Rock-friggin-tober.
“Been Away Too Long” is almost absurdly on the nose. While I wasn’t in love with Soundgarden’s last album Down On The Upside, it seemed like the band wasted a lot of potential when they broke up back in 1997. Ye olde ‘interpersonal differences’ seem to be the blame here. That and Chris Cornell’s burning desire to be a Gap model.
I didn’t really understand Audioslave, either. I get that Chris Cornell is just as much of a political lefty as Rage Against The Machine. But Audioslave was such a mismatch in styles and tone, it’s hard to believe it got beyond a few rehearsals. Six stringer Tom Morello constantly professes his love for Led Zeppelin, Ozzy Osbourne and 80′s metal, but on every song Captain Pinko Guitarsky always sounds like a bored techno DJ scratching out the most trite wack-ass hip hop beat. The creative mixture of Cornell and Morello just didn’t work.
So it’s good that Soundgarden is back, if only to keep Chris Cornell out of trouble…and Timbaland’s recording studio.
Enjoy.
