Chris Cornell: Scream

Author’s note:  Usually I put the artist’s current single here, but I prefer to remember Chris Cornell the way he was.  If you want to hear his current single, look it up yourself.  I’d much rather sit here with my arms outstretched in a Jesus Christ Pose.

There are bad albums, and then there is Scream. This record is so awful that to call it a complete and utter failure would be generous. What possessed Chris Cornell to hire Timbaland? What possessed Timbaland to do this to Chris Cornell? This is not a rock record with pop flourishes, this is a pop record. It is the antithesis of everything this man once stood for.

Chris Cornell was the leader of Soundgarden. For a brief moment, they were the American Black Sabbath. The mixture of Kim Thayil’s guitar and Cornell’s voice was heavier than molten lead. The screams Cornell unleashed from the bottom of his diaphragm had no equal. Soundgarden helped kill overproduced pop music, and now Chris Cornell is creating it. It’s Bizarro World.

Since this is a Timbaland production, actual instrumentation takes a back seat to mountains of synthesizers and drum machines. Timbaland can be a good producer, he just needs a theme. On Nelly Furtado’s comeback record Loose, he wanted to turn Furtado into a dance diva and it worked. Justin Timberlake wanted an impersonal, icy dance record and it worked. Timbaland apparently didn’t have a game plan for Scream, he just made a bunch of beats and told Cornell to sing on them.

The record begins with a synthesized trumpet fanfare and robotic gibberish….and that’s the highlight of the record. Chris Cornell was in a band with Matt Cameron, one the best drummers of the 90s, and he’s using a drum machine. Cornell is a great guitarist, but he never gets to show it because of the keyboards. It feels like he’s a guest on his own solo album.

Cornell’s voice could have saved the record. His voice is an incredible instrument. The screams he unleashed seemed to come from the darkest reaches of his soul. Cornell doesn’t scream, he doesn’t growl, he barely even sings. His voice is just a generic vocal. No soul, no passion, no fury. Even if he wanted to sing well, he couldn’t because the production gets in his way. It’s so thick that it almost drowns him out. His vocals are cluttered with electronics and other effects that are unnecessary because he doesn’t need them. Cornell sang on some of the most vocally demanding songs of all time, without studio magic. He’s not T-Pain!

I understand that Chris Cornell is not a young man anymore. He’s not the same guy in combat boots singing “Jesus Christ Pose.” I understand that he wants to remain relevant. However, there is a difference between staying relevant and selling out. Cornell has chosen the latter path, and it’s insulting to the rock fans that have remained loyal. He hooked up with a producer that has no idea how to make a rock record or record a rock singer, and he has a terrible pop album to show for it. Scream is not just a misfire, it’s a complete fiasco. Where are you Kim Thayil?