Chris Cornell
Carry On

THE REVIEW

After a flat and practically idea-free album like the last Audioslave (a band that, in my opinion, should have disbanded after the first album), there is curiosity surrounding this solo effort by Chris Cornell, one of the best voices on the international scene and former leader of a great band from the grunge era, Soundgarden.

Cleverly riding the wave of success from the latest 007 with the main theme of the "Casino Royale" soundtrack (using that "You Know My Name" which achieved good success with its very "cinematic" melody and guitars somewhat in the background), Chris is now preparing for his solo return after "Euphoria Morning," his first (dated) solo album.

Let's make it clear: the new project will not please the fans of the late Audioslave, while the only hope (already hinted at) for Soundgarden supporters is a historic reunion, considering we are facing an album clearly set on pop-rock coordinates with high radio appeal.

There is an exception with the opener "No Such Thing," a future new single, still anchored to the Audioslave planet but without the now-obvious solos drowned in Morellian effects. "Poison Eye" is already more poppy but maintains a great and pleasant underlying energy, "Arms Around Your Love" (the current single) is a highly catchy rock ballad, but very, very beautiful; same goes for "Safe And Sound." "She'll Never Be Your Man" is repetitive and predictable (along with a horrible title), "Ghosts" is instead a very pleasant semi-acoustic number. "Killing Birds" brings back some electricity to the mix, anticipating a surprisingly unrecognizable, slowed-down, and emotional "Billie Jean" cover with a Cornellian performance that is a real scream (in the true sense of the word!!!). "Scar On The Sky" is not convincing, too slow and stereotypical, while "Your Soul Today" is the other Audioslave-like (or Audioslavian, whatever...) number and finally gets you moving. Unfortunately, if up to this point it was labelable as a medium-great album, everything declines; good Chris tacks on three slow songs ("Finally Forever", "Silence The Voices", and "Disappearing Act") that are utterly boring, before wrapping up with the beautiful aforementioned "You Know My Name."

It remains a pleasant and well-packaged album, but the final thought is that if it had been assembled with 11-12 tracks, the feeling would have been more pleasing.

Waiting for Soundgarden (?).