Audioslave - Out of Exile
By: Mark Runyon | Category: Album Archive | 06/03/05 | 10:19 AM
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 Grade: C |
Genre: Alternative Rock
Summary: Audioslave has outstanding potential, but if they keep treading down the path they've set, I'm afraid we'll never see it.
What happened to these guys? I mean Soundgarden were pioneers back in the days of bulky flannel and greasy long hair. They were one of the bands that blasted the grunge revolution into existence for goodness sake. Rage Against the Machine was certainly innovative in their "screw the Man, f@#k the system" approach to music. Yet shuffle Cornell into the deck with the Harvard educated ex-boys of Rage, and we get this bland, pre-packaged rock that is perfect for mass consumption, but it doesn't speak to us. Audioslave seems to be exactly that; a tired slave to a musical past that they drag around with them, unable to unload it to see rock's new vistas. |
Audioslave has been riding high in recent days. Last month, they played a free show in Cuba, which marked the first time in 26 years that an American outfit has performed in the country. It was a feat that the members of Rage tried to pull off in their former group several times without success. Last Tuesday saw the release of Out of Exile, marking their second shot out of the box since assembling the talents of this rock super group. Chris Cornell was doing some interesting things on his 1999 release Euphoria Morning, and I'm not sure why he chose to neglect that musical treasure chest before charting back into the murky waters of the band dynamic again. This new work finds a maturing Audioslave, more cohesive than on their self-titled debut yet less compelling on the whole.
We have to disqualify a quarter of the album from contention even before we remove the cellophane from the jewel case. "Out of Exile," "The Worm" and "Man Or Animal" annoy you with their guitars bleeding out of control until you are forced to leap frog over to the next track. Put a leash on those bombastic, repetitive guitar solos. Unleash them on your unsuspecting fan base at the live show, and leave my CD player alone. So cutting off an arm is a pretty hard hit for any album to take. It's not unrecoverable, but you'd better bring you're A-game for the remainder of the work if you expect to walk out with your teeth intact. Unfortunately, while the remaining tracks qualify as solid rock anthems, they are much too complacent and radio friendly to really stoke us into a feverous passion for them.
Cornell recently exited rehab for alcohol addiction and has given up the smokes as well. Three of the four band members are married with the fourth engaged and two of them have small children. They are all either 40 or pushing it so is it forgivable that they don't have the same edge that they had in their younger days? How do you live the life of a rock star without the drugs, booze and women? How do you wrap a show to go backstage to watch Sponge Bob with your rugrat?
The current single assaulting the Billboard charts "Be Yourself" is one of the mellower entries on this effort. It is a forgettable piece that feels repetitive and like it's going through the motions. Cornell's usual smoldering voice doesn't quite seem to have as much depth as it has on past outings, and I can't quite place why. "Drown Me Slowly" features Cornell's vein pulsing gravely yell and would have fit in comfortably on one of Soundgarden's past efforts. Records squeak about on the cut aways to lend the Rage influence, but we know whose song this is. "Yesterday Comes Tomorrow" loops together a compelling beat over an understated guitar arrangement. Cornell's voice echoes over the shadowy landscape. A lot of these songs are quite good, but they feel restrained, threatening to snap back on Audioslave if they don't flesh them out.
My suggestion to Chris is to go back and watch Singles. Wipe the dust off of Louder Than Love and Badmotorfinger to commune with his roots. This group has enough talent to choke a horse, but they don't need to be shy when pushing on the boundaries of that talent. They need to be innovative and reckless. They need to strip off the unnecessary polish and return to a more raw and visceral sound. They need to take some chances and not worry about falling flat on their face. They need to step out of their comfort zone and rediscover their passion for rock music. Audioslave has outstanding potential, but if they keep treading down the path they've set, I'm afraid we'll never see it.
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