Chris Cornell
Songbook
Commercial Marketing

Chris Cornell has a lot of making up to do. Only two years have passed since the former Audioslave and Soundgarden frontman drafted in uber-producer Timbaland for an urban makeover on his third solo effort. Sure, progression is key for any artist, but this was no Judas moment of musical foresight a la Bob Dylan. The opposite in fact: nothing on the album ‘Scream’ offered any form of musical enlightenment, instead, it was a decision that suggested a mid-life crisis was attempting to wreak havoc on the grunge legend’s legacy.

So, as an apology or concession to his fans, Cornell has ditched the sub-Justin Timberlake nonsense and returns to the stage with just an acoustic for Songbook. And it’s a generous apology; mixing songs under previous guises with Led Zep and John Lennon covers, plus introducing a couple of new ones. Opting for crowd pleasers works, though it’s the voice that really compels. With the acoustic accompaniment, the grunge god soulfully bellows through each with a voice so rich it never fails to capture the emotion and grit of the lyrics. It’s the perfect platform for his pipes. Without Timbaland’s production, the two songs from Scream are far more powerful – particularly ‘As Hope and Promise Fade’ (previously Two Drink Minimum). It’s crushingly heartfelt and repeats the phrase “No more than two drinks away from crying” with devastating effect. A stunning opener. It continues as songs from Audioslave, Soundgarden, and Temple of the Dog’s back catalogues all get raw acoustic reworkings. What the songs lose in atmosphere without the band is more than made up for by Cornell’s engaging voice.

Cornell’s confidence is obviously high – despite the critical mauling of Scream – and he even has the audacity to cover a couple of classics. Nothing will ever beat the serene beauty of the original, but Cornell’s attempt at turning John Lennon’s Imagine into a warbling rock ballad sidesteps a butchering and works well. So too does his version of Led Zeppelin’s Thank You, a tender homage to rocks forefathers. Songbook also offers two new songs. The first, Cleaning My Gun, talks of a cheating lover and sings the rather foreboding line “As you lay sleeping with your eyes softly shut, I’ll be cleaning my gun”. It’s not a standout, but does suggest there are plenty of inner demons still for Cornell to write about in the future. The second newbie takes a different tack. After writing the best Bond theme in a decade (You Know My Name), he has been drafted in by the Machine Gun Preacher producers to write a song for the soundtrack. It’s a prettily fingerpicked song you can imagine accompanying a shot of a scenic dry Savannah as Gerard Butler wanders across saving all the Africans. It will also instantly remind some of equally qualified rock legend Eddie Vedder’s own foray into soundtracking for Into The Wild, particularly Guaranteed. The only reason one wouldn’t remember is because they could quite feasibly think they were listening to the same song.

Interestingly, Cornell’s new Jesus style hair and beard combo are also eerily reminiscent of Vedder. But hey, the difference between influence and imitation is difficult to determine, so let’s leave it at that. Originality is not the rationale for Songbook, anyway; it’s an offering to appease fans and to show that Cornell’s voice is better than ever. As apologies go, Songbook is Christmas come early for Cornell fans.

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Review by Jim Norton