The initial problem I have with Audioslave is that they are neither Soundgarden or Rage Against the Machine, two of my favourite bands. I have always been sceptical about whether or not Cornell and Morello could pull it off. I have to say that, with the opening track to this album, it wasn't off to a great start. The guitar riff to Cochise harbours an uncanny resemblance to Pantera's I'm Broken. Nevertheless I do enjoy the song. Audioslave do it better, but Pantera did it first.I am suprised, therefore, at how much I actually enjoyed this album. I was especially impressed by the tracks; 'Like a Stone', 'I am the Highway' and 'Set it off'. A lot of it proved to me that Morello's trademark guitar riffs do, indeed, work without Zach De La Rocha's anger fuled rapping. However this probably owes a great deal to the power of Cornell's voice, which is able to keep up with the power of Morello's guitar. My favourite aspects of this album, however, are the moments when the band manages to forget the supergroups they came from. It shows me something different about the diversity of Morello in particular, something he later recaptured with his side project, The Nightwatchman.
All in all, I am very impressed. It certainly isn't something I will now stop listening to. I will therefore give it a very respectable 4/5.
That was a very enjoyable review actually, and I'm glad you enjoyed it :)
ReplyDeleteThis review is very good.
ReplyDeleteI'm behind on this :( I still need to listen to this again to review it properly and I still need to listen to Tool.