Album Reviews

Chris Cornell - Songbook

Chris Cornell has been one of the most dominant and iconic rock voices of the last 20 years. Having fronted Soundgarden, Audioslave and Temple of the Dog, Cornell is very much accustomed to having his raspy crooning backed by a wall of distortion and cymbals crashing. However, Cornell’s latest live solo record Songbook throws caution and convention to the wind, arming himself only with an acoustic guitar and those golden vocal chords.

The album comprises Cornell’s entire career in retrospective, stripping down old hits and deep cuts, as well as putting a new spin on classic rock standards. Cornell’s limited, but engaging stage banter offer a humanistic warmth that only live albums like this can offer.

Coming strong right out of the gate, “As Hope and Promise Fade” is nothing if not a trump card to any critics claiming that Cornell had gone downhill since his time in Soundgarden. Folk-inflected blues guitar paired with the singer’s trademark soulful wailing immediately remind listeners that he hasn’t lost his touch.

“Call Me a Dog” is Cornell unequivocally at his finest. Channeling his unbridled tenor from the Temple of the Dog era, Cornell soars over aching minor guitar melodies. Distant crowd applause can be heard as he hits some insanely high notes in the bridge.

The slower, stripped down version of “Ground Zero” will intrigue many fans who have heard its more synthesized, beat-driven counterpart. Here, Cornell’s coarse vocals evoke a frustration with the paranoia and despair of post-9/11 America.

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Even in the midst of an already delicate, acoustic ambiance, Cornell reaches the epitome of vulnerable on the unreleased gem “Cleaning My Gun.” In a moody ballad about contemplating suicide in the wake of lost love, Cornell croons “And as you lay sleeping with your eyes softly shut I'll be cleaning my gun/When heaven or hell takes this life, I'll be done.”

One of this album’s greatest strengths is how stripped down versions of guitar rock anthems can come across even more powerful than their louder counterparts. Acoustic performances of “Like a Stone” and “Black Hole Sun” remove all but bare bones melodies, letting Cornell’s effortlessly soulful voice carry the song.

This notion of acoustic versions superseding the original studio recordings is also evident on Cornell standards like “Wide Awake” and “Fell on Black Days.” The former track features some of the singer’s most politically charged lyrics with lines like “Down on the road the world is floating by/The poor and undefended left behind/While you're somewhere trading lives for oil/As if the whole world were blind.”

Stellar covers of Led Zeppelin’s “Thank You” and John Lennon’s “Imagine” show Cornell paying tribute to his influences.

While Cornell’s previous solo work has always been eclipsed by his tenure in Soundgarden, Songbook has earned its place as a coveted piece in his lengthy body of work. After more than twenty years in the game, Cornell’s voice has not lost its power, nor have his songs lost their spark.

Photo Courtesy: Shayne Kaye (flickr)
Main Photo Courtesy: myrxp.com

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