Putting the "CORN-E" in Cornell

Chris Cornell

Scream

Interscope

Action Rating: 0/10

Chris Cornell and Timbaland? Odd match, I know. You might not know what to expect.

Chris Cornell is most famous as the singer of Soundgarden and Audioslave. In 1999 Chris Cornell released his first solo album: the very good Euphoria Morning. Then in 2007 Cornell released Carry On, which was mediocre at best. Now on his third solo release Scream Cornell has teamed up with Timbaland, known for producing Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado. Cornell’s goal was to create a more modern sound and gain a new audience. The result is what sounds like a bad mash-up.

The cover art is Chris Cornell about to smash a guitar and if you don’t understand the relevance, you will after you listen to the album. Scream is a dance pop album that is generic and full of cliché’s and really does not pertain to rock and roll whatsoever.

“Part of Me” opens with the cheesiest introduction. Horns blare and a creepy voice introduces “Chris Cornell,” the same way a song might introduce some rapper. Then a generic dance beat starts and the last thing you expect to hear is Chris Cornell’s voice. Even more comical is the chorus of the song. Cornell sings, “No that B**** ain’t a part of me”.

“Everybody out for my blood/Everybody want my percent/I don't want to start going off/ I don't want to start talking s***/They just want to take what is mine/How much more can you get?” Chris Cornell sings on “Sweet Revenge”, moments like these beg the question: WTF.

Anyone who was a fan of Chris Cornell, Soundgarden or Audioslave prior to this album will probably gag before the lyrics even hit in the track “Never Far Away.” The music sounds much more fitting to maybe a Beyoncé song. Justin Timberlake is featured on “Take Me Alive”, which is probably the albums most bearable song. Two songs on the album, “Other Side of Town” and “Climbing Up the Walls”, feature real drums. These songs have a more familiar sound to them but lack in any kind of depth, just as the rest do.

I did not anticipate what a struggle it was going to be to get from track to track. The songs keep me somewhere between frustrated and amused.

The question of the album: Is he serious or is this some sort of Joaquin Phoenix ploy? Chris Cornell began his music career in 1984 with Soundgarden. There are several other musicians from that time that are still big players in the industry today and still are able to make good music that’s true to their style. Cornell collaborates with Timbaland to sound fresh and revitalize his career but instead he sounds like an idiot. As far as I’m concerned, he has dug himself a pretty huge hole in his career that he is going to have to work to climb out of. Chris Cornell wrote one of Soundgarden’s most beautiful songs, “Just like Suicide”. That song title would be very fitting as the title to his new album, which should be titled “Just like Career Suicide”.

Standout tracks: lol