Yes you read the title correctly…
If you would have asked me 15 years ago what I would think if the lead singer of Soundgarden would be teamed up with rap artist/producer Timbaland I would have called you crazy. I never would have thought that Chris Cornell would depart with the rock grunge band he started in, work on solo material, and then join a super group with members of Rage Against The Machine called Audioslave.
Well it happened…it all happened…
…and now Chris Cornell is releasing a solo album once again. This time with help from R&B / Hip-Hop producer Timbaland. How the hell did this happen???
Of course my curiosity got to me so I used my old friend the internet to hear this crazy combination. This is indeed an interesting mix and after listening to samples of ‘Watch Out” and “Ground Zero” on his MySpace page I must say I’m not sure if I like what I hear. The beats created by Timbaland mixed with Chris Cornell’s vocals make for a sound reminding me of Gnarls Barkley mixed with Jamiroquai. “Long Gone” another sample track almost upsets me to hear this once rocker toy with pop rock. Chris Cornell’s voice is still amazing but I just do not know about this…
Before I say other comments I’ll just wait until Scream
Chris Cornell time line….
Once upon a time this was Chris Cornell:
One of my favs:
Years later:
EDIT:
My good buddy Matt and I spoke tonight and he commented on how he got a kick out of my Chris Cornell time line. We joked about how now Soundgarden will NEVER reunite now. You see, Chris Cornell stated back in 2005 that Soundgarden would probably never reunite. From the looks of things I am pretty sure the remaining members of Soundgarden will never want to be associated with him. After my phone call with Matt from AddictedToVinyl.Com I decided I should elaborate a little more about my humor towards Mr. Chris Cornell.
Matt and I joked about a pseudo phone conversation between Chris Cornell and once guitarist Kim Thayil of Soundgarden.
It would go something like this:
Chris: “Hey Kim”
Kim: “Chris”
Chris: “Kim, I just had to call you and tell you about what I have been doing lately”
Kim: “Ok…”
Chris: “I knew you would want to hear!”
Kim: “…”
Chris: “So yeah, I was thinking about what I could do to totally make myself look even cooler than I already am. I decided what could I, Chris Cornell, do that has never been done by a once grunge rockstar turned supergroup rock hero. I decided to put out a album called ‘Scream’ with help from my newest friend on the block, Timbaland”
Kim: “What? You did what?”
Chris: “Yeah! I know!”
Kim: “Chris, are you even listening to me?”
Chris: “Exactly.”
Kim: “Umm…”
Chris: “Good question! I wanted to completely ruin my image by putting out a pop album with glorified beats. I wanted to disregard everything I have ever done by putting out an album named after one of Timbaland’s hit songs. I wanted to record garbage.
Kim: “And you are telling me this because?”
Chris: “I am going to take over the world. My new album not only will be the greatest album ever made, it will also prove to the world how awesome I am and they will all bow to my feet. I will bathe in glory. I am wonderful… my voice is all controlling… I will rule the… ”
Kim: “That is not possible, I already contributed to Probot.”
Chris: “Money, glory, fame…”
Kim: “I have to go now”
Chris: “My hair will turn to gold, I will become a robot like Michael Jackson did in Moonwalker and I will save all the lost children…”
Kim: “Bye Chris, I have to go out and be a musician.”
Chris: “Mr. Big you look out! I am power.”