Chris Cornell- Higher Truth (2015)

Chris Cornell- Higher Truth (2015)

“The reason there's no modern-day Shakespeare is because he didn't have anything to do except sit in a room with a candle and think.”

Chris Cornell

By: Ghost Writer

Face it, Chris Cornell solo career is a disaster, he moved from being a singer and songwriter into the most recognizable face in Soundgarden and it was also a disaster, the guys from Rage Against the Machine were less anonymous than the rest of Soundgarden, and that gave Audioslave a sort of balance, Euphoria Morning was a huge sleep inducer, it was brutally narcoleptic, something unexpected from such an intense guy, Scream was a very risky experiment, didn't end up well but showed that Cornell was a ballsy guy, someone who in the right company, RATM or Timbaland could shake things up, you know I have a thing for quirky albums, and of course Scream was a very quirky one, an album in league with other great bizarre ones like Kiss' Music From the Elder or Neil Young's Trans, records I truly love.

Yes, Cornell could be seen as either ballsy guy or dumb guy because he is back with another solo record, face it, after Soundgarden disbanded originally, it was clear that Cornell would hardly fit well again with the band, it is like Chris Cornell and other guys, Thayill or Ben Shepherd aren't so much into it like in the old times, and Matt Cameron simply does sound like the weird time keeper he used to be, more assimilated by regular guys Pearl Jam, but Hey! Higher Truth sounds more like an Eddie Vedder record, except Vedder made a great album called Ukulele Songs that simply blows away anything on this record.

Nearly Forgotten My Broken Heart precisely exist in that grey area where Vedder beats Cornell, yes Cornell is a better singer but simply insists in getting in Vedder's territory, giving Higher Truth a bland start, but is way better than Euphoria Morning, at least here Cornell sounds like he is trying and there are some loud guitars to get by, Dead Wishes, after you pass on the boring intro, becomes something emotive, but not the type stuff that really moves you, self-made mystic keeps blurring Cornell's vision and even a decent melody like Worried Moon is not enough even if getting too close to pop.

Production wise, Before We Disappear is a totally stand out, it kind of resumes Cornell wild instincts, thanks to another grunge veteran, Brendan O'Brien, dashes of obscure folk, pop embellishments and a little Electronica edge, but another grunge guy named Mark Lanegan has already walked this lands with way to better results, while Through the Window bring us a more pure and sincere Cornell, next Josephine simply ends up sounding to corny, and that's precisely where the boat starts sinking and Cornell's obsessions become a burden too heavy to carry as Cornell songs ate precisely the antithesis of that screaming wild grungy guy we used to know, he sounds too obsessed with developing a too introspective identity that in the end mist if the songs doesn't make the right connections, as he lacks Vedder talent for this type stuff, but I must add that Only this Words is a winner, and Our Time in the Universe again shows Chris wanting to try something risky again, it brakes the slow pace of the whole record and it's pure fresh air to set of songs that tend to asphyxiate.

Sometimes is hard to admit that someone we really care for has turned into someone else, we all change, that's part of life, I guess Cornell is now what he always really wanted to be, and that's ok, but in his previous must raw and primitive form he created astonishing music and re wrote the rules of the music business, now he plays by the rules and sounds more like a regular guy, a boring regular guy.