the lid and said, this is Soundgarden and this is its lifespan, and put it out there. And it looks really great to me. I think getting back together would take the lid off that and then could possibly change what... to me seems like the perfect lifespan of the band. I can't think of any reason to mess with that."
Somebody pinch Chris. I think it's time that he had a reality check, because he should seal the lid on his solo career instead and nail it shut. As long as it’s anything other than his solo career, a new Soundgarden or Audioslave album couldn't be THIS ***ing awful. Hopefully the huge amount of backlash that this album received should snap him out of whatever hypnosis he’s under.
