Customer Reviews

Audioslave: Live in Cuba (with Bonus CD)

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

First off 'Jay D' reviewer below is incorrect in alot of areas. I do agree with him the 2nd Audioslave album is better than their first. In my opinion Audioslave's first album was incredible, easily the best album of 2002. Out of Exile is even more incredible, the song Man or Animal is so good its insane, and without a doubt will be my favorite and best of 2005. But everything else he states is asinine. Comparing Cornell to Ozzy is like comparing Morello to CC Deville of Poison, whats their to compare right? This DVD is 100 %awesome. Probably the best DVD concert release of the year. Yeah, I'm a big Audioslave fan. I really am, so my review is partially biased to that fact. So what! Chris Cornell is still the best vocalist around and certainly the most important vocalist to emerge out of the late 80's and he is still strong to this day. He is getting old and yeah is a bit rusty through the first few songs...but remember it's live...what singer doesn't need a few songs to get all cylinders going. The bands energy is there, and dispite the other critics, this band is on fire. The set list is HUGE! 18 songs spanning RATM, Soundgarden and plenty of Audioslave. The complete set list is:

Set it Off
Your time Has Come
Like A Stone
Spoonman
The Worm
Gasoline
Heaven's Dead
Doesn't Remind Me
Be Yourself
Bulls on Parade (instrumental)
Sleep Now in The Fire
Out of Exile
Outshined
Shadow of the Sun
Black Hole Sun (Chris Cornell solo)
I am the Highway
Show Me How To Live
Cochise

The bonus features is a documentary on the bands stay and performance while in Cuba. It's a pretty lengthy feature and does show you some beautiful scenary of what Cuba offers.

This edition contains a bonus CD of "Sessions@AOL Music" containing exclusive performances of

Be Yourself
Loud Love
Doesnt Remind Me
Out of Exile
Sleep Now in the Fire

All-in-all, an excellent DVD release especially with the bonus CD. Audioslave is a hard rock band, whose members dispite their past experiences, show they still have alot to offer, and as a live act, they are explosive.


Oh yeah...before I forget...to everyone complaining and whining about the bad vocals, and off synch sound and video edit...I do believe the surround sound recording is off and messed up, hence, giving us a crappy take on the concert...but if you just shut your stereo off, crank the volume up on your TV, you'll hear (and see) that it isn't the band (espeically Cornell) who sound bad or the drums being off...it's the surround sound.

On May 6th, 2005, Audioslave became the first American rock band to play on Cuban soil and boy did they bring those lucky people a great show! Eighteen songs, evenly divided between the first Audioslave album and their latest, "Out Of Exile," combined with nostalgic trips back to Rage Against The Machine and Soundgarden. You really can't ask for a better performance by the guys. Honestly, I wouldn't care if this was "Live In Delaware" or "Live In Vietnam," the actual live show is what makes this great.

Morello, Wilk and Commerford are just as professional and precise as they were in the Rage days, and although Chris Cornell's voice sounds off in the first two or three songs (he also had this problem when I saw them in concert), he still gives 100% and still pulls off a stellar performance in the end, even doing the Rage classic "Sleep Now In the Fire" justice (too bad he doesn't do "Killing In The Name" here -- that was incredible!) Although Cornell is obviously the frontman, Tom Morello tends to steal the show with his guitar in hand. The man single-handedly gives these songs their life and improvises and changes around certain guitar parts to keep us guessing. There really isn't anything this man can't do, and if you appreciate guitar playing, you will be intrigued by watching this man do his thing. Although the Rage Against the Machine and Soundgarden songs serve as highlights for me, my favorite is when Chris comes out for the encore to do a solo/acoustic version of "Black Hole Sun" which fades into "I Am The Highway." This performance was equally emotional and brilliant. One of Audioslave's best songs, for sure!

As for the rest of the DVD, we get a thirty-minute documentary about the trip to Cuba, a "TV-Version" of the concert that you may have seen on Fuse or MTV2 and a bonus CD with 5 live songs from their Sessions@AOL "Concert." There is a good selection of songs on the CD, especially nice to hear "Loud Love" again, but Chris' voice is a bit off again, especially during "Sleep Now In The Fire," which he actually handles rather well both on this DVD and when I saw them perform. Overall, it's a great buy. You get more than enough for your money, and if you were an Audioslave fan before, seeing them live may bring it to the next level. If you are someone who is still hung up on the fact that Rage Against The Machine are long-gone and the guys are doing something different, then obviously you aren't gonna like this. Don't waste your time. However, if you have an open mind and appreciate music in general, I simply tell you to enjoy.

I love Audioslave. A band that started out as a "supergroup" has now evolved into a solid band with 3 solid CD's and a concert DVD that made them the first American rock band to perform in Cuba. This DVD is that show, featuring some of their biggest hits and showing off how talented and cool Audioslave is. Now, as in all concert DVD's, you have to accept that not every song is going to sound how it did on the album. Having said that, a lot of the songs differ from the versions we hear on the CD. But Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk are all in top form on this DVD. They perform the following songs:

1. Set It Off
2. Your Time Has Come
3. Like a Stone
4. Spoonman
5. The Worm
6. Gasoline
7. Heaven's Dead
8. Doesn't Remind Me
9. Be Yourself
10. Bulls on Parade
11. Sleep Now in the Fire
12. Out of Exile
13. Outshined
14. Shadow on the Sun
15. Black Hole Sun (Acoustic)
16. I Am the Highway (Semi-Accoustic)
17. Show Me How to Live
18. Cochise

All the performances are terrific, but standouts are The Worm, Spoonman,
Heaven's Dead, Bulls on Parade, Shadow on the Sun, and Cochise. These songs are the songs I have picked because they display Audioslave at the peak of their musical power. Energetic and full of talent...The Bulls on Parade track is instrumental only, but they tear it up. The weakest track on here is "Sleep Now in the Fire," a Rage Against the Machine track that is a great song. Watching Chris Cornell take vocal duties from Zack de la Rocha (for the record, Cornell is a better vocalist), who is a rapper while Cornell is a singer is almost embarrassing to watch. He doesn't desecrate the song and I'm not one of those people who think that no one should sing de la Rocha's songs...But Cornell shouldn't. The concert, in case I haven't made it clear enough, is great. Not superb, not worthy of 5 stars, but great nonetheless. Also included on this DVD is the "Out of Exile Documentary" which follows Audioslave from getting off the plane in Cuba to the concert. Watch Chris, Brad, Tom, and Tim visit some cathedrals, parks, and places of music. Although, for me, the highlight was seeing Tim mountainbike. Not only does he fall off at one point, but his bodyguard also stops him from going down a particularly dangerous hill. And I love how he tells the camera point-blank that he doesn't like looking at churches and things. Really entertaining stuff. I'm not going to say this is a must OWN for Audioslave fans, but they should definitely check it out. It's worth the money.
GRADE: B+

If you think that this band rules and you also want Kommissar poor attempt as a critic gone and deleted especially since he has the maturaty of a fetus and is mentally retarded and you want his acount closed for good vote yes, If you want a dumb f$#k writing unworthy review press no.

This is not an actual review of the concert, but the DVD itself. I purchased this thinking I'd get the concert in whole, but I guess I should've known that my copy which costs two dollars cheaper wouldn't be the complete package. Cause the DVD I purchased is missing the songs, Spoonman, Heaven's Dead, Shadow On The Sun, and Black Hole Sun. All of which I would have REALLY liked to hear. The case doesn't mention that there's another COMPLETE version available anywhere, so I'm very disappointed in the poor advertising. Just don't make the mistake I made, be sure to check the back of the case to make sure you're buying the ENTIRE package. Thank you for your time and long live Audioslave

Come on guys. Do you work with different people every time you do these things? Visual, not bad but not good. Sound - horrid! Reminds me of that awful Mexico City DVD as RATM. Olympic Auditorium was amazing as a DVD. My whole room rocks with that DVD. I also made the stereo track into an mp3 file since the CD release sounds funny to me. Anyway, Audioslave rocks but -

5 stars for content - minus 2 stars for poor quality

As a fan of good music, I am always looking for real guitar driven music. In today's world that is not easy to come by. Tom Morello is a shining light in a dark tunnel surrounded by junk like Good Charlotte. The live performaces on this DVD are top notch and are just as good, if not better than their studio counterparts. I believe this group of musicians were made to play together all along and this DVD is proof of that. The highlight of this DVD is the version of "The Highway". During the second chorus when the entire band kicks in will send chills down your spine. Definately add this DVD to your live collection.

This was an awesome show. I can't believe that you guys are ragging on Cornell's singing so much. I've listened and watched this DVD probably more times than any of you, and each time I do, I wonder even more what you guys are talking about. Have you ever been to another live concert? Have you ever heard any other band live? So Cornell's voice isn' the same as it is on the album, so what? There's a reason why they record all of that in a studio, where they preform any given song time after time and edit the notes where Chris might've been a little flat or a little hoarse. After listening to this DVD for a long time and comparing Cornell to every other vocalist I've heard live, he's so much better than them, it's insane. I hardly notice a difference between the album and the concert in some songs. You guys have no reason to complain.

This is a historic DVD, and it's the best live concert I've ever heard.

I thought the quality of this concert was horrible - I really regret spending my money on this dvd.

1. This DVD is only in stereo. While I appreciate that it was filmed in Cuba, I still would have expected Audioslaves first DVD to be of a decent quality. I just really didnt feel that it captured their sound very well. When I compare this to some of the great DVDs (Linkin Park - Live in Texas, Coldplay live ...) - you just cant compare the sound or camera work.

I am an Audioslave fan and I was just not impressed.