Chris Cornell: Carry On : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Welcome back to another episode of the long-running series Chris Cornell: What Happened? Last time, we learned that it took only one Rage Against the Machine reunion gig to turn Audioslave's whole existence into a Van Hagar joke. Now, we tune in to the tasteful pop songs Cornell is singing (and of course songwriting) on Carry On. Shrieking to Kim Thayil's guitar, Cornell was an instrument of awesome. (Listened to Superunknown lately? Even better than you remember. "My Wave," holy crap.) But his talent is for mindless wailing, hitting money notes in the high-grunge style, and he has no knack at all for the subtle sound he's trying now. Groaning "Billie Jean" or ponderous originals like "Scar on the Sky," he's nothing without the dumb grunge overkill he's been trying to put behind him since Soundgarden broke up. Hair? Short. Shirt? On. What happened?