Audioslave
Revelations

THE REVIEW

Let's start with a premise: are four superstars enough to reach the peak? It's a maybe, because if that were the case, Inter would have won 50 championships and not just 15, and the same discussion can be made for this Superband, whose previous two albums were met with a barrage of criticism for their slowness and the excessive presence of tracks with too much commercial appeal ("Be Yourself" and the otherwise splendid "I'm The Highway" to name one for each album). Has the situation changed? Definitely yes, and now let's see how.

Since some reviewers on this same site sometimes forget who they're talking about and have no problem offending artists (read some reviews of the eponymous Audioslave and you’ll agree with me), I'd like to remind you that the band includes Chris Cornell (former leader of Soundgarden, voted the twelfth best voice in rock history, even ahead of His Majesty Robert Plant), Tom Morello (an Italian-American guitarist who, despite knowing how to play like Jimmy Page, enjoys making noise), Brad Wilk (perhaps better known as Y.tim.K.), and Tim Commerford. The last three made the fortune of Rage Against The Machine together with Zack De La Rocha.

The album consists of 12 tracks, all attributable to the band's classic metal-post grunge sound. The first is the title track "Revelations," rhythmic and wonderfully enriched by a modified solo from Morello's guitar and interspersed by an intermediate where Cornell takes the lead. Next is "One And The Same," which we could label as a classic metal-pop song with an easy-to-remember refrain and battle cries that will make the purest metalheads happy. The third track is "Sound Of A Gun," where the absolute protagonists are the RATM-style voice and riff, while the rhythm section remains in the background. "Until We Fall" is a melodramatic metal ballad that we can divide into two sections, the first characterized by a semi-acoustic guitar and a virtuosic monotone singing, and the second by a burst of guitar+semi-shouted power. Then comes the excellent funky hit "Original Fire," the first single from the album. "Broken City", "Somedays", "Shape Of Things To Come", and "Jewel Of The Summertime" make up the less successful part of the entire album and, although they all have excellent lyrics, the only things supporting them are the singer's voice and appeal, who tries to convey the epic echoes of Soundgarden's pieces, unfortunately with different results. Then, as if a switch were turned on, the true gem of the album begins, namely "Wide Awake", a beautiful protest song against the Bush administration's inaction during Hurricane Katrina, with deep lyrics and a clear guitar devoid of any effects, even in the brief solo. The penultimate is another à la metal ballad "Like A Stone" titled "Nothing Left To Say But Goodbye": to a repeated and suddenly accelerated guitar loop near the chorus joins a masterful interpretation given by Cornell's splendid voice. The album closes with "Moth" with an ignorant riff by Morello that recalls echoes of "Guerrilla Radio" and a sweet singing alternated with sharper moments.

It is not an album that will make music history, but it has managed to demonstrate that even Audioslave were capable of creating moments of beautiful music. Not everyone will be happy, especially those who criticized the project and believed it should have been dissolved after the first album, and even the nostalgic "political" critics who kept saying "of course Rage Against The Machine was something else entirely," but this swan song by the band was certainly the best response they could deserve.