With (pre-Audioslave) Rage Against The Machine, guitarist Tom Morello was once quoted in an interview to the Alternative Press as being only interested in writing great songs which, "should destroy cops and set fire to the suburbs". After the departure of vocalist Zach de la Rocha, and the forming of supergroup Audioslave with hard rock vocalist Chris Cornell, perhaps he then wanted to write grate songs which, "should rock rocking-chairs and send people to sleep".
As with the Rage Against The Machines records, only the guitar, bass, drum and vocals make up the sounds in Audioslave's self-titled debut. The hard-rock riffing remains, but whilst Tom Morello does strum some chords, these are not so noteworthy as the guitar intros, in which (opener and first single) 'Cochise' and 'I Am The Highway' start off with sounds similar to an helicopter and an organ respectively. But those for 'Set It Off', 'Hypnotize' and 'Light My Way' do not hit the same heights and are perhaps a trick too far - the latter two are perhaps the weakest tracks for me, and it's not as if the album wasn't already long enough (just over an hour).
Chris Cornell is at his best when belting out notes - such power allows him to bypass the nasally head voice - but sometimes when singing not so loud he can sound whiny. Still, many of the songs require a vocal performance, and Chris Cornell gives just that.
The album tracks are as good as the singles, but I would not rate any of these as being that great. It is a consistent album, but a struggle to pick a favourite song. Throughout, there is the loud/quiet dynamics at work but rarely is there a change in tempo in the music, and the band barely break a sweat for pace. Wilk said that RATM's songwriting process was "a battle creatively" - perhaps that brought only the best bits to a song, whereas with Audioslave, maybe by being "more collaborative" this allowed for the weaker moments to filter through.
An album that's over-produced, and where's the cowbell? A supergroup, but not a super-album.
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The debut of thundering supergroup Audioslave--featuring members of Rage Against the ... more
Machine post-Zack de la Rocha with ex-Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell--is as much curio as fascinating blend of visions. Cornell might be outnumbered, but his unmista...
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The debut of thundering supergroup Audioslave--featuring members of Rage Against the ... more
Machine post-Zack de la Rocha with ex-Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell--is as much curio as fascinating blend of visions. Cornell might be outnumbered, but his unmista...
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Feb 11th, 2009
(Feb 12th, 2009)
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