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Audioslave: America's new super group
By Ryan Bykerk
Guest Writer
FILE PHOTO
Some raging and a bit of gardening makes for new listening pleasure.
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In a music scene full of faceless bands, void of personality or any sort of unique distinguishing factors, Audioslave stands out from the crowd. Audioslave, the latest supergroup to explode onto the music scene, features the combined talent of former Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell and three former members of Rage Against the Machine (or RATM): Tom Morello (guitar), Tom Commerford (bass), and Brad Wilk (drums).
As Audioslave was still taking shape, RATM fans and Soundgarden fans held their breath in the mutual hope that Audioslave would bring back some part of their favorite bands. What was finally unveiled in November was neither Cornell-powered Rage, or Rage-powered Soundgarden, but it was just what one would expect from the combined efforts of two of the most successful bands of the Nineties—amazing.
At first the band feels like a heterogeneous mix. It seems easy to hear and separate the RATM from the creative crooning of Chris Cornell, but as the album spins its way through over an hour of music it becomes clear that the mix runs deeper than it first appears.
Chris Cornell has had a longstanding reputation as one of rock’s greatest singers. Soundgarden, which Cornell put together in 1984, was one of the first of what would come to be the famed Seattle grunge bands. The band put out several platinum albums, including their greatest-selling 1994 album, “Superunknow.” After Soundgarden’s breakup in 1997 Cornell went on to record a lackluster solo album in 1999 entitled “Euphoria Morning.” The album was a beautiful album, full of slow ballads, but it lacked the intensity Soundgarden fans were hoping for.
Coming out like a storm, Rage Against the Machine blasted onto the music scene in 1992 with their self-titled debut. Their mix of punk rock and politically-charged rap gave them a very unique sound that was soon copied and elaborated on by bands like Limp Bizkit and others.
The band gained a large following but then broke up soon after their 2000 release, Renegades, leaving Rage fans wanting more. Soon after, rumors were circulating about the formation of a new band with Cornell, and after much debate and experimentation, Audioslave was founded.
The album itself is as diverse as the group. The political nature of the RATM (at least as far as their lyrics go) has been largely dropped, but the album is still very powerful. Intense songs like “Light my way” and “Set it off” may not inspire one to march on the White House, but they will certainly bring out the air-guitars. But the members of Audioslave are apparently not content to simply prove their ability to rock out, as the album includes ballads like “I am the Highway” and “Like a Stone” that are moving and musical.
Unlike many debut albums, Audioslave’s album is ambitious, taking listeners on a sixty-six minute musical journey. Many albums now are also frontloaded albums geared entirely to the lazy, radio-listening public, but Audioslave’s daring experimental album is solid from beginning to end.
Make no mistake, the band is not the new Rage, nor is it a reincarnation of Soundgarden, but fans of both bands win in Audioslave. Driven by Morello’s incredible creativity and mastery of the fine details of the guitar, Audioslave has a very modern sound that, thanks to Cornell, has been applied to a broader musical spectrum.
In the past, one could go all the way through a Rage album without too much change of pace, but in Audioslave, Cornell’s much more varied talent comes through and gives the album its necessary diversity.
Perhaps the greatest thing about Audioslave is that they are searching, like so many other bands in modern music, for the next musical revolution. But what sets Audioslave apart from most other bands today is that Audioslave is looking forward for the next big thing. They are not content to spin out cookie-cutter bubblegum hits like the Blink-182s and Defaults of modern music, nor are they ready to look back to the past of rock like the Vines or the Strokes. They look ahead to develop a new sound—one that we will hopefully hear more of.
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