Chris Cornell: ‘Scream’
Sun, Mar 8, 2009
Post filled in: Album Reviews, Other Genres, R & B, Reviews, Rock
Album name: Scream
Artist name: Chris Cornell
Genre: Rock/R’n'B
Released: March 10 2009
Label: Interscope
ZME Rating: 2/10
Website: chriscornell.com
Let’s not beat around the bush here. What we have in Chris Cornell’s Scream is possibly the most misguided, counterintuitive, magnificently awful record Cornell, and producer Timbaland, will ever make. It’s suffers from both hideously outdated production - it sounds like what Cornell, in 1996, might have imagined r’n'b would sound like in 2009 - and a lack of cohesion between artist and material. Cornell’s voice clashes with the sterilised, tame beats backing him up like the oil and water he cites in Long Gone. It’s a hideous, malnourished approximation of the ideal mix of rock and hip-hop Cornell was aiming for, his voice sounding clipped and controlled, rather than set free by the new setting it finds itself in.
The segues between songs, heralded as a groundbreaking, mindblowing component of Scream, sound as out of place as Cornell himself, sometimes introducing completely random riffs, unconnected to either song; other times dragging out the first song, then stopping dead in their tracks to let the next track start clean. Or, most commonly, featuring the whole first verse of the next song as a segue. It’s clear that someone ran out of imagination very quickly during the making of this album, and just tried to get it out and released in whatever state it ended up in. It’s an unmitigated disaster, and should - nay, must - be forgotten about as soon as possible. Worst offenders: Ground Zero, Sweet Revenge, Watch Out, Part Of Me.
God, it was tempting to list the entire record there.
So, with that out of the way, let’s focus on whatever positives we can scrape from the horrendous situation. Well, for one thing, Cornell’s voice is in prime condition. No hesitation on my part: his pipes are worth their weight in gold. Despite squandering his considerable talents here, and in recent solo effort Carry On, hearing him belt out Hunger Strike in concert with the vigour and vocal flexibility he had 20 years ago means there’s always the dim, jaded hope that he can do something worthy of his voice sometime soon. We may never see a Soundgarden reunion - I’m not sure we’d want to - and we might not be treated to anything with the delicate beauty of Seasons or Sunshower again, but I’d like to believe he could at least do better than anything on Carry On if he really put his mind to it.
Erm… I guess the general stink of failure that pervades Scream from start to finish might prevent Cornell and Timbaland from teaming up again anytime soon. That’s got to be a positive for both parties: Timbaland can get back to working with people better suited for his style of music, and Cornell can stop pretending this is somehow natural for him - that it’s the best work he’s ever done, superior to Superunknown, Temple of the Dog, and Euphoria Morning. Which is a self-evidently ridiculous assertion. Maybe once he sees how wrongheaded his dalliance with urban music was, he’ll be inspired to either make a genuinely great record in another genre, or at least drop all these abortions of songs from his concert setlists - since his gigs seem to be the only avenue he’s managing to stay vital and relevant.
I’m really struggling now. Positives… positives… I’m really down on the upsides here. To the point of making bad puns to fill space. I guess everything else released this year will be infused with a healthy glow of “Not Being Scream“. So The Killers and Franz Ferdinand can thank Cornell for making them seem a hundred times more tolerable than they were beforehand. In fact, that counts as a whole extra point in Scream’s favour - so long as it has the good grace to stay far away from airplay, it’ll make car journeys 700% more enjoyable, because I’ll be hearing music that isn’t this on the radio. Even if it is the Pussycat Dolls: at least they’re not clearly - painfully - capable of something far better.
And I should mention the hidden, bonus track, Two Drink Minimum, which has added production from a certain John Mayer, and takes Cornell back into safe, bluesy territory. But even this is a tired attempt at sounding authentic - it shines like a gold bullion among cow turds on Scream, but would struggle to merit second mention on Euphoria Morning. But really, Two Drink Minimum sounds more like a requirement for managing to sit through the entire album without demolishing whatever music player is responsible for pumping this travesty into your innocent ears - even a good friend, who loves both Cornell’s back catalogue, and a fair amount of modern urban music, demanded I turn Scream off halfway through Sweet Revenge. I think it was the high-pitched vocals in the chorus that tipped the scales.
So, let’s be honest with ourselves here. Audioslave was never in danger of reaching the heights Soundgarden did. Cornell’s previous two solo records told us virtually nothing about the artist - Euphoria Morning, while beautiful, was obviously inspired by lots of alcohol, even more depression and the loss of Jeff Buckley, while Carry On was a slapdash, messy, mediocre attempt at “mature rock”. Scream, however, even at it’s highest points (Never Far Away, for its catchy chorus, Take Me Alive, for its moderately interesting Eastern vibe, and Two Drink Minimum), never even approaches Cornell’s previous work in terms of artistry or listenability. It’s a flabbergasting dumbing-down of a man who seemed too smart, too self-aware, to make such an agonisingly embarrassing mistake.
(If you weren’t a Cornell fan before now, feel free to add an extra point on to the score - you won’t feel the sting of disappointment. If, on the other hand, you loved Cornell, and aren’t supposed to be somewhat objective when giving an album a score, feel free to subtract a point or two.)
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Al Byrne is a grumpy young thing, and feels precisely three times as old as he really is. In his spare time, he writes here: Mister Hands, and thinks of new and interesting ways to mock people. Many of these thoughts emerge on his Twitter.
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March 9th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Great review, nicely written and I totally agree with you that “Scream” is an awful/hideous album. There’s not one song that interests me more than one listen (probably because I had trouble getting through any one song). Kudos for listenning through this debacle.
You can never over due bad puns.
March 9th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
Nice review - I couldn’t listen through the first track before throwing the CD out of the player and through my window. Agreeing with Lisa, it’s hideous.
March 10th, 2009 at 4:15 am
Awesome site and good review!
March 10th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Ah. Mr Hands. Although there are moments in his review where he might be considered impartial and credible I find him to be the opposite after knowing that he was banned from Cornells official site for threatening remarks about Cornell, his family and his affiliation with Timbaland. And if you are trying to be a true Journalist you should check your facts instead of relying on internet rumor. John Mayer had nothing to do with ANY song on the Scream cd including 2 drink minimun. Mr hands just enjoys being a shit disturber…not a credible journalist. So take this review fro what it is…a college student with little life experience trying to make a name for himself in anyway he can.
March 10th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Ah, the sweet sting of Street Team backlash. How I’ve missed thee.
March 10th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Excellent review!
March 10th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Ah. Julie. If you are trying to be a true Chris Cornell Street Team Leader, you should be spreading positive word about the album, instead of trolling websites to start your own internet rumors.
March 11th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Don’t listen to that tripe Julie vomits. She’s just just another dumpy old and fat housewife from the CC street team. It’s obvious she has nothing better to do than to spread malicious lies around.
March 11th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Lmao!
March 11th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Julie is more than likely “jill” or one of those misinformed, one-sided twats who think it’s their job to monitor and regulate all Cornell-related web content. Cornell always lies and says people are threatening him when he’s trying to deny any wrong-doing. The man sued his ex wife for a million dollars, he’s just a greedy pig with a nice voice. Great review hands.
March 27th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
the reviewer didnt even mention one of the stand outs enemy as a positive contender. you wouldn’t know good music if it hit you on the head.
May 5th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Everyone has an opinion like everyone has an asshole and whoever wrote this…that is only your opinion.
I think Chris took a chance on a different sound and I thought that was cool, he is still a great artist REGARDLESS….the asshole that wrote this didn’t even have the balls to leave their name attached to their overdone opinion of this album.
May 5th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Mr Hands is his name? who wrote this review of the album? Probably
some zit faced loser that sits in his house night and day and has no life and hasn’t been laid in five years.
May 5th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Hands…your probably a zit faced loser that sits in your house night and day and has NO Life. DEVONBLAKE..if you did your fact checking and research, he was suing his exwife because she kept his personal belongings after he asked for a seperation, would you like someone holding your personal belongings, how is that greedy? SHUT the F UP- Both Hands and Devonblake are total losers that talk out their a**holes. Do your research first before you spout off!
May 5th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Hmmm. It’s hard to know what to say to that, Lisa. I might advise you to look at the “About the Author” bit below the review, where my name is clearly printed twice… I guess research IS important after all, eh?
Still, it’s nice to see your defence of the album rests on namecalling, and my apparent skin condition, rather than - I don’t know - the quality of the music, or something.
Anyway, if you’re going to call me an A-hole and insult me, at least have the decency to e-mail it to me like everyone else. Don’t clog up the comments section. There’s an e-mail link in that there “About the Author” bit you missed earlier.
And from now on, if people HAVE to comment about this, can we try to keep it focused on the album rather than the months-old turf war between Scream fans and sane people?
May 5th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Oooh, I’m having an identity crisis, me.
May 15th, 2009 at 5:56 am
I wanted to comment that I read this review back when it was first published and thought it was witty. I had read enough reviews to save my money and let be the Scream be the first Cornell album I haven’t purchased. The other day, a friend lent me his copy - well he gave it to me and now I know why. I think this album exceeded the horror I expected. Chris must be on drugs again because it is hard to fathom he could put together something this bad. I reread this review after having the experience of shock and horror and can appreciate it even more. Not only are you witty but so on the mark.
October 28th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Although the album very awful,i think scream and never far away are the best songs i’ve ever heard
October 28th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Although the album was very awful,i think scream and never far away are the best songs i’ve ever heard
November 2nd, 2009 at 9:29 am
When i saw this song the first time on VH1, the only thing i could think of is that OMG He will be crucified by critics and his fans.
What the hell man, you got amazing voice pls don’t sell out
November 2nd, 2009 at 9:30 am
When i saw this song the first time on VH1 (part of me), the only thing i could think of is that OMG He will be crucified by critics and his fans.
What the hell man, you got amazing voice pls don’t sell out