Album Review: "Scream" by Chris Cornell

Timbaland: "You know people are going to be pissed, right?"
Chris Cornell: "Yup"

Quote on quote from Chris Cornell on The Hour with host, George Stromboloupoulos.

This is going to be a very difficult album review to write because of my immense respect and admiration for Chris Cornell. First off, let's give the facts, "Scream" is Cornell's third solo album and it is the successor to his 2007 mediocre album "Carry On."

Here it goes, Chris Cornell recorded a hip-hop/funk/dance album that was produced by Timbland. Don't roll your eyes yet. We all know that Chris Cornell was and still is a rock god. He has been frontman of two well-known bands; Soundgarden and Audioslave. Cheers. Nothing will ever top his rock days because it is what Chris Cornell does best. He has one of the most phenomenal rock voices of our time and it keeps getting better as he ages. Although this may seem like an odd effort by Chris, you really, really, REALLY have to be open minded about this album.

I'm not going to dismiss this album from Cornell's catalog. Give the man his dues, three bands (8 albums in total) and three diverse solo albums...not every artist has that on their resume. Chris Cornell's musical career has undergone numerous changes that fans and critics alike should respect it.

Scream is an experimental album and I give him props for expanding his musical taste. Timbaland obviously knows what he is doing and he provides great, catchy beats that allows Cornell to sing his heart out. In fact, Chris sounds phenomenal on this record. For a 44 year old, he can truly sing anything! On a clever note, you have to respect Chris' intuition to shock his fan base. That was his creative intention when making this record. But given his rock history, it is surprising that Cornell is not really doing a lot of screaming here except for his lyrics. Making this album was a pretty brave thing to do and it's nice that Timbaland has his back.

This album is club music with Chris Cornell's vocals slapped on them. There you have it! Here are my favourite songs:

"Scream" / "Long Gone" - These are my favourite songs on the record. They are slower tracks that carry a lot of emotion through Cornell's vocal melodies and a solid beat from Timbaland. Listen to them at night to get the full effect. Great job, guys!

"Never Far Away" - Put this song on full blast and request it in a club! Cornell sounds fantastic on this track and it should be a single! Also, guitars emerge in this song. GUITARS!!!

Some honourable mentions:
"Part of Me"
"Watch Out"
"Climbing the Walls"
"Enemy"

As you can see, there are only 5 or 6 out of 14 tracks that make the cut. In conclusion, good effort but Chris, please stay in the rock scene.

Rating: 2.5/5

Tracks:
1. Part Of Me
2. Time
3. Sweet Revenge
4. Get Up
5. Ground Zero
6. Never Far Away
7. Take Me Alive
8. Long Gone
9. Scream
10. Enemy
11. Other Side Of Town
12. Climbing Up The Walls
13. Watch Out
14. Two Drink Minimum - hidden track