lambchops's Full Review: Out of Exile by Audioslave
Chris Cornell is easily one of the top few rock vocalists to come out of the 1990s. He along with Scott Weiland, Maynard James Keenan, Shannon Hoon, and Eddie Vedder proved that the decade’s rock and roll would be remembered. As much as I love all five artists I mentioned, I do think it is Chris Cornell whose voice is the most amazing. It has amazing range and emotion and works just as well today as it did fifteen years ago.
Audioslave is a very different band than Soundgarden. Soundgarden was an outgrowth of the time. The brand of music they created was dark and unpredictable and the perfect soundtrack an entire generation’s disenchanted life. On the other hand, Cornell’s most recent project Audioslave makes straightforward rock and roll. Sometimes loud, sometimes evocative, but always well produced and well thought out the band’s music will certainly go down as some of the best of this decade.
Cornell (vocals) along with Tom Morello (guitar), Tim Commerford (bass), and Brad Wilk (drums) have become one of the most striking rock bands of the past few years. Morello, Commerford, and Wilk are all former members of Rage Against the Machine. Audioslave is simply put a super group that worked out. This isn’t always the case with these kinds of bands, but this foursome has found great success. They’ve had about eight hit singles and have as of 2005 released two hit albums (their debut topped off at #7 while this year’s Out Of Exile went all the way to the top of the charts). It is rare for a real rock band in today’s musical climate to sell so well—leave it to Audioslave to accomplish the seemingly impossible.
Neither of the band’s two albums is perfect. Both have flaws and both have underwhelming songs, but regardless of the problems the fact that this is that there are few acts out there that can surpass Audioslave in quality. As for Out of Exile, I think the best example of the band’s potential comes with Doesn’t Remind Me which is quite simply put the most lovely rock song to come about in the past few years. It opens with a lightly strummed guitar. Soon, a thumping bass drum joins the mix alongside Cornell’s easy voice. Each new thought brings a slightly different idea to the song. Mid-tempo rock songs usually don’t do anything for me, but this is a major exception. The lyrics are poignant and the music is aggressive at the same time it is melodic and introspective.
Out of Exile features a number of other good and great songs. Even when Audioslave is less interesting or less original I still can’t help but listen. Your Time Has Come is a strong, driving opening song with a fierce bass line and Cornell’s typically grinding vocals. That song feeds wonderfully into the second and title track. Out of Exile is a dramatic, energetic rock offering complete with excellent drums, vocals, bass guitar, and guitar. While not as outstanding as Don’t Remind Me it still works well in the context of an album track. Be Yourself on the other hand is definitely one of the best songs on this whole disc. It is full of contrasts—contrasting tempos, volumes, performances, and vocals. Sometimes songs like this fail because they don’t really have any direction. That’s where Audioslave’s musical maturity comes into play. They wrote and performed and unusually styled song in such a way that it seems somehow “normal.”
Heaven’s Dead once again proves that Audioslave’s ability to change things up. It is unusually quiet and understated. Even better, though, is that the song highlights the fact that the band obviously realizes that guitar solos and screaming is not necessary to create a great rock record. The real soul of rock and roll comes across when it is controlled and melodic. Completely on the other end of the spectrum, Man or Animal definitely is reminiscent of Rage songs with Morello’s howling guitars and the chunky arrangement. However with Cornell at the helm it seems less rebellious and more thoughtful. I love that it is a loud track but not so wild and unrelenting that it lacks direction and melody.
As Out of Exile begins to draw to a close, Audioslave still is relatively impressive. Yesterday to Tomorrow and Dandelion are both easy on the ears with the latter being startlingly restrained and gentle. Unfortunately, I’m less than impressed by the final two songs. Neither #1 Zero nor The Curse do much for me. They are easy enough on the ears, but they lack the heart and heat of the other songs on this album. That said anything from Audioslave is better than the music from about 99% of the other “rock” bands out there today.
If you loved the first Audioslave album, you’ll definitely enjoy Out of Exile. They aren’t carbon copies of one another, but they do have similar musical ideas all of which work nicely with the band’s varied talent. Rock and roll is still alive in the songs and voice and guitars of Audioslave. This isn’t a perfect album but it definitely has some high points and it further solidifies my belief that Chris Cornell is the best rock vocalist to come out of the 1990s.
Ratings: 4/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. Your Time Has Come
02. Out of Exile
03. Be Yourself
04. Doesn’t Remind Me
05. Drown Me Slowly
06. Heaven’s Dead
07. The Worm
08. Man or Animal
09. Yesterday to Tomorrow
10. Dandelion
11. #1 Zero
12. The Curse
___________________________________
Related Reviews:
Audioslave are back with their release of Out of Exile, the band s highly anticipated second album. The follow-up to Audioslave s self-titled 2002 deb...More at Buy.com
Audioslave are back with their release of Out of Exile, the band s highly anticipated second album. The follow-up to Audioslave s self-titled 2002 deb...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.