“Scream” is just another brick on the wall

“I just want to have fun with music and do what I’m inspired by and … if I’m inspired by it, then someone else will be,” Chris Cornell said in a recent interview. “If you get into a kind of comfortable corner, where you’re doing what you’re used to — you’re doing what you know how to do — you can get locked in that corner and stuck there and you’re done. That’s never going to happen to me.” On March 10th, the whole world heard just how different Mr. Cornell’s highly anticipated new album, Scream is from anything he has ever done in the 20+ years he’s been making music. We all know him as either the guy who fell on black days as the lead singer of grunge pioneers Soundgarden or Audioslave’s front man, but in 2007 he released a stripped down solo album that showed his more acoustic side. Produced by the legendary Rick Rubin, Carry On displayed a softer/toned down Chris Cornell, a far cry from his howling days as Soundgarden’s front man. but on his new album, “Scream,” produced by beatsmith Timbaland (famous for working with…uh, everybody) Cornell once again surprises fans with another doppelganger.

“There’s this concept that, as a songwriter and a singer, I can’t do it without a band,” he explained. “This Timbaland/ Chris Cornell album is a perfect example of why I want to be solo. [I’ve learned that] there’s so much, musically, that I haven’t done. I’ve barely scratched the surface, and I have a lot of catching up to do. I feel like I want to fast-forward into my future of musical expression, because there are just so many different things I haven’t done yet.” It took six weeks of burning the midnight oil studio sessions for Timbo & Cornell to record Scream‘s 13 tracks, and over that period they developed a new appreciation for each other’s artistic integrity. (pull)“Timbaland’s diversity, in terms of his feels, the ideas he brought in, the beats, the rhythms, the musical themes and auras of the different songs, was incredible,” —Cornell commented. (/pull) “His focus was very much, ‘I don’t repeat myself, and I won’t let you repeat yourself.’ Being someone that writes songs mainly from an organic platform, I just really didn’t know how much is possible in the musical spectrum until I met Timbaland. What he brought in, every day, was a surprise. He would surprise me with ideas he would bring in or ideas he was working on every time. Timbaland’s music, coming from someone like me who started in rock music, I view it as being psychedelic music more than hip-hop, more than pop, more than beat-based music. It’s atmospheric, like Pink Floyd is atmospheric — he creates a sonic world that you get lost in, and you listen to it and you start to trip out.” Like Pink Floyd’s The Wall, Scream is a concept album that speaks to every guy who has ever dated a girl, broke up, re-built themselves, and been suckered into the temptation of trying to fix something damaged beyond repair. The album’s first song, “Part of Me,” leads in with a funky beat as Cornell talks about a girl he regrets being with. The song’s chorus, “That bitch ain’t a part of me,” says it all. His emotional breakdown seeps into the next song, “Time” as he wishes for the power to rewind it. “Have a little laugh/Have a little cry/Each moment gets us closer to saying goodbye,” allude to an inevitable breakup. Sonically, Timbaland plays off Cornell’s words as his transition into “Sweet Revenge” feels like you’re sinking deeper and deeper into dispair. The song ends with swirling electro-beats that are metaphorically representative of the hole’s bottom, and the only thing left to do when you hit the bottom is “Get Up.” “You need a backbone to roll with the world,” is how you dig yourself out of the emotional hole.

Not only does this album reveal another dimension into Chris Cornell’s bottomless soul, it give listeners insight into how this man re-built himself mentally and emotionally from past demons. Unfortunately, some people will listen to this album and say, “This isn’t Chris Cornell” or “Why is he trying to make a rap album?” but if you actually listen to the album from start to finish you will understand that this album isn’t change, rather evolution. All great bands and artists have evolved throughout their careers, and Chris Cornell is by far no exception. Timbaland really brought something special to the mix, and without him this album wouldn’t have the impact that it does. Originally, Timbaland was recruited for a few tracks, but after meeting Cornell he pushed to do the entire album. (pull)”[Timbaland] was super into that … and we got into the studio and made a whole album,” Cornell revealed. “But then we went off in this direction musically, sort of conceptually tying the whole thing together [so that] it almost harkens back to albums that I listened to when I was a kid, where the music never stops.(/pull) It’s really an album-oriented album.” Every person who listens to Scream can relate to it in one way or another, and to deem Timbaland’s influence as experimental or trendy would be doing yourself a great disservice. “[Timbaland] comes in with actual musical ideas,” Cornell commented. He’s somebody who’s also a musical genius and a songwriter and records in very unorthodox ways. … He’s sort of reinventing the way he does things at the same time as working with an artist. You can’t compare him to anyone,” and the same can be said for Chris Cornell.