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Audioslave’s premiere album passes crucial test
By Matt Janda
Published:
Monday, November 25, 2002
Every so often, a truly great album comes along and we are forced to recall what the difference is between the cream and the crap.
So, what makes a great album great? It could have a great frontman or famous guitarist’s signature all over it, like Ozzy or Eddie Van Halen.
It could have infectious hooks written by Lennon or McCartney, or just have something in it that appeals to the masses.
But alas, the truest test of a great rock record is the one performed by my Pioneer DEH-225 car CD player. This device has served me well for nearly seven years, but in that time it has developed a taste for music, quite literally. It dines upon my disc library, more specifically, the good selections from it.
The most recent victim of the deck’s appetite is Audioslave, which features former Soundgarden singer/guitarist Chris Cornell and 75 percent of Rage Against the Machine (the members most people can’t name) guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk.
This disc has been in the works for some time and nearly fell apart in the late summer, when Cornell walked out of the sessions because he didn’t like the direction the band was going.
It’s the music world’s gain that they solved their differences and stuck it out, because this album is quite good. One might not think that their styles would mesh well, since Rage had more hip-hop in their first album than Soundgarden did through their entire existence, but they do.
From the opening riffs of the first track and single, “Cochise,” it’s apparent that the band hasn’t lost any steam since Rage split up, and Cornell’s vocals are as strong and over-the-top as ever.
The power continues on the second track, “Show Me How to Live,” and the band makes a foray into the ballad genre with “I am the Highway.” The record is more or less free of the politically-charged lyrics that Rage had, and is filled with personal messages transmitted by Cornell’s melodic howlings.
Though this band is known by most as the guy from Soundgarden and the remnants of Rage Against the Machine, that label won’t stick for long. This supergroup will be their own band in no time, as Morello has said that there are already plans for a second album.
Do yourself a favor and pick it up, download it or whatever. Just get your hands on it, because Audioslave is what rock has been needing- a familiar, yet original band that attempts, and succeeds, at reaching new musical highs.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a dashboard CD player to disassemble.
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