A Hasty and Non-Detailed Review of Chris Cornell's Scream
I finally got around to listening to Scream, the recent Timbaland-produced album by Chris Cornell. It's received some pretty negative reviews, even from Trent Reznor (link), and at best it has received mixed reviews. I would agree with these people.First off, I need to say that I love Chris Cornell and Timbaland as musicians. Timbaland's 2007 album Shock Value is one of my favorite hip-hop albums ever and I'm a huge fan of Soundgarden and Audioslave. I love Chris Cornell and Timbaland in the same way that I love ice cream and burritos - they are both excellent and desirable, but in different ways. In the same manner, putting Chris Cornell and Timbaland together is like making burrito-flavored ice cream or an ice cream-filled burrito - you may initially think that it sounds wonderful and awesome, but after 30 seconds of trying to digest it, you just want to hurl.
OK, that's pretty harsh - the album did not make me want to hurl. In fact, I listened through the entire record and didn't mind it too much. As usual, Timbaland has some great beats and Cornell has some great singing, but they don't belong together. These two should just split up and each one take his respective artistic property and collaborate with others that are more appropriate. Justin Timberlake and Timbaland work so well together because JT's music is dancy and beat-centric, so that's a perfect combination. Cornell is a rocker at heart and he needs to remember that; he just doesn't have the urban or hip-hop component that is required to successfully mix with the likes of Timbaland.
Normally I'd post my favorite track picks, but I can't do that here because I just don't take this album seriously. It's an awkward pairing that doesn't work and this album is going to be quickly dismissed and forgotten in the sands of time. Maybe there's a silver lining to this cloud, but I don't have the time or energy to try to find it.
Posted by Kyle Wettner at 4/21/2009 5:07 PM 
Categories: Timbaland, Chris Cornell
Tags: Timbaland Chris Cornell
Categories: Timbaland, Chris Cornell
Tags: Timbaland Chris Cornell
If you yourself are willing to admit you don't take the album seriously, and can't be bothered to give it some time to grow on you, why bother to review it at all? Telling artists they "need to remember" which category they belong in is somewhat arrogant, as though you feel you as a listener own the rights to their artistry and can tell them where to put it. Choose not to like this album by all means - but what gives you the right to set limits for someone else's art?
If you read my post again, you'll notice that I hardly reviewed the album at all, hence the words "hasty" and "non-detailed" in the title.
I certainly don't claim to set limits for anyone's art, let alone Chris Cornell's; I am merely pointing out that he is out of his element here. He is more than welcome to branch out musically and try something new; experimentation is an undeniable component to the career of any musician. And while I do appreciate the fact that both of them tried to do something different with this album, I will be the first to point out that the result is subpar. I thought this pairing was odd when I first heard about it last year and now that I've heard the result of their collaboration, I still believe it.
Chris Cornell is free to do whatever he wants musically, but his strength is his voice in front of a rock band, and anything else is going to be inferior compared to that.
"but what gives you the right to set limits for someone else's art?"
I may have missed something, but I don't see where Kyle said "Chris DON'T EVER collaborate with anyone else ever again."
He just felt that Chris is a rocker at heart and should stick with what he does best....rocking. I agree with him.