Chris Cornell Goes It Alone

Chris Cornell recently released Carry On, the 2nd solo album of his more than two decade musical career. The majority of that career has been spent delivering killer vocals in killer bands including Soundgarden, Temple Of The Dog and Audioslave. Unfortunately for any artist who steps away from the company of a great band, one's solo work is always compared to that of the band. In some cases the solo efforts outshine those of the band, e.g. Neil Young, and in other cases it just misses the mark, e.g. well... Chris Cornell.

Cornell has always had one of the most powerful voices of our time. He has also afforded the luxury of being a part of some of the most powerful bands of our time. His voice is still earth-shattering but, without an equally earth-shattering band, it's power is lost.

In all fairness to Mr. Cornell, this album really doesn't amount to much even without reference to his musical past. The songs never really get off the ground and overproduction sucks the life right out of the music.

The lone highlight of the album, is Cornell's take on Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." This is an outstanding cover that makes no attempt to duplicate the original and thereby stands on it's own as a great performance. Cornell's voice grabs's your ears and forces you to hear the song in a whole new way. Click below to grab the song on iTunes. As for the rest of the album, save your money and pick up Soundgarden's Superunknown.