Sorry, I just cannot hardly stomach anything he does these days. After Audioslave broke up, I find his music really lacking. He has gone “Hollywood”, more worried about his hair and his clothes than what his music sounds like. Another one bites the dust!!!!

chris cornell should do a stadium tour with LiL Wayne

Seeing him do this song in the Timbaland way,Live on one of the talk shows, made me willing to give Scream a chance. This one and Scream both do well in this style. His voice sounds so much better on this track too, so that quitting smoking thing has worked wonders!

“Scream” is easily the most offensive album I’ve heard in my life.
The opening track sounds more like a ditty that cues a gamer that they successfully completed a level in mario 64.
Cornell better get his money back from timbaland- He jacked his album up something righteously bad.

ps
Audioslave sucked my balls too, go back to soundgarden.

I think everyone needs to realize the guy is near 45 years old…….he isn’t going to write the same songs he did in Soundgarden when he was in his 20s and early 30s

I don’t mind him trying new things and i dont think he has gone Hollywood but just trying to do something other than Audioslave and Soundgarden

Such a fascination with “sucking” on here but what do you expect from such a bunch of whining babies…for fuck’s sake leave the man to do his job, he isn’t your mother & you can get your milk elsewhere.

Cool song Chris but its time to bring back SG……….

All great musicians/songwriters are bestowed upon them a certain amount of of great material by the rock gods….He used his up many moons ago. Cochise was the best Audioslave track…and their first single. The rest was downhill from there. In Soundgarden.. He wrote abstract lyrics that were sacrilegious and brooding..along with Kim Thayil on guitar they were amazing, unsettling and unique. His current attempt at being relevant is absolutely in vain..and is very sad. He was one of my favorite vocalists..and they were one of the best live shows ever….better to burn out than fade away….

The song’s ok. I’m sure it’s better than the version off of Scream.

But, my theory is that Cornell is growing his hair out…for..a…Soundgarden reunion!!!

Has anyone listened to the full album?

It is a plane crashing into a convent filled with visiting children. Ok, maybe it’s not that bad…

i’d check out the album if he reworked the whole thing…..don’t know what happened loved all the soundgarden stuff (except for the track ‘Never Named’ from Down on the Upside, loved Euphoria Morning, loved the Audioslave stuff (except for Be Yourself) but these last 2 solo albums……WTF????
He says he like a new challenge/direction in music because it’s exciting??? Why not try something more experimental like sonic youth type stuff – that would be an interesting new direction and would retain integrity – If John Lennon was still alive he’d much rather hang out with Thurston Moore or Eddie Vedder – Come Back Cornell the World Still Needs You

Maybe he should have worked with Martin Gore instead of Timbaland, like the material from Scream, would have been a huge departure frrom his past work, but might have still been good……………

Couldn’t listen to the song in its entirety because it is BORING. It’s like a Nickelback song, makes you want to either fall asleep or jump out a window. He’s so scared by the reaction against Scream that he quickly remixed a song into a rock version to salvage his credibility… but he just made it worse instead. Maybe he really is a sellout. I would’ve had much more respect for him if he just stuck to his guns. If you make a record, you should prepared to stand by it no matter what. If people love it, great. If they don’t, then you should be proud of your own work, even if others aren’t, because it means you put yourself into it, and it should mean that YOU think it’s good. It seems that he’ll just go wherever the water flows. I guess all he really cared to achieve with this album was to be heard on Top 40 radio. Artists that are too concerned about pleasing other people lose my interest very quickly, cause it means that they’re spineless.

Black Hole sun, do you actually believe the shit you just wrote or are you just plain eaten up with malice? Of course he didn’t do this album to “please other people” – if he’d wanted to do that he’d be trekking round the world on some miserable grunge reunion package tour pleasing all you superannuated rockers with 90s MTV hits and earning a ton of money. This album was always going to be a hard sell because it’s different. Man’s all about innovation and pleasing himself. Whoever wants to come along for the ride will do so – if you don’t want to, quit moaning & listen to your 90s music collection, nobody’s stopping you.

Well, listening to several of the “hits” off this new cd and I can’t say I’m impressed. If Cornell wants to do some concept music, that’s his decision. It won’t fly by most of his original fans though, including me. And that’s not because I care if he deviates from a “rock” style of music. I just think his new stuff is adequate at best. Must say, Audioslave’s first album, I still listen to that religiously.

Cornell has always been a fan of taking his songs and remolding and shaping them like clay. New cd is genius. Another facet of the Cornell diamond.
Out with the silver of old!

Love the song. Beautiful video! Have loved his voice since early on. Will continue to appreciate all he does. Cool!

Bravo, Commonsense; great comments! Some of you need to quit living in the past and expecting CC to meet you there. If you don’t like the direction he’s going, suck it up and move on elsewhere. Someone said that his new work “won’t fly by most of his original fans”; where do you get your statistics? You have no way of knowing what “most” of his original fans think. I’m one of them, and I love his new stuff, too. However, the man was not put on this Earth to please me or anyone else. He creates his art for himself, and if others like it along the way, fantastic. If not, hit the road.

Unfortunately, I don’t think Cornell has it in him anymore no matter how hard you try to remix it.

The message by Meh made me laugh…Cornell was short changed. Get him back to do what he does best.

Hey commonsense, are you illiterate or what? Ironically, you lack what your name claims. I SAID he should have stuck with his guns on THIS ALBUM regardless of what the general reaction was, but instead he comes out with a more conventional rock single conveniently as everyone turns on him for making a Timbaland-produced record. I thought he was really serious about experimenting regardless of people’s opinions, and it’s hardly a coincidence that he remixed this song into a more rock version considering the backlash against him at the moment. That’s why I said he’s too concerned about pleasing other people. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that’s what I meant. But then again, only an idiot would shoot off at the mouth without reading PROPERLY. Dumbass.

So, he should have stuck to his guns and not remixed Long Gone. Does no one remember the Moby remix of Dusty? The other versions of Fell On Black Days (one w/different melody, the other acoustic)? How about Mission 2000? Can’t Change Me in French? If he’d never, ever done messed with a song or done a remix before, this might be a valid argument. As it is, it’s just not being fully versed in CC’s musical history.

And I hope some day people will stop putting the “get SG back together” label on everything CC does. See, other member of SG have moved on too. While they’d get together for a one-off show it’d take all 4 of them to want to reunite and they just don’t. Matt for example has another little gig going on…it’s called Pearl Jam. Sorry, but that’s reality.

As for Scream, it’s one thing to listen and not like the new direction. That’s cool. No one says you must like everything an artist does. But bashing just because it’s different…that’s about as lazy as someone can get.

I’m a fan from back in the day. And I LOVE Scream. While looking in a new direction as far as using beats and synths, there is so much that’s also looking back to prog rock of the 70’s & 80’s, and even further to his Beatles influences. It’s a grower this one is…the more I listen, the more I hear, the more I love it.

I have no problem with them being different. I don’t like Scream, but I give Chris props for branching out at least. I was just saying that he shouldn’t kowtow to the people who hate the album. If he bends over backwards to please everyone, he’ll only be hurting himself and his career. An artist can’t be effective that way.

@Black Hole sun – look, honey, you said “I guess all he really cared to achieve with this album was to be heard on Top 40 radio.” That doesn’t sound like you’re giving the man any “props”. It’s also obvious from every interview he’s given that he is not “scared by the reaction against Scream”. Fact is, there’s no pleasing people like you – whatever he does you’re gonna come down on it like a ton of bricks because that’s what you like doing – criticising. And with fuck all to back it up.

Chris says “To me it’s very much the same song.” Yeah to me too and it still SUCKS. Dress it up any way you like but the songs on scream are bad to mediocre – remixed, stripped, whatever dressing he tries. He has lost it BIG TIME.

Hey, here is a question to ponder… is it really Common Sense to be a paid employee of an artist and then take on aliases all over the internet to swear and be crude to anyone that doesn’t like their work? Maybe you are just plain eaten up with malice?

Turgid. Unimaginitive. Tired. Played-out. Predictable.

And that’s just the “you’re stuck in the 90’s” line of defence that’s getting another airing here. The song’s bad. The album was worse. Deal with it.

Unless it was completely re-done by Soundgarden I think I’ll pass…

Nobody has to “deal with” anything, Ludomancer. It’s music, not politics. You hate it, fine. I love it. It’s sparkling. Effervescent. And yeah, it clears my head because it’s so new. So totally ahead of its time. What’s depressing is that people like you have forgotten the real meaning of the word “alternative”…it’s supposed to mean breaking out of a mold, not flopping back into it & going to sleep.

Also, BHS – this is Cornell talking in a recent interview, one I printed out and kept because it really reminded me why I loved this guy’s music. “I didn’t make this record to please my fans. I made it to please myself. I already did Rusty Cage, I already did Black Hole Sun – I don’t need to do them again. The second you start writing to please people, you may as well be a short-order cook. That’s not me.”

I think Chris Cornell is showing just how versatile an artist he is. Not only with Scream the album, but with how he translates this beat driven album successfully to the concert stage. He takes it a step further with this remixed version of “Long Gone”.

The video, by the way, is beautifully done with shades of “Burden in My Hand” deserts and Chris, once again dressed in black. Bonus in the video is the fade out/fade in of Chris’ face with his little daughter Toni’s.

Chris Cornell will be good again one day. Hes a cool guy, he just needs to do a folk or jazz album or something.

Billhilly, I couldn’t care less whether Cornell’s making “alternative” music. I do care whether he’s making good music.

He could run a hammer across a radiator for 40 minutes, release it as a concept album (THE SONGS ALL LINK TOGETHER!!!) and you could claim it as “alternative”.

But it still wouldn’t make it good (although probably better than Scream).

Actually, it is the antithesis of predictable and played out. Played out is one or two guitars, a bass and a drum kit.

I know all of us here love music otherwise we would be on the Huffington post site….But really his songwriting is not what it was..This song is by the numbers and very vanilla. I don’t really expect to see him lace up his Doc’s and flannel shirt…but he has set such a high watermark with previous work.I’m not sure he can top it… Evolution is essential but this is an f’n Nickleback song.

One thing that really gets under my skin about the negative comments on CC’s work is how so many of you haters claim that it’s bad music, as if that’s a fact. Whether or not it’s “bad” is strictly a matter of OPINION. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean that it’s inherently bad, and that NO ONE should like it. Who are these all-knowing authorities on music? WTF?
BTW, I can’t stand Nickleback; IMHO, there is absolutely NO comparison with ANYTHING CC has done.

KS- so your logic is – people can’t say Cornell’s music is bad but you can say Nickleback music is bad. Great argument.

My opinion is Nickleback sucks, Cornell’s recent albums suck and yes his Long Gone song is comparable to NB as in they both SUCK. The difference between them is Cornell used to be great.

laughlin, Kindred Spriit didn’t say Nickleback was bad. The sentiment “I can’t stand Nickleback” is not equivalent to “bad” and that’s what was typed.

And Kindred Spirit that is a very good point. When did “I don’t like something” become “it sucks”? They’re two totally different concepts. One says “this is my opinion” and the other says “this is fact.” Art (and I include music in that arena) is subjective. And THAT’s a fact.

@ commonsense:
When I said all he cares was about being on Top 40 radio, I was pointing out how he changed “Long Gone” into a rock song, presumably to ease the anger of those who are upset by his current album. So it makes me question the intention behind Scream in the first place, whether it was truly to try something different or to sell more records. I could care less about grunge music, I was in diapers during its rise, I’m not attached to it the same way people who were teenagers and young adults in the early 90’s are. If he wants to make a pop record, go right ahead and a pop record, I’m not against pop music. When people turn on you because they don’t like the genre or the record does genuinely suck REGARDLESS of the genre, you should be personally proud enough to stand up for it.

@ Black Hole Sun
Now who is illiterate? Please learn the difference between opinion and fact. When you say it “sucks” – that is YOUR OPINION. It is NOT a fact. In my opinion, this album rocks “in any genre”.

Thank you, LMR for clearing up my post. I really though I was being rather obvious in making my point, but I guess some people are just hopeless.

@LMR
Did I say it was a fact? I think you’re the one who needs to learn how to read. If I say something sucks, I don’t have to clarify it as an opinion by putting “I personally feel” as a prefix. It is OBVIOUSLY an opinion. One that everyone is entitled to post here, including you. You want to disagree and say Scream is a good album, go ahead. I’m not demanding that you provide an explanation on why you think it’s good. And I should add that there are PLENTY of anti-Chris comments here that make mine seem like a compliment, I find it funny that I’m the one who’s being singled out for my viewpoints.

hey, laughin, your funny. No seriously, I hope Cornell’s team are posting on sites & supporting their man. A better question is, who hired the bunch of spooks who hang around dissing him all the time. I mean if his music is such shit why dyou keep talking about it like you care?

BHS, I agree with you, I see posters attacking and nitpicking certain opinions.

What about agreeing to disagree? I think BHS in particular feels they need to respond to the attacks. This isn’t a forum, this shouldn’t be a place for arguing, it’s simply for individual comments on the article.

twerl – do you really think someone needs to pay me for me to post a comment saying Cornell’s song suck? Or that everyone that posts that doesn’t love scream are spooks? Now I really am laughin.

I read CC articles on RS because I find them funny. He has fallen so far and is trying so hard to sell this shit – it makes me laugh. Trent Reznor nailed it – embarrassing. He has become such a stereotypical has-been sell-out and his spiral downward entertains me. His few crazy obsessed fan’s comments are just a bonus.

Laughin,

Throughout his long career, Cornell has never been a stranger to change. Likewise, there are fans who absolutely love Badmotorfinger and hate Superunknown (don’t ask me why). And others who adore Superunknown, but were completely turned off by Euphoria Morning (Cornell’s first solo outing). And then you have those who resented Chris for helping to form Audioslave, praying he would go back to being a solo artist. Now we have Audioslave fans who look down on him for having his latest work produced by Timbaland. It never stops.

You say that Cornell “used to be great” right? But what makes you the deciding factor? Whose opinion is more valid? Badmotorfinger fans? Audioslave supporters? You’re calling Chris a sell out, but all you care about is the part of his career that pulled YOU in – and to hell with everyone else! And that’s how most people are. And you know what? Selfish fans deserve sell outs.

Now, Timbaland’s influence on Chris’ music is something I personally can do without, but I don’t hate Scream. Tracks like Enemy and Climbing Up The Walls are top notch in my book. The opening tracks Part Of Me and Watch Out suck in my opinion, so I just skip them and listen to another song. Simple as that.

Just because Cornell is doing something you don’t like, that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. He has a right to do what the hell he wants just like everyone else does! And it’s not like Chris and Timbaland are joined at the hip now. You do realize that?

BTW, if you find someone’s “spiral-downward” (no less someone you once admired) entertaining, you’ve definitely got issues.

I was basically going to say the exact same thing. People have been calling him a sellout literally since Soundgarden’s second album. I like most of Scream especially Enemy, Time, Climbing, etc. except those two Part of Me and Watch Out.

I don’t like Superunknown because it was a different sound from badmotorfinger. Hell, I don’t even like badmotorfinger that much. I really only listen to Ultramega OK and Louder than Love. Louder than Love is one of my favorite albums of all time next to Nirvana Unplugged, Zeppelin I, and Ride the Lightning.

Cornell’s voice lost much of its power in Superunknown, you can even hear it in Badmotorfinger. I’m not saying I hate all the songs on the album. I can still listen to Black Days and Black Hole Sun. It’s just not the same. They sounded more like Pearl Jam and Screaming Trees on their last few albums. I also listens to songs from Bleach more than any other Nirvana album. I prefer the sound more and thought what they had at the time was gold. I liked a lot of Audioslave songs, I actually liked them and think they along with the White STripes and a few others were the best band of the decade.

Scream was just a horrible move and horrible idea to begin with. Cornell is considered by many, including myself, to have been one of the greatest heavy metal singers of ALL TIME. He is among the ranks of Dio, Axl Rose, Freddie Mercury, and Robert Plant. Having the greatest metal singer of al time produce an RnB album with Timberland? WTF?!!

Cornell’s been deemed a sell-out, his album’s been rendered useless crap and as a whole, Chris Cornell is accepted now, as a very strange phenomenon, a product of our times.

And after everything said, people still comment the shit out of his press and still care, even if they just want to say how much they hate him. Me – I hate the Jonas Brothers and so I haven’t read a single article on them. I have never posted a comment about something connected with them (apart from one single YouTube video where I couldn’t hold myself).

I was wrong, I don’t HATE the Jonas Brothers, I’m just indifferent towards them. They hold no interest for me.

So, what I’m trying to say is, no matter what Cornell does, if he shaves his head and starts doing solo shows with a banjo and a harmonica or whatever, he has a legacy that’ll follow him through his entire life.

And as it is said in the movie “I’m Not There”: “7. Never create anything. It will be misinterpreted. It will chain you and follow you for the rest of your life and it will never change.”

I love everything up through Euphoria Morning. If you took the best 10-12 songs from the 3 Audioslave albums and made just one album, that would be good. No so hot on the 2nd solo release, especially because of the MJ cover and can’t fathom why Scream was even released.

New Soundgarden? Do you think the rest of the band want it so bad they’ll accept sub par Cornell on it?

i love the song long gone its the best guitar music that i have ever heard that was played by the most nicey singer called chris cornel

Funny little SG fans. Audioslave was way freaking better, RATM band with Chris was so freakishly amazing. Plus If Chris feels he wants to do this then he wants too. He smart and is what 45 yrs old? Yea to stay alive in the music business this long you need variety. Still Chris without Tom Morello is like chocolate milk without chocolate. Tom is doing crazy good though with SSSC