Scream-ager of the year

Chris Cornell has adopted many guises in his 25-year career. In the heyday of grunge, he fronted one of its most scintillating purveyors, Soundgarden, and was also to be found on vocal duties with Seattle supergroup Temple Of The Dog.

After the demise of both acts he returned with solo longplayer, the Grammy-nominated Euphoria Morning, and in 2001 following the departure of of Zach De La Rocha he joined forces with the remaining members of Rage Against the Machine to form Audioslave.
Now the chameleon has morphed once again. His second solo effort is a collaboration with Timbaland titled Scream, a confection bursting with slick grooves and disco beats – topped off with Cornell’s trademark howl. Certainly more dancefloor than mosh pit, this venture is his greatest departure yet.
“Being a fan of so many different types of music, I have a real difficulty in narrowing my focus!” he laughs, relaxing in his Los Angeles home.
“I’m always stirring around in different directions, trying to keep myself inspired. I think that’s sort of the point,” he states. “I think that’s what a recording artist owes the listener, to write and record music that inspires them. That is the promise that you have to keep.”
The genesis of the album can be traced back to a discussion with Timbaland about remixes of his previous solo tracks.
“It all stemmed from one phone conversation which led to the idea of doing some original songs,” he says. “Then I just thought, why not make a whole album?”
“Also, I wouldn’t really necessarily have a destination for a few original songs. I tend to focus on things one album at a time. I didn’t really want to make an album with multiple producers or have songs suspended in an album with different approaches.”
Cornell has compared the confection to Pink Floyd’s The Wall and stated that it should be listened to in its entirety. Fear not, the album is a country mile from prog-rock indulgence.
“I drew that comparison because of the idea of tying the songs together and making it musically a conceptual piece,” he explains. “In a sense, it’s like a movie soundtrack as opposed to a bunch of singles. It’s certainly not lyrically a concept album.”
I proffer the view that in the heyday of single downloads and diminishing attention spans, this is a brave undertaking.
“I think that part of the reason that we’re living in a society where everything has become one-song-downloads and 20-second iTunes clips is really just because that’s the way music is presented now,” he contends. “I don’t think that people don’t want to listen to entire albums. The challenge is getting people’s attention so that they know that it’s there!” (Laughs)
So how do two artists from very different backgrounds set about the process of forming songs and recording an album?
“Timbaland would bring in beat ideas, which were quite advanced in terms of being able to write lyrics and melodies to them,” he says. “A lot of things were added after the fact for this album. I usually sang when 30 per cent of the track was finished as opposed to leaving the vocal take till last.”
Despite their differences, there was no studio brawling. However, reaching a compromise was at times difficult.
“I’m not used to club mixes,” notes Cornell. “When it comes to a song, I don’t think it should take a back seat to the beat, whereas with Timbaland mixes, the beat is king. Everything else comes in second place! So the mixing part was really trying to make sure that the song and the identity of the song was heard, and yet it still has that groove to it.”
And of course when you’re Chris Cornell and Timbaland hanging out in the studio there are bound to be a few interesting visitors, Justin Timberlake for example.
“He just stopped by the studio late at night when we were working on ‘Take Me Alive’. He had an idea and went and sang it and we ended up keeping it. It happened literally in about 15 minutes,” he explains.
“He was someone I had met a few times and he was a really nice, normal guy,” Chris continues. “I also like the fact that he felt comfortable enough to share an idea and sing it. It was good to watch him in action, he is a very talented singer.”
One of the most provocative tracks on the album is Cornell’s meditation on 9/11, ‘Ground Zero’.
“That was a song that I have wanted to write and sing for a long time,” he admits. “The 9/11 tragedy has been used as a tool to intimidate Americans and support policies, concepts and ideas that weren’t very good for us. It just became a successful terrorist event that has been used to disrupt an entire country and eventually a world economy.”
Cornell is optimistic about Obama’s presidency, and was of course glued to the inauguration (albeit in a studio – does he ever stop?)
“Yes, I was in a studio watching it,” he laughs. “I think that the initial first weeks show a lot of positive signs in terms of foreign policy, for example, pulling troops out of Iraq. The first day of his presidency he made steps to close down Guantanamo Bay. The first morning, he wakes up and does that? It’s a good sign.”
“He is also changing the world perception of the people of the US. We were not represented well by the Bush administration,” he adds.
Working with Timbaland as a producer must have been quite a contrast to his previous studio experiences. One name that springs to mind is Rick Rubin, who produced the first two Audioslave albums.
“I haven’t talked to Rick in a while, but he is a friend of mine,” comments Chris. “The first Audioslave record was the first time I ever worked with Rick, and it was a pretty eye-opening experience. His approach to pre-production and production in general is really that of a virtuoso fan. He sits there really listening and when he is getting bored he would just come straight out and tell you. But he usually didn’t have any particular ideas as to what you should do! (Laughs)
I remind Chris that, unbelievably, it is 25 years since Soundgarden formed. If he had a time machine at his disposal and could dispense advice to his 25-year-old self what would that be?
(Pause) “Hmmmm... If I could travel back in time with the knowledge that I have now and the memory of everything that has happened from then until now?... I would probably concentrate on things other than my band,” he chuckles.
(Cornell has recently emerged victorious from a four-year court battle with ex-wife and former manager Susan Silva over custody of his collection of classic guitars.)
Reflecting on his early grunge days, he seems momentarily nostalgic for the nascent movement.
“I think the period that was the most magical was before there was any outside influence at all or any eyes looking in. Even though at the time we were complaining about it!” he laughs.
“We didn’t really expect it. We didn’t have a ‘conquer the world’ mentality. We just wanted to make music that we were inspired by and we could impress our friends with. It was that moment when you have something special but you don’t really know it. It’s pure innocence really,” he muses.

Scream is out now on Universal