Customer Reviews

Scream-(Slide Pack)

5 star:		(87)
4 star:		(56)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(33)
1 star:		(82)

 

 

Everyone likes to go on about Cornell's artistic prowess, yet it's not just song and lyric writing that has always made CC's music superb: His voice could make or break many a song, and Cornell was a master at making his voice an integral part of his music. The songs on Scream are not in themselves horrible; without the Timbaland influence, many of the songs could be revamped into decent rock tunes. However, the entire album emphasizes Timbaland's role (the title should read "Timbaland's Scream, featuring Chris Cornell"), and Chris - Chris's voice - now seems like an afterthought to the music. When the greatest SINGER in rock history allows his voice to play 2nd (3rd, 4th?) fiddle to the music, well, it's MUCH WORSE than disappointing.

When I first heard Cornell would work with Timbaland, I braced for the worst, especially after hearing the awful work he did with Duran Duran last year. Usually, I find Timbaland's work too sterile (the beats, while danceable, too perfect to really groove). And that's somewhat the case here. I really like a lot of the old style synth sounds that are used, and the textures and deep bass are great, but the whole thing sounds a bit artificial. It's saved somewhat by Cornell's voice. Timbaland's usual pop or rap pairings mostly can't sing like this, so Cornell can take the songs up a notch. And as with Cornell's last solo album, the vocals are sounding much better than in the Audioslave era. He constructs some pretty memorable melodies. The thing that's missing vs. his previous solo work, however, are all the open guitar tunings and harmonic color provided from them. These songs give up so much to the rhythm of the loops that there isn't much room for the more interesting chord changes that characterize Cornell's best stuff. Some people will reflexively give it 1-star, but it's far better than that. Nevetheless, it's not as interesting as his first two solo albums, and so we hope its a transition on toward something more expansive. I admire his guts to try a project like this, but I might have chosen a different (more musically diverse) producer than is Timbaland. To go in this type of direction, someone like Danger Mouse might have been a hipper choice.

As a Chris Cornell fan from about 1989 it is very telling that I've very rarely been disappointed by this artist.

I was heartbroken when Soundgarden broke up and a bit wary of Audioslave... then I fell under the Cornell/Morello spell. Then there are his three solo albums. All have their positives and negatives. "Carry On" is Cornell's one album I really had to work a bit get into, but eventually did.

Then came "Scream". I have to admit, upon the first listen I was thinking, "What the hell IS this? He's gone down some funky, poppy, R&B road!" But man... once I got hooked by one song (Enemy) it wasn't long before I was hooked on all the rest. Plus, with the way the songs are designed to flow into eachother, I find it nearly impossible to just listen to one song at time.

This album, though a huge departure, is by far Cornell's most energetic, addictive and just plain enjoyable solo album to date. He is a true artist who obviously has no interest in rehashing what he's done before and brave enough take a risk on new genre... and, as one would only expect from him, DOMINATE it.

If you are purely a genre fan, no matter the performer, and you only tolerate the rock genre, then this album is probably not for you. But if you are a fan of an artist and trust a gifted one to create something special, then I highly recommend this album.

I have loved Soundgarden since I first heard Outshined on the radio, I have loved and followed everything Chris Cornell has done since then - I have like some stuff more than others - but I have never hated anything he has been involved with - until Scream.

I saw him at a small venue on his promotional tour for this album and he played with a good rock band backing him - it was one of the best concerts I have ever been to. So, he hasn't lost all sense, it just wasn't present on this album.

The only song that didn't make me want to puncture my eardrums was the little outro song played at the end of the disc.

The production takes the best voice in rock since Freddy Mercury and turns it into bad pop crap.

Don't buy this. Please. Buy anything else he's done, it's all a million times better.

From Soundgarden to Temple Of The Dog to Audioslave to computer generated pop. Why? There better be a good reason for this album because I am insulted by the transition that Chris Cornell has made here. If he can convince me that this is supposed to be an artistic statement and a natural progession from what he achieved in the past then I will buy every album Timbaland has ever produced. I wonder if he can play this to members of Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Audioslave, and any fan of the music he has created over the years with a straight face? It's totally embarassing. Can this album honestly sit in his catalogue next to albums like Euphoria Morning and Superunknown? What about making a playlist with his song "Seasons" alongside this stuff. This better be a once off cause he is losing his musical credibilty which I once thought was going to be an enduring legacy.

Good songs are good songs but bad production is bad production. Chris Cornell writes great songs but he needs to please the fans sometimes and use the type of production style that brought life to his songs on albums like Superunknown, Down On The Upside, and Euphoria Morning. Furthermore alot of the lyrics on Scream are very cringe-worthy and lack the abstract thought and metaphors of his earlier work.

If you can make it to the end of this album there's a "hidden track" that is absolutely awesome. It has a dark and bluesy feel with Cornell's powerful and raspy vocals backed up with some nice guitar playing. We can only hope this is a teaser of what might happen on the next album.

First, I'm not one of those people who hate this cd, just because its a colloboration with Timbaland. I actually listened to the entire thing and can honestly say its terrible. The only song on here that is passable is "watch out" and thats being generous. Everything else is abysmally bad. The only reason that anyone could even pretend this is a five star album, is sheer blind devotion to Chris Cornell.
If Chris Cornell from the 90s could take a time machine to 2010, he would be really upset at what a sellout he became. The 90s Seattle scene was about music for the sake of music, now Cornell is doing interviews on the red carpet, wondering how many grammies he's going to win. Well at least Kim, Ben, and Matt are still making awesome music without worrying about awards.
Defintely going to cell this, or if no one will buy it, give it away.

I gotta say, I really enjoy this side of Chris Cornell.

I've seen all sorts review the record, but I think a lot of people misjudge the album. Wether it be die-hard grungers that hate even the idea of Timbaland being on a fan-mix with Cornell (let alone a legit full-length record), clubbers that think the idea of a rocker's vocals layering themselves over production by Timbaland is downright blasphemous to Timbaland, or just the average critic that thinks the only good music made was by Kanye West and Britney Spears (not bashing the artists, just giving 'Top 40' examples) and anything straying from those lines isn't worth anybody's time, most of them just don't seem to get it; the record is first and foremost, an experiment.

It's a step down one path in Cornell experimenting and evolving as an artist. Who knows, Cornell's next record could be completely different from this one, as well as anything he's done in the past. As someone who loves music from most all genres of music (at least all that I've come across so far), I really enjoyed this record.

It's put together very nicely; while blending together as one record, the noticeable mix-up in production between tracks is also a nice touch. While some of the tracks are more serious in lyrical content, others are more upbeat club-ish tracks. When it comes right down to it, it's just a fun record to listen to.

Bottom line, if you're only a rock/grunge fan, this record may not be for you (although I would recommend checking out one of the record's b-side's "Lost Cause" if you're such a fan, even though the production is flawlessly recognizable as being by Timbaland, it's still a good rock track). If you're more of a club/pop music oriented person, you're apt to be more receptive to the overall feel of the album. But if you're open-minded musically, and enjoy music of all genres, you're bound to like most of the album, if not all of it.

I hope Cornell isn't disheartened by some of the fans' and critics' reactions, and maybe even puts out another record in this same vein. I know I'd buy it.

This album is not rock, not pop, not country, not rap, not jazz, but more like bad techno with words. This is hard to listen to. Yes I am an Audioslave fan, been a long time listener of Soundgarden, and have Chris's other solo albums which are decent, but hardly compare to his work the two aforementioned bands, but this is rediculous. Just terrible music with no real meaning, no feeling, no true instrumental value, and it just plain sucks.

I love Chris Cornell, I've been a fan of Soundgarden since the beginning, and I really liked Chris's first solo album. This 3rd solo album was a annoying sounding hip-hop record. Forget about rock and everything you thought you knew about Chris's style, it's gone straight out the window. Timbaland messed up on this one too, bug time! High-pitched, under-processed, cheesy, annoying hip-hop beats under Chris's over-processed, pitch-corrected, chorus-effected vocals.

I hope he doesn't perform these songs in concert.

A must not buy, unless you like that kind of 2009 over-limited hip-pop.

So I've heard a few people talk about Chris Cornell's "versatility" with respect to this album, and while I'm sure he's gained a few new teenaged fans, I don't think any of them have any real idea about his actual versatility.

I've heard versatility from Mr. Cornell. I've heard bone-rattling screams, and I've heard falsetto croons. I've heard wistful, angry, doleful, happy, and a few other odd emotional concepts in between. I've heard fast and punky; I've heard slow and soulful. Chris Cornell has been a versatile artist for awhile, but in so doing, he's always kept it . . . real. You could tell it was him, that anything new he put out was something that's always been there, just needing a conduit.

This album does not qualify. I can't detect one solitary emotion within any of the project's 13 tracks - most likely because the shoddily-looped, bass-drunk beats are drowning it all out. Timbaland obviously has at least a tiny shred of talent with a MIDI controller - I'd like to know if this is all a complete ruse, if he stole a sample of Chris Cornell's voice, puked it through a vocoder, and quite libelously attached the poor man's name to the utter swill that emerged on the other side.

As for expectations, sure; as a fan, I had expectations. That's what happens when you're an artist with fans. They come to expect quality. Maybe some expect the exact same record they enjoyed, over and over again, but most fans are reasonable enough to simply expect an established level of quality, the level they're used to, the kind that made them love that artist in the first place. If I wanted to listen to some hip-hop boy band, I'd flip on the local top 40 station and have myself lobotomized. I am extremely, extremely disappointed in this album, and really only have one question: Mr. Cornell, where did you go?