Chris Cornell, ‘Scream’
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Rock icon Chris Cornell follows on from his hugely successful ‘Carry On’ album by bringing in the big guns for the new release.
Oh yes, Cornell has got Timbaland, Justin Timberlake,
Ryan Tedder and even John Mayer on this one. Now, I know what you’re thinking – ‘Why has Cornell gone down the OneRepublic route?’ well... I’m not really sure.
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Released - 10/3/09
Label - Interscope
3rd solo studio album
14th (Soundgarden 7, Temple of the Dog 1, Audioslave 3) album
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So gone are the guitar noise epics of past Soundgarden and Audioslave records
(which may explain the cover art) as a trademark Timbaland beat ensconces
proceedings on ‘Part of Me’. And there’s Cornell, straining all his vocal chords to be heard over it as he screams: “That bitch ain’t a part of me” again, and again and again. In fairness, this is fairly catchy and goes down as
one of the better efforts.
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Does everything Tim Mosley touch turn to gold? No... Does he have too much
influence on this album? It’s impossible not to hear his influence on every track and as for the comparisons
to ‘A Night at the Opera’, well... ‘Sweet Revenge’ is a timely example of Cornell’s voice in a power-struggle against Timbaland’s over-the-top beat which sounds not dissimilar to a science lab – no, really...
‘Ground Zero’ is another example of Cornell’s excellent lyrical content and frankly, unrivalled voice being stopped in its
tracks by Timbaland’s over-powering beat. Why does a vocal snare plague this track? It’s baffling, but one would assume a limelight struggle. ‘Take Me Alive’ on the other hand, actually features a guitar, god forbid, which doesn’t over-ride Cornell’s voice. Though credit should go to Mosley for tuning down the Asian beat for
once.
Unsurprisingly the first single features Timbaland, ‘Long Gone’, but more surprisingly doesn’t feature a beat that takes over the song – there’s even a slight guitar riff in there, simulated I’m sure. Now whether this was an attempt to wean the public off a guitar-based
Cornell (guess they got quite a shock by the time ‘Part of Me was out!), is not clear but in fairness it’s a good song.
So what do you need to know about this collection? There’s too much Timbaland and not enough Cornell (in case you hadn’t got that message by now) would be the general theme. The better tracks are
undoubtedly the ones that allow Cornell to be heard, but sadly there aren’t many of them. 5/10 CM
Starsailor, ‘All the
Plans’
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What took you so long?
The anthemic Chorley band release album 4 and their fans won’t be disappointed.
Starsailor have somewhat got lost in the under-rated musical
obscurity since 2001’s breakout ‘Love is Here’ album – their style somewhat imitated more commercially by the likes of Razorlight.
Unlike Johnny Borrell though, this band is not all about front man James Walsh
and as such the songs tend to have that more human feel.
The record begins with the upbeat, piano-driven ‘Tell Me It’s Not Over’, which as you might expect, is about a painful breakup. The rhythm is catchy
yet slightly dreamy, almost slipping into Keane territory as Walsh muses gently
over extra-marital relations. It’s a strong start and sets the pace for what’s to come.
‘The Thames’ is a particular stand-out track, though not a style indicator as it features a
more classically 60s-influenced guitar riff which laces the track together
nicely. It has that bluesy feel about it as it jumps between the aforementioned
riff and a more traditional Britpop sound, reminiscent of the likes of Ocean
Colour Scene.
The album has a wonderfully classic British rock and roll
theme flowing through it as pacier numbers are interchanged effortlessly with
slower ones such as ‘The Boy in Waiting’, which although not particularly memorable, serves as a well-timed interlude.
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Title-track ‘All the Plans’ is another classically-romantically penned effort with timely rhythms and
thoughtful lyrics. It is refreshing in an age of shock-pop to find a band so
comfortable in its own simplicity. This one also features more blues-style with
a welcome mouth organ solo as we fade out.
‘Neon Sky’ is another tune so comfortable in its solemnity. Walsh’s voice crackles as it speaks of loss, the piano softly accompanying the pain.
Undoubtedly influenced by the masters of comedown, The Verve, not least by the
title, but also the slow wails towards the end of the track that Richard
Ashcroft is so famous for. In many ways this could well have been what ‘Northern Soul’ would have sounded like, had the band not been surfing the hallucinogenic Milky
Way.
‘Hurts Too Much’ is surprisingly upbeat considering the title and the vibe of this album. The
piano line is again top notch and compliments the track wonderfully as it
speaks of the pitfalls of the modern world. I can’t help being disappointed by the traditional slow album ender of ‘Safe at Home’ but it is isolated as a poorer track on an increasingly stellar album.
The only criticisms you could throw at this album would be that it doesn’t add anything remotely new to the band’s repertoire, though if Elbow can do it, so can Starsailor and what we have here
is a maturely-constructed emotional sound wave of heart-rending tales. 9/10 CM
Key Tracks: ‘Part of Me’, ‘Take Me Alive’, ‘Long Gone’
Key Tracks: ‘Tell Me It’s Not Over’, ‘The Thames’, ‘Neon Sky’, ‘Hurts Too Much’, ‘Listen Up’, ‘All the Plans’
(c) ChrisOnline.biz 2009
