It’s not often that two legends in music get together to record a full album, and even rarer that they’re from completely opposite ends of the musical spectrum. Ex-Soundgarden/Audioslave vocalist Chris Cornell has teamed up with hip hop and pop super-producer Timbaland to create an extraordinary new album entitled ‘Scream’ which will be released on March 9th.
The collaboration, which Chris Cornell calls “the best work I’ve done in my career”, is also possibly the bravest work either man has ever undertaken. The end result is a genre-breaking, pop-rock record for the 21st century that gives you a glimpse into the future of music via some of the most innovative and revolutionary arrangements ever crafted.
All the songs on ‘Scream’ which were written by Chris Cornell and produced by Timbaland make up an album that was inspired partly by Pink Floyd’s all-time classic album ‘The Wall’. All 13 of the songs on ‘Scream’ flow into each other giving it the feel of one complete work with no breaks, drawing on both artists talents to re-write the modern musical rulebook. Tracks such as the title song ‘Scream’ ripple with electro-synth and beautifully complex drum patterns only Timbaland could pull off, rolling like inter-planetary trains piloted by the powerful and unmistakable Chris Cornell vocal. The long player theme is also intended as a resurrection of the original album format – in an age of a la carte downloading – to try to shine a light back on a piece of music that made sense as a whole as well as in parts.
‘Scream’ sees Chris Cornell, who has time and time again proved himself as an undisputed pioneer in his field, pushing the boundaries into another uncharted territory. From his involvement with Soundgarden in the 90s making him one of the chief architects of the grunge movement, to the formation of super-group Audioslave, to being the first male vocalist to record an original James Bond theme Cornell’s always aimed to carve new pathways rather than follow others.
Chris Cornell will be playing a show at The Scala in London on Mon 23rd February. Tickets are £27.50 and go onsale on Friday at 10am [link] 24 hr cc hotline 0871 2200 260.
