CHRIS CORNELL SONGBOOK REVIEW ARCHIVE
CHRIS CORNELL SONGBOOK REVIEW FULL

Songbook is a live album culled from this tour and has Cornell sampling from all phases of his career, often spinning harder-rocking songs into moody reflective territory. First, he reunited with Soundgarden, their tour so successful it spilled over into a studio collaboration interrupted by Cornell launching an acoustic tour where he revisited his catalog, quite definitively tying his solo career and time with Audioslave to Soundgarden. The song is easily the best Cornell solo track since 1998's Euphoria Morning album, and proves that should the Soundgarden reunion encounter any hurdles, a new Chris Cornell solo record would not be such a bad thing.After spending over a decade avoiding his past, Chris Cornell reconnected with it in a big way during 2010. Songbook is the musicians fourth solo record and plays a live role within the stars already hefty catalogue showcasing a number of Cornells self penned. The collection finishes with a slightly stripped back studio version of The Keeper, which Cornell wrote for the film Machine Gun Preacher. Had this been included, I would wager that a large proportion of the 'Garden's fan base would have collectively lost its mind. I know for a fact that on the tour this album chronicles that Cornell played Soundgarden's Mind Riot almost nightly. Imagine a stripped back Getaway Car, Hunger Strike or Burden In My Hand.

If further criticisms are to be made, then one would have to say that Chris easily has enough amazing songs to fill a second disc. It's pleasant enough, but had it been released before now, it probably wouldn't have set the world alight.

CHRIS CORNELL SONGBOOK REVIEW ARCHIVE

Cleaning My Gun is an unreleased gem from the Chris Cornell archive that has a lot in common with the Temple of the Dog tracks. Of the less familiar material, Cornell's re-workings of Led Zeppelin's Thank You and John Lennon's Imagine are fantastic, even if they add nothing to the originals. All of the Audioslave tracks are brilliant as well, some - I am the Highway and Wide Awake in particular - actually eclipse the studio versions by many thousands of miles. Soundgarden's biggest hit Black Hole Sun is transformed from Beatles-esque psychedelia into an even more haunting, sinister tune. Call Me a Dog from the Temple of the Dog album becomes a beautifully delicate track, even more fragile than its original album version. This version really sounds good, also the gatefold, the printing. In particular, the overworked hip hop stylings of Ground Zero from his last (and incredibly controversial) solo effort Scream is turned into a kind of funky work out that allows Chris's voice to really shine, which, by the way, is stronger than it has sounded in years. Would have loved an original but this is a bit more affordable.

There is indeed something for everyone in the Songbook.Įven though the songs are stripped back to their barest of bones, none of the songs particularly suffer from their lack of instrumentation and in fact, some are even enhanced by it. You cannot feel ripped off by so much back catalogue rummaging.

You get a couple of Soundgarden tracks, six of his own solo songs, some Audioslave tracks, some Temple of the Dog songs and even a few covers just for good measure. can't help that his sultry voice has the same timbre as Chris Cornell's. The sheer range of material included here reminds you how varied and interesting Cornell's career has been. ESSENTIALS: Releases deemed by the review editors to deserve special attention. This is the approach Chris Cornell has taken on Songbook, a live album collecting an impressive array of cuts from his solo acoustic tours.

CHRIS CORNELL SONGBOOK REVIEW FULL

It has been said that a truly great song can be stripped down to a basic vocal and instrumental accompaniment, and still be every bit as powerful and affecting as a full band version.

Chris cornell songbook review