Chris Cornell's Scream

I really need to vent this out, and maybe this is true of Chris Cornell/Soundgarden/Audioslave fans:

WHAT IS CHRIS CORNELL DOING WITH HIS NEW ALBUM SCREAM???

Now, I know that it's cool and creative for artists to continously change who they are artistically. Good artists grow and continue to change instead of just relying on that same old sound that always sold records. Taking chances is really admirable.

Genre jumping is a little iffy for me. I don't know if it works all of the time. When Bon Jovi went from rock to country, he picked up a big fan base. I'm not into country, so he lost me (not like I was a huge fan before at all). But some genres are really strange to jump to (AKA from rock to hip hop).

So, I'll come out and say it for those of you who are not fortunate enough to have heard samples of Cornell's new album, Scream. He worked with Timbaland on the record, and basically his tracks can be heard in dance clubs. It's not him at all. I mean, his wonderful voice is nice as he sings on the tracks, but it's just too out there. I respect his music, but I was very, very disappointed in this new album.

Technically, it's called "electronic pop." But still, I thought Cornell was like a rock legendary singer. This is tainting that image I have of him.

I think his album pretty much says it all. He's smashing his rock career with the guitar itself. He's kind of shattering the rock god image I have of him. There it goes.

Here is how it's being received (via Wikipedia):

"Initial critical response ranged from mixed to mostly negative, with which Chicago rock critics Jim Derogotis and Greg Kot called 'train wreck' and 'beyond Trash it,' and perhaps 'the worst album that we have ever reviewed.' At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 47, based on 13 reviews. Scream received positive reviews, from Entertainment Weekly and Hot Press who felt that the collaboration between producer Timbaland and Chris Cornell worked. The mixed reviews were more prevalent, with Spin stating the album was "strangely appealing in its elaborately empty efficiency." while Billboard noted that 'Sometimes it's good bizarre. Other times it's bad bizarre.' Rolling Stone wrote that Scream 'veers between drab–sleek and rock–dude soulful; Cornell's yowl never sounds at home.' Among the negative reviews, Allmusic wrote that "Scream is one of those rare big-budget disasters, an exercise in misguided ambition that makes no sense outside of pure theory."

Listen to short clips of the song here at Amazon.com. Apparently key tracks are "Part of Me" and "Long Gone." See what you think.

So, what do you think of Chris Cornell's new album Scream?