Now there is no denying the fact that Chris Cornell had one of rock’s most amazing and powerful voices. I wasn’t the world’s biggest Soundgarden fan as I found them too depressing, and musically they were not that good. Sure they had a few good songs, but that was it for me. In fact, I felt the same about most of the whole grunge movement. Now, Rage Against The Machine were a different beast all together. Anger and protest in rock has always produced good music, and they were no exception. When I heard of Cornell joining the musical part of Rage, I was very intrigued indeed, as the potential was there for something amazing. Well, in 2002 it felt very fresh and familiar at the same time, mainly due to that underlying blues DNA in the music, and the brilliance of Cornell’s voice.
Stand out tracks (and there are a few) are: Cochise, it’s a killer opener with plenty of power and groove – a great way to tell the world this is who we are. Gasoline with its monster heavy riff and groove, Like A Stone, which shows the beauty and range to Cornell’s voice as well as the invention of Morello’s approach to guitar. Exploder with its off funky groove and monster riff, and epic vocal from Cornell – this is close to my favourite on the album, as is Hypnotize with its hip hop drum groove. Then we have The Last Remaining Light, which starts off quite normally, but grows into the most amazing vocal performance I have ever heard on any record. When you know how he died, this song takes on a whole new meaning. It sends shivers down my spine and brings tears to your eyes. It is the most incredibly powerful song you will ever hear. For this song alone, this album is in the everyone should own it category.
10/10 from The Grooveman.
