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Customer Reviews of Audioslave

Just What You'd Expect from a Supergroup
This supergroup doesn't disappoint, delivering a strong album of mature metallic grunge, although there is little new or groundbreaking here. It's nice to hear Chris Cornell rocking out again, especially after his attempt at a sensitive-guy solo career. His voice is as powerful and awe-inspiring as ever, especially in this album's strongest tracks - the rockers "Gasoline" and "Exploder," and the truly dramatic power ballad "Shadow on the Sun." In a few places Cornell is even experimenting with the higher registers of his voice that have been heard rarely before (this does not include the screaming of the early Soundgarden albums). The Rage guys are delivering more mature and well-constructed sounds than ever before, sounding considerably older and wiser. Guitarist Tom Morello has strengthened and clarified his heavy riffs, while in some of the slower songs he sounds downright elegant - especially "The Last Remaining Light." Unfortunately, in a few cases Morello still displays his bad habit of cranking out weird noises at the expense of the songs. This makes the experimental "Hypnotize" almost impossible to take seriously, while Morello ruins the otherwise strong "Bring Em Back Alive" with an atrociously unmusical solo. The rhythm section is the biggest surprise here, holding down the fort in an accomplished way. Drummer Brad Wilk has finally discovered subtlety, which he was sorely lacking on the Rage albums; and bassist Tim Commerford is quite surprisingly solid and mature, sounding like a slightly heavier version of Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament. While this is a solid and enjoyable album, the only problem is the lack of new ideas that you would expect from a supergroup with this much power. In many songs you get the impression of Chris Cornell simply singing on top of leftover Rage tracks, or in some cases the slower numbers from the final Soundgarden album.

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The School of Hard Rock
If you're looking to get your [rear] kicked, I recommend two methods: flirt with your buff neighbor's wife, or listen to "Audioslave." Both work equally well, but there's a certain element of enjoyment contained in the latter method, one which should not be ignored. Audioslave, comprised of ex-Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell and three former memebrs of the ultra-political and enormously underrated band Rage Against the Machine, have come together to from rock's next bigh thing: a throwback to "the old thing." Every song on "Audioslave" reaks of 1970's hard rock, from Led Zep to, well.....Led Zep! But believe you me, this band does more than just model itself after an older, more famous band (stupid garage rock revival! Arrgh!) This band expands upon the sonic assault of classic riff-rock, adding doses of nu-metal and hand-clapping funk. Songs such as "Cochise" and Gasoline" see the band explode with an inspiring level of energy, while other tracks like "I am the Highway" and "Getaway Car" see the band at its most sober. In short, Audioslave sounds like a mix between Led Zeppelin, Stone Temple Pilots, and AC/DC. What more could a rock fan ask for?

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Good for Rage fans, awesome for Soundgarden fans
This is the collaboration of the recently disbanded Rage Against The Machine and Chris Cornell, the incredible voice of the also broken up Soundgarden. So, you would think they might make a record that's got a heavy funk rhythm section(RATM), with a powerful rock vocal(Cornell), wouldn't you? Well, no surprises here. That is exactly what you get, and I like it.
For those of you who were fans of Rage, it all depends on why you were a fan whether you appreciate this record or not. If the real appeal for you was Zach De La Rocha's rap-style vocal more than the bombastic groove of the band, then you may not enjoy this release as much as I did(and still do). With Cornell on the mic you get Soundgarden-like song structure, but you still have the perfect groove of Rage. These songs are MUCH less political, and more radio friendly.
This is usually a bad thing when it comes to hard rock. So many bands lose their edge when they try to appeal to a more mainstream audience, but I don't believe that's the case here. The edge is still there, just not in every track. These songs aren't experimental in an instrumental sense, or a lyrical sense. They are just typical, serious, well-crafted, straight forward rock songs. We even get quirky guitar wiz Tom Morello playing a straight forward acoustic-like track (see "I Am The
Highway"). His experimental playing takes a backseat to Cornell's haunting vocals on many of these songs. I think that Rage realizes what they have in Chris Cornell, and they want to showcase it. All lyrics were written by Cornell, and this is very obvious. In one of the best tracks on the release("Show Me How To Live"), Cornell rants "Nail in my hand, from my creator, you gave me a life, now show me how to live." An incredibly powerful lyric, but very different than the Rage lyrics.

All in all, I think the Soundgarden fan will enjoy this much more than the Rage fan. And, fans of just plain good music should enjoy most of this release. Your getting an extremely talented band doing what comes naturally with the situation they have. It's not all good, but for the most part it has a lot to offer.

Check out these best tracks: "Cochise","Show Me How To
Live","Gasoline","What You Are","Set It Off", "I Am The Highway", and "Like A Stone".

OVERALL RATING (1-10;10 being superior): 6
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