Full Album Review: Chris Cornell "Scream"

It's only fair that I write this. I've definitely whined and moaned about it enough in other circles, so I gotta put my money where my mouth is.

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Here is my full review of Chris Cornell's album with Timbaland: "Scream." It is very long. You have been warned.

I like originality.

I like it when brilliant people step outside their comfort zone and try new things.

When creativity pushes the boundaries and forgets genre in favor of doing something new, that's when real magic can happen and a whole new thing can be born.

In that spirit, today I am going to review Chris Cornell's "Scream," his...uh, collaboration with pop mastermind Timbaland.

I will review this album the way it was intended. Back to back and in it's entirety. Once this review starts up it just doesn't stop. So you better be ready, because this is gonna be intense.
Seriously, if you're not ready, the back button is right up there. I don't force anyone to care about my opinion, the same way I don't force anyone plant their nose in my armpit, and inhale deeply, and the back button is RIGHT up there. So if you want to keep reading, you've got no-one to blame but yourself.

Still here? Okay then, here we go! Pray for me!

Track 1: "Part of me"
What is this, an intro to an MGM musical? Is this really the right album? The sound shifts quickly to some vaguely eastern psychedelia stuff that gives me "Prince of Persia: Sands of Time" flashbacks and now I feel like a huge geek, but I don't really object because I loved that theme song and anything that reminds of it can't be all bad, right? There's some rumbling spoken word that's so heavily distorted I have no idea what it's saying, so it can't be that important. Though I heard the words "Chris Cornell" in there, so I'm guessing this was some cheeky meta self-reference.

I hate when my music winks at me.

And now we're on to the actual song part of the song, which, by the way, is not the least bit eastern-sounding, so I dunno what the intro was about. It's, well.. it's very clubby, lots of electric beeps and overdubs. Overdubs.

You know what Overdubs says to me?

It says late 90s pop explosion.

It says, "pay no attention to the pretty face on the box, it doesn't really matter who you're listening to. Dance, my hand-puppets, dance, and bring unto me the dollars of the idiotic masses." After I realized that the name on the box was just whatever was marketable at the moment and couldn't be any less relevant to the actual creative force behind the album (whoever that is) I didn't listen to any popular music at all for almost six years. I kid you not. For years all I listened to was Yoko Kanno, instrumental soundtracks, and jazz. The fact that this album, like all "pop" is heavy on the overdubs is not an endearing trait to me. Not at all.

The song's central character is a guy trying to convince this one girl that this other girl who he what-evered in a club was "just a fling" , calls her a bitch (twenty-two times) and whatever and ...blah blah blah... this plot-line makes Lil' Wayne sound like Bob Dylan in terms of lyrical depth.
C'mon Cornell, you don't have the ironic, casual misogyny required for this kind of topic. What's swaggering when coming from a huge ghetto club lord dude (guess who's the whitest chick in America?) doesn't quite sound the same from an ernest, skinny white guy.

Also, the beeping back-drop is boring me to tears. I got excited for a few minutes when I thought I heard some real instruments in the bridge, but they didn't last long before the electronica swallowed them up. It makes me sad because now I just know there is a REAL musician buried in there somewhere and I am never going to get to hear what they really sound like.
Now it's time for the 'transition," and kids, don't let the hype fool you, of the fourteen 'transitions' on this album, only two or so are 'seamless.' The rest leap from sound to sound in disorienting ways, like right here. They shift abruptly from key-tar scales to some bubbly sounding blue cold "ayy" sounds, and before you have time to get your bearings,

Track 2: "Scream."
I've actually heard this one played live. "Scream" and it's much better live, though it still contains no screaming at all. Still, it annoys me much less then the previous one, if just because it doesn't contain the word "bitch." The lyrical theme seems to be a actually a pretty accurate reflection of what happens when two people are just at each-other's throats all the time for reasons neither of which can really remember. Few people do the poisoned relationship theme better then Chris Cornell, THIS is the kind of stuff his brooding, dark vocals were made for.
And just when I'm getting into it, who shows up but Timbaland. In the flesh, spouting some grammatically incorrect hood-speak into his microphone.

Just in case anyone was in danger of forgetting the man behind the curtain, Timbaland is here to remind you who is the stud-muffin, and who is the wing-man.

It upset me so much I completely forgot to listen to the rest of the song.

At least the transition actually IS more "seamless" this time. I'm guessing this is what we were supposed to expect from this album, though went on about 30 seconds longer ten it should have to maintain interest, and it doesn't blend perfectly, but oh well at least the song's over.

Track 3: "Time"
Ok, there actually IS some screaming in this song, and that's great because I love it when Cornell screams at me. But I gotta say, it's strange hearing that howl of his in what is such an unabashed pop song. How unabashed?

One of the lines is, no joke: "Make a little love."

And while it was not followed recommendations that we should 'get down tonight,' I think the point is made. This song wouldn't be out of place in a disco in the 1970s, a decade, by the way, that I give thanks everyday that I was not alive for.

Wait a minute. That's it. This isn't a club track, this is a disco track! A disco IN SPACE, if the cosmic keyboards are anything to go by. A space disco! And the theme is how powerless we are in the face of time.

Normally I like my Space Discos keeping me up to date on the weather conditions on Mars but you know what, I'll totally make an allowance for this one because it reminds me of a Red Dwarf, and anything that reminds of Red Dwarf, I like. Because yes, I am a geek.


Track 4: "Sweet Revenge."
The good news is we're out of the space disco. The bad news is we're back in the club. Very, very much in the club. So deep in the club that Justin Timberlake just turned up with twenty underage supermodels and got them all in without ids.

That is how clubby this is.

By the way, the Timberlake thing didn't come out of nowhere: he actually sings on this track as one of the anonymous computer-generated phantoms warbling the chorus in that studied falsetto of his and doing his best to kill any angst that Cornell's seething bitter lyrics are building up. Justin Timberlake's a talented guy, but every time he opens his mouth, my IQ drops five points. Perfect when I've had a few drinks and really want to get stupid on a dance floor. Not so great any other time.

I like the theme of the song, it's classic Cornell raging against those who would control and direct him (bad managers, ungrateful band-mates, the music biz in general, fill in the blank) but unless you're a pretty sulky drunk, the people who will listen to this will not be lovin' the angry vibe running through what's otherwise a perfectly decent, upbeat dance song.

Track: 5: "Get Up."

Get up. Get up WHERE? How? In what way? So many questions, not enough answers!

The lower depths of Cornell's vocal cords gets a good workout here, making this track a new low (rim-shot), but his voice is so coated with effects that it if you hadn't read the box it would be hard to tell it was him. There is lots of trilling button-pushing here: lots of keyboards, and some heavily coating of the vocals with (to me) unidentifiable effects that have the effect of making everything sound very abstract. If I were to describe this song in one word it would be "vague." There's kind of nothing here to hang onto and I can't figure out where or what anything is supposed to be. Forget the outro foreshadowing the next song too: that's the whole first verse of the next song. With the guitar interlude I was sure there was a whole different song in there somewhere, but since it only exists for around 30 seconds, it doesn't get any chance to really go anywhere.

Ok, I have to amend my previous statement. It's not "vague." It's "disorienting." The world keeps shifting around and I'm currently not nearly drunk or high enough to be at ease with it. Maybe that's intentional, but that might be giving them too much credit. I'm LOOKING for a unifying theme here, but I'm just not finding it.


Track 6: "Ground Zero"
May I say this song, more then any other on this record, tests my "skip reflex" to it's maximum. There's a sampled "ay!" noise in the background and some synth strings over a danceable electric chorus of overdubbing that I swear is the cheeriest setting imaginable for the phrase "blood on the concrete, river of deceit" imaginable. Where in the world am I gonna go? Well, not here, that's for sure. This is ground zero, so run for your life. Run, AWAY from the cringe-worthy sampling, away from the first actual live percussion I can remember hearing on this album (at least, I think it's live) away from this whole sad affair.


Track 7: "Never Far Away"
This is, simply put, the most unabashedly bubble-gum romantic pop song that Chris Cornell has ever sang ever. In fact, it's so different from his normal pessimistic attitude that there's this evil little voice in the back of my head saying there is NO WAY he actually wrote these lyrics.
Timbaland productions feature an infamous revolving door of contributers. What would the odds be he got someone to ghost a song for one of rock's best songwriters?

Naw, not even he's that low.

I hope.

Anyway, the raw honesty of Cornell's voice IS touching and an effective counter-point to the love-struck bubble-gum cheerfulness of the lyrics, before some fake-sounding guitars shift this song from ernest to foreboding, some deep male chants and it's back into the realm of the "Prince of Persia" which was teased at the beginning.

Finally. We've been waiting the whole album to find out what that was all about.

Track 8: "Take me Alive"
Ok, I'll admit the eastern stuff is psychedelic and cool. Too bad I can't figure out what it has to do with the song's theme: a guy lamenting his inability to end a destructive, controlling relationship. It's similar in theme to Soundgarden's "Rusty Cage" in which a man declares defiantly he will soon break free from what holds him prisoner, but by the end of the song, the prison is still very much intact. He just can't take that final step. In that way, the narrative character of "Take me Alive" declares he won't ever be taken alive, it's pretty clear he already has.

The destructive relationship is kind of a standby for Cornell, and the "exotic" framing doesn't seem to have anything to do with the domesticity of the subject, but hey, I'd rather be striding down the street to the bazar then trapped in a hum-drum dance club, so I won't complain too much.

You know something I've just realized. Every single song on this CD is abbreviated. Really, it's like you get two-thirds of a real song, and the last quarter of any track is just teaser for the next one, some teasers better then others (this one is a return to the 70s keyboards and shimmering electronica with heavily distorted vocals).


Track 9: "Long gone."
Ok, I just heard this verse, it was part of the teaser, and now you're making me listen to the same exact thing again? That's annoying me, which is too bad because this song, "Long Gone" actually showcases the strength of Chris's voice more-so then most on this album: until, that is, the wanton overdubbing of the chorus ruins it, the way it can make even the strongest voices sound devoid of personality. Another kind-of break up song, with a key-tar bridge reminiscent of "Scream," which I guess is some cheeky self-reference. Great, now I want to scream.

I don't really have much to say about this one, because it sounds kind of like a rehash of "Sweet Revenge" without the bitterness and without the novelty of a J.T cameo. Next please.


Track 10: "Enemy"
So we've already been to Turkey. Who's in the mood for a little Irish jig? Because that's exactly what's next. Kind of. Don't worry, it's only two seconds long, and the rest is nicely nondescript club noises.

"Enemy," is what it's called, and it features some of the darkest lyrics on the whole album, which is too bad because it's such a dull song. Cornell's voice is almost unrecognizable under a multitude of retro-electronic effects, and key-strings and some dull drumming rule the day. Maybe it's just because I'm writing this extremely late at night, but I almost dozed off during this one. Good thing it doesn't last too long. None of these songs are longer then two verses, which is a good thing and probably shouldn't be.

Track 11: "Other side of Town"
Finally a transition that actually works. This morph was so seamless I almost didn't hear it happen.

The good news is that live, military-style drums are DEFIANTLY audible in this one. Too bad the vocal effects and spacey keyboards are back. Oh and the sampling. "Ee-yah!" repeats over and over somewhere in the wallpaper of this song.

This song is a narrative about a guy who's ex follows him from a party. She's high on something and what actually happens between them is unknown, but next thing you know, he's feeling guilty as hell but she doesn't want to talk to him. He whines about it for the rest of the song. One minute he wants to get rid of her and the next he's begging for forgiveness? I just don't follow you.

The transition consists of some sensitive pianos and strings. The strings give everything a sort of cinematic sheen, if, ya know, a cinema is one of those little TVs that plays montages in a club. It's all very moody and sparkly. I can imagine it being the center piece of a music video featuring slow-mo dancing and lots of blue light, but I can imagine that about most of the tracks on this album.


Track 12: "Climbing up the walls"
This track ounds a lot like the proceeding: more strings and electronic keyboards and a very, very basic drum beat. Overdubbing producing a layered kind of disjointed timing in the chorus that sounds kind of interesting but mechanical and definitely artificial.

That's what gets me about pop, and it's why I didn't listen to it for years. It's just so damn FAKE. That's not singer's real timing: Cornell didn't actually sing the chorus that way, he sang bits and they were assembled like puzzle pieces to create the finished product. Cornell has insisted over and over in interviews that he was an equal partner in writing these songs, but I just plain don't trust anything that has this many raw seams visible is anyone's construction but Timbaland's. In his world, the singer just doesn't have any power. He can sounds like anything, and lines and phrases and notes can be moved about at will, it's all a matter of pushing the right buttons.

I think there's a real guitar buried in this one somewhere, but don't worry, it's very basic and doesn't last long. Overall, this slow-to-mid-tempo dancey number just doesn't have much personality, except Chris sounds vaguely more miffed then before. For once I'm actually thankful for the outro's arrival, if just because it means the song's almost over. This one is a new one: sounds like Cornell strumming some sort of acoustic and singing moodily through what sounds like an old radio. It's actually pretty cool, but what it has to do with what follows is utterly beyond me.


Track 13: "Watch out"
I guess someone could tell I needed a jolt to wake me up: this song begins with some unidentifiable mounting noise, an insistently whispered "wake up" and some buzzing hooks, all telling the story of a hell-bent danger girl who drives like a maniac all the time. And, to make it worse, since the other line in the two-line chorus is "pick it up" she's a litterbug as well! Scandalous!

Now I know Cornell occationally rides his metaphors right into the ground ("Nothing left to Say but Goodbye" anyone?) but if this crazy driving is supposed to be a metaphor, and NOT, literally, about a crazy driving litterbug girl then it's just too heavy handed. Even for me. Maybe the last verse has some stuff about mirrors, but for the most part, it keeps on with the crazy girl, talking about how she's crazy.

I think Timbaland's got a hatred for instruments. He cant even let his own choruses go by unaccosted by bumps, scratches and jolts. The ending, with the sound of film running out of an old projector, is kind of cool in a found-noise-you-hear-at-the-end-of-an-Oasis track kind of way.


Track 14: "Two Drink Minimum"
Now comes the album's actual conclusion. Starts pretty promising actually: a solo electric guitar that I can ACTUALLY imagine getting played somewhere, Chris's brooding vocals for once free of any noticeable distortion, even in the chorus (the voice jumps at :30 seconds in though, so there's been SOME editing). Some western folk harmonica gives everything a very western feel. In my mind I see a country saloon at sunrise, and the slow, thirsty defeat of a man anticipating getting absolutely hammered after a huge loss. An organ materializes, and the whole thing has a very funereal air, Cornell's voice actually infusing some desperation into the grim, slow proceedings. To me this is the most atmospheric, emotionally complex piece on the album. It's my hands-down favorite and serves as a semi-painful reminder to me of why, exactly, I'm a fan of this guy in the first place.

Though a better example is the rock-solid, touching blues of the track "I promise It's Not Goodbye," which is available for free download on Cornell's website. This song is an exquisite arrangement of bluesy guitar, a solid drum beat, and some folk harmonica thrown in to get the tears flowing. It's an arrangement vaguely reminiscent of "Two Drink Minimum," except with more muscle and direction. It's the restrained, unadorned pain in Cornell's voice that's gives the song it's power, transforming the sorrow into transcendent willpower. The lyrics are in the voice of a child who has "risen," leaving behind a family, whom she comforts one at a time, by name, and if they sound kind of simply sentimental for a Cornell song (after "Never Far Away?"), it's because they weren't written by him, but by a fan named Rory Dela Rosa. Rory wrote in the voice of his daughter, whom he just lost lost to cancer at the age of 6. Cornell's treatment of the material is just masterful, conjuring in turn the strong, reassuring presense of the child's spirit, the loving father willing her to stay close to him, and the third party, the singer, praying for them both in the best way he knows how. It's a powerful, it's emotional, and it's a wonderful song.

People have decried his aging vocal cords as evidence of his deteriorating power. These people are idiots, and for all it's faults, there are moments where Cornell proves that voice of his can still rip right to your soul when he decides he wants to. There's still no singer out there who can articulate the honest, gut-wrenching emotion quite like he can. It's just too bad honest, gut-wrenching emotion seems to be exactly what Scream, for the most part, couldn't care less about. This isn't an album for philosphizing over and crying to. This is an album for clubs, workouts, and jogs, a role it actually fullfills more then capably. It's not a bad album, it's just... it's being marketed as this unique collaboration, this great meeting-of-the-minds sure to revolutionize music as we know it, and it's just plain not the case. This isn't any sort of brilliant fusion of anything, this is an unadorned, pure, unadultrated pop album, full of solid, get-stuck-in-your-head pop, not unlike everything else Timbaland has done, and a bit like stuff Cornell himself has previously dabbled in. It's got some interesting tweaks, like the MGM intro, but the tweeks don't seem to serve any purpose besides they're own novelty, and if there was an overarching unifying theme to the album, I couldn't find it.

Fortunately, whoever bankrolled the album smelled out the reviews like this one and sent Chris and Tim on a charm-offensive campaign tour of the West Coast, full of interviews about how proud they are of this work and how much fun it is to play, and how it's unique and original and implying anyone who doesn't think so is stuck in the past.

It's done it's job; there is no way this album isn't going to make gazillions of dollars from those simply curious about if it's REALLY as original as people say it is, and it'll no doubt go on to win "critical acclaim" from critics who love them both.

These are indeed dark days for music.

My prediction? Cornell will continue to write and tour. I don't think he really knows any other way to live. His life show will continue to be great, and that includes his Scream material, which is much more fun when it's played live by real musicians with real instruments. Timbaland will continue to wallow in his own genius and crank out hits exactly like his last hits. His name has become so synonymous with pop success that there's a whole generation out there who don't know anything better exists. Whatever will unseat him will be big, and new, and actually will change the face of popular music as we know it. And what's more, they will deserve every bit of the success they've worked so hard for, and they'll restore some of music's lost innocence.