Audioslave
 

Has anyone else picked up the self-titled album by Audioslave? It features the instrumental section from Rage Against the Machine with Chris Cornell (of Soundgarden fame) on lead vocals.

I've been trememdously surprised by this album. Once of the best I've bought in the last few months, no doubt.

http://www.audioslave.com

I havent got it yet, but plan to sometime. I really like their first single Cochise :up:

Its nice to finally hear this band with a decent singer.

Got it earlier today. Sounds pretty good to me. Are they planning on doing more than one album, or is this just a one time deal?

Sorta o/t, sorta related :
De La Rocha's album is due out next year. It may be interesting...Reznors producing it supposedly.

They're supposed to be a real band and release several albums. In fact, Epic (Rage's label) and Interscope (Cornell's label) had a dispute about which label should release the band's discs, and they agreed to take turns. So, the record company pressure alone should be enough to coax at least a few more releases out of these guys.

This album fk'n RAWWWKS!!!

I'm going to get the album tomorrow. Rage against the Machine was/is one of my favorite bands. I'm eager to see how they do with a rock singer instead of a rapper.

This is the best straight rock album in a long time IMO. I really don't listen to plain old rock anymore, but this is quite good.

De la Rocha was a pretty weak MC and I think Cornell is one of the great rock singers so I'm happy with the switch. :)

Very curious about his upcoming solo disc though.

De La Roche a weak MC? I don't think so. I think he's one of the better ones.

Personally I hate Cornell's voice -- though I'm biased because I hate all those low-toned grunge vocals that were so popular in the 90's and are starting to resurface (soungarden, pearl jam, alice in chains, and ugh Creed).

I didn't like Audioslave. I heard an advance copy a long time ago. Though it sounded like one long and annoying soundgarden song.

sorry for the -threadcrap-

I miss De La Rocha but that's ok because Cornell is a talent and is voice is great (especially if you liked the grunge sound).

You can definitely tell it's RATM playing the music though....which I like.

I loved Cornell's "Can't Change Me" single and then thought his album was absolutely horrible and boring.

I'm glad for both parties. Zack De La Rocha was a great MC for what he was doing......a political rock band. (That anti-everything view is what I'll miss)

I'll definitely pick this up soon.

I love Rage and Cornell, and love the single. Rolling Stone didn't even list in the "best tracks" section of their review, so that gives me even higher hopes for the rest of the album.

I'm the exact opposite of DodgingCars. I love grunge, it's my favorite type of music. With the remastered Nirvana, Pearl Jam's awesome new albums, and this in a couple of weeks, I'm a happy camper. :D

I didn't like the album at all, and I really like Soundgarden, Cornell's solo album, and the first 2 Rage albums. Musically, it sounds like the last couple of Rage albums, kind of plodding. The great thing about the first 2 Rage albums was that they had a bounce to them, and that is nowhere to be seen here. It just kind of drudges along. One of the great things about Soundgarden was the tight metal riffs, and there really aren't any cool riffs on Audioslave, just bursts of guitar during the choruses. I was really looking forward to this but I am very disappointed. Anyone want to buy mine cheap?

I got this album about a week ago...and it is ****ing amazing. The BEST rock album I've bought in a long time. It's a perfect blend of Rage's hard driving guitars and Soundgardens interesting lyrics and vocals.

I am so glad this isn't a POLITICAL rock group....that was the only thing I didn't love about rage...thanks Cornell for making sure this wasn't the case with Audioslave.

I've listened to this album NON-STOP since I got it (literally...probably like 4 to 5 times a day ...just while doing homework etc...) and it is well worth picking up... I hope Audioslave tours...this is one band I NEED to see... also, can't wait for these guys to get back in the studio...

MATT

AUDIOSLAVE RULES

I didn't care for the single much but I'm listening through the soundtrack right now, and I'm liking it.

The key here to remember is that they're not trying to be RATM or Soundgarden.......So far, it's working well methinks.

I am loving song #4, "What You Are". It is filling my need for a Soundgarden-ish song quite nicely.

I heard their song on the radio, and it confirmed my fear that Cornell singing for Rage Against the Machine is a bad idea. I miss Zack...

Cornell isn't "singing for Rage."

Rage is dead. Soundgarden is dead. This is a new band that just happens to be made up of the members of rage, minus Zach, and Cornell. They're not trying to be Rage or Soundgarden, they're trying to be Audioslave.

<small></small>I've not heard the thing, and maybe I never will, but someone I know said they felt similar to you initially but felt that they gained a greater appreciation after several more spins. Perhaps it is a "grower"....?

I wasnt all that impressed with it. I was always curious as to what RATM would sound like with a front man who sang instead of rapping and now it just makes me appreciate Zach's talent that much more. Its not thats its a bad album, its just painfully ordinary. It lacks the passion and resonance that RATM had. To me its a de clawed watered down version of Rage. Maybe I'm wrong for comparing them but its kind of unavoidable.

loved it, loving it. one of the best albums in a long time. cornell is sick as hell, and they have created some amazing stuff with this effort.

!

it is sad that you would mention Creed with those 3 bands that pioneered so much, and created such amazing music.

This is my new favorite band. I was a Rage and Soundgarden fan but this is something different. People expecting Rage will probably be disapointed. Set it off and Exploder are my favorites so far. It's just nice to hear a pure rock band without rapping or electronic mixed in.

all of them have the same vocal style. In my opinion I put them all in the same category.

Creed's lead singer sounds NOTHING like Alice In Chains or Soundgarden's singers. Scott could not come even come close to Chris or Laynes vocal talents.

Picked this up today and I love it.

I think I'll end up liking it more than anything by Rage or Soundgarden, which is saying a lot as those are to of my top 5 or 10 bands of all time.

Morello's guitar work is better than anything in soundgarden, and Cornell's vocals are better than anything by De La Rocha IMO.

Though I should preface that by saying that I generally HATE rap. Rage is the only rap metal band I ever really got into, and Cypress Hill is the only rap group I can tolerate. Rage's first two albums where great because the music kicked ass, and Zach screamed and half sung as much as rapped on a lot of songs, but the third album was just mediocre. The music has lost it's "oomph" and there was too much straight up rapping for my tastes.

At any rate, to get back to Audioslave. I think Cornell's voice is a great fit. There's a great mix of heavy and mellower songs which I like, it makes the album flow well. Morrello's guitar work is great, and Cornell has never sounded better.

And lumping Creed with those other bands is an insult. Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains are three of the best bands ever, while Creed is just radio-friendly crap. The only connection is that Stapp (especially a few years ago) tried his damnedest to be Eddie Vedder.

po-tay-toe, po-tot-toe

I think they're all radio-friendly crap. But again... that's just my opinion.

Your opinion shows you know absolutely nothing about those two bands. good job :up:

Indeed. All those bands (except creed) play (or played) what the hell they felt like at the time, not what would get played on the radio or MTV. Hell Pearl Jam eschued video's after their first album.

Got to love it when people make their opinions meaningless.

I think the cover is pretty interesting..anyway, I really love the energy in "Set it Off"---"the last thing he said was / set that f**ker off!!* I've missed Cornell, glad to hear something to new. Hopefully, they'll be around for more than just this record..

Cornell is really sounding tough and his vocals have a deep quality I love. Musically I think there is less depth but a good tight sound none the less. I did tire of TM's "I can make wierd sounds" solos but his riffage is still awesome. BTW, anyone who puts Creed in the class of the Soundgarden, PJ or AIC is seriously in need of some help.

As a fan of Cornell and Rage, I was looking forward to this album off for awhile. It took some getting use to it, but I'm liking it more and more. Like it has been echoed in this thread, Audioslave isn't Rage. I think I was kind of expecting that when I first started and was a little disappointed, not even giving the album a chance.

As I am writing this post actually, a Rage song followed an Audioslave song. It puts how different these two are in perspective. I still prefer Rage, though. Zach's rapping always got the adrenaline rushing, but Cornell brings something completely new to the table.

Why is my opinion meaningless... because you disagree with it? I've heard all those bands for years. I'm 26 years old and was 16 when grunge hit the mainstream. Most of my friends listened to Soundgarden, PJ, Alice in Chains, etc. My fiancee loves Creed and I've heard most of their stuff as well.

In my opinion it's all in the same category. Some guy singing with low-toned vocals over hard rock/alternative rock guitars. In my opinion: boring.

Hey, you don't agree with me. That's fine. But no need to get ugly. I know about music and I like music. I just don't like the grunge or post grunge vocals. I find them irritating and boring.

So has anyone heard about the limited edition of Audioslave's album that was released only in Australia?

I'm wondering what sort of extra stuff the Aussies got.

The reason being, and quite objectively, that equating Creed with Pearl Jam or Soundgarden because of similar vocal styles is the same as equating Styx with Led Zeppelin because they both have guitars and drums.

Only problem with this is that Layne from AIC did not sing in a "low-toned" pitch, and for the most part neither did Cornell from Soundgarden. If anything they are high toned vocalists who could belt out notes Stapp could only dream about.

Actually, it was calling them "radio friendly" that made it appear that you know nothing about them.

Creed is the only radio friendly band you mentioned. The others eschued the radio and MTV popularity and just played whatever type of music they wanted to at the time

Your opinion of them sucking is fine. Whether a band is radio friendly or not is a fact.

Anyway, for those that actually like Audioslave, they're going to be on Letterman tonight. Their site says its "a performance you won't want to miss."

Thanks for the heads up, I did not know that :up:

Damn, I tell you guys about it, then I forgot about it. :( Oh well.

So how was it?

They played Cochise and that's it. No chatting with Letterman.

Cool, that's one of my least favorite songs (figured they'd play it since that's the single). I'd still liked to have seen it though.