yeah, i remember that interview too....but Chris was being super weird with other stuff too. At the same time, even if Carry On wasnt good, his touring that year was fucking incredible. And he seemed so fucking happy.

Never knew about the session musicians. How very odd.

there were rumors about them, and i think the rage guys implied it was something Chris and Brendan O Brien did.

Audioslave - Two Thumbs Down by strat. Not a fan. Sad!

Apparently doesn’t like Audioslave. Bigly. Yuge disappointment.

should we close this thread?

Maybe you should erase all the Audioslave comments.

Audioslave still blows

they undoubtedly blow, but there's something sleazy about them that i can't but help find compelling. I think it was their two songs in the Miami Vice movie that made their whole sound suddenly click for me: There's a vapidness to their music that is really palpable, and it took the movie scenes to articulate what i had kind of sensed before.

It's like the perfect rock music for when you want to feel something, but are currently feeling nothing.

Carry On

Chris Cornell’s second solo album is nothing nearly like the first. If the first explored new avenues for Chris’s voice, this album seems to be attempting to be interesting without actually being so. The music just sort of feels generic throughout, as if shades of his former bands would suffice under his voice. And his voice here sounds almost tinny, or as if the producer didn’t get the fullness that is usually a hallmark of his studio voice. Sure, there are some songs here that are pretty good - at least the bookends of the album, No Such Thing and You Know My Name, but it still doesn’t seem to measure up to basically everything he has done prior. The album isn’t a disaster, there’s really just nothing to see here.

yeah i agree with you...such a weird album. He went to work with Steve Lillywhite, who clearly ddnt know what to do with him. It shows Cornell needs someone to bounce ideas off and here everything kinda feels half baked.

Its his attempt to adult pop, a more straightforward rock and roll album and damn its just...bland and boring. I love the Bond song but he did that one prior to this album....even No Such Thing feels lazy.

A weird time for Chris, because his live shows at this time were fucking incredible.

I really like Arms Around Your Love and to a lesser extent Safe and Sound. If someone dismissed them as kinda generic I wouldn't be able to disagree but they work for me for some reason.

yeah, they are both alright. When the album came out, i really liked it and those two were favorites...with time it become the album i dont care the most from him.

This is absolutely true. I don't think he was totally comfortable in the studio around this time but found solace on the stage.

Very true. The stark contract between Euphoria Mourning and Carry On proves this. He probably should've "carried on" working with Eleven for his second album as the former was a very layered, textured and interesting recording. The latter wasn't.

yeah, i think his best work is when he can bounce ideas with other people. I think it was Susan Silver on the Grunge is dead book maybe? or that SG spin article were she said that chris needed musical partners to work with.

Scream

In many ways, this entire journey has been building to this - the most divisive album derided by many and at best called a failed experiment. To say I was expecting an abject disaster is an understatement. I am not really one of those folks who finds the genius in a flop. I probably call it pretty straight as a I see it. So when I listened to this, came to the end, and liked it(!), I didn’t quite know what to make of it.

To be fair, the first third of the album is a disaster. There’s a discordant mess between Timbaland’s beats, Ill fitting backup singers, and Chris Cornell who just seems out of place. Then something sort of happens in Take Me Alive where it starts to sink in a little and make some sense. Then Long Gone is actually pretty good, along with Scream. By Enemy and through the remainder of the album, I am fully into this, a melding of rock textures and slight sonic turns in the way I think it makes perfect sense. Other Side of Town is just the right touch of lightness. Climbing Up the Walls rock edge transitions perfectly into the rock pop touch of Watch Out. And we bring it all home with a straight ahead blues ballad in Two Drink Minimum. This album, particularly the second half, is worth your revisit. It’s certainly not Soundgarden or Chris Cornell at his height, but I actually liked this.

I’ve always enjoyed the rock mix for Long Gone. It’s kinda cheesy but catchy.

We want artists to be creative and not just regurgitate the same old thing. A writer/director/producer/actor puts out a bad book/movie/album and one cares. Somehow with music we expect so much more and I am never sure why. I think with that in mind you have to be very forgiving of misses. I credit Chris for trying and Two Drink Minimum is amazing.

im actually a fan of Scream. I think the songs are super strong, and i would prefer another producer for sure, but there is enough there to really get into it.

Part Of Me, Ground Zero, Never Far Away, Take Me Alive, Long Gone, Scream are all very strong songs.

Also, he was super out there lyrically. Part of me has some very hard moments there, its basically about Susan....Scream too. I love those lyrics.

Songbook

In this time period, Chris, without a proper band, certainly looked for plenty of spaces to roam - none more stunning than his own solo shows. Chris, his guitar, and his songs, culled across his career solo, Soundgarden, Audioslave, and Temple of the Dog. In most moments, the guitar serves as a sort of filler background as Chris’s voice soars over top, providing an almost fragile counterpoint to one of rock’s most powerful voices. It works most powerfully on his solo work and the TotD songs, Call Me a Dog, both versions of Can’t Change Me, All Night Thing, Ground Zero, and Scar on the Sky are all lifted in new ways in this format. His covers bear proper tribute but never overtake the originals. The Audioslave songs feel his alone, though the Soundgarden songs have me missing the boys (coming soon). I wish I would have seen this - an authentic and stunning re-imagination of so many of his songs performed in stunning fashion.