Scream by Chris Cornell

Chris Cornell’s new album Scream brings very new and exciting things for the singer once voted “the best hard rock voice of the ‘90s.” It’s almost nothing like his old work, so if you’re a staunch Soundgarden/Audioslave/Temple Of The Dog supporter, you can stop wondering now and just know that you won’t like the album. But if you’re open to your favorite singer evolving with the times and trying new things, you’ll relish Cornell’s work on “Scream.”

The record starts out with the atmosphere-building “Part Of Me,” in which Cornell’s voice breaks out of the middle of a hot hip-hip beat, completely shattering what expectations listeners might have of the upcoming tunes. Cornell even gets down with the lingo here, singing “that bitch ain’t a part of me” – it’s somewhat hard to believe this song, but it’s cool to listen to anyway.

Cornell was quoted as saying that with this album, he wanted to break all pre-conceived notions of what a rock singer can do, and tracks like “Ground Zero”, which evokes an EMF-style beat, and “Take Me Alive,” which is backed by eastern-infused guitars, smash those preconceptions with a bat!

The only time where you’ll properly hear Timbaland’s work is on the collaborative song, “Long Gone” – it’s similar to most of the other numbers and doesn’t make his presence particularly necessary.

The title track is, oddly enough, one of the slowest ones to get going, taking over a minute and a half before the song gets any body, but once it does, it’s the best showcase of Cornell’s vocals on the album, and entirely pleasing to the ear.

Listeners can’t help but be astounded at how well Cornell pulls off the mixed genres – who’d have thought it? But, if what you’re looking for is a balls-to-the-wall hard rock CD, don’t get this, don’t even consider it – buy Red’s or Drowning Pool’s new albums, but if you’re one of those who believe everything Timbaland touches turns to gold, you’ll love this. Even though the producer completely destroyed One Republic’s credibility for me with his past work, I still love this!