Chris Cornell - Carry On (Album)

I picked up a tattered cardboard single 6 years ago. It was lying half buried in a bargain bin in a music store that was going into liquidation. The single, ‘Can’t Change Me’, was taken from Chris Cornell’s first solo album. I was a big fan of Soundgarden so I was interested to see what this guy was capable of on his own. After a few listens, I was so taken with the compositions, I went out and bought 3 or 4 copies of the album ‘Eurphoria Morning’, which the single was taken from, for myself and a couple of mates who I thought would dig it. It’s been 8 years between drinks, mainly due to the whole Audioslave thing, and the wait was just about worth it.

Carry On, like Euphoria Morning, is a diverse album, though most critics describe it as ‘confused’. It opens with ‘No Such Thing’, a rocking track closer to Cornell’s Soundgarden work, than his Audioslave period. The verses are coloured with acoustic guitar; the choruses stepping up, pushed by messy distorted guitars. ‘Poison Eye’ follows, really showing Cornell for the brilliant songwriter he is. Thick harmonies and classic rock guitars, not unlike an old Stones track, work well together.

‘Arms Around Your Love’ takes a slight turn into pop territory. Don’t get me wrong, it’s no Britney Spears, but the straightforward structure and melodies are more middle-of-the-road than you might expect from the guy who co-wrote ‘Jesus Christ Pose’ etc. Still, it works well and it’s no surprise the track was chosen as the first single for the UK market.

Further down the track list, Cornell pulls out his now infamous cover of Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean’. The version here is cool, but if you really want to hear this track the way it should have been recorded, get hold of the bootlegged ‘Chris Cornell Live: Unplugged In Sweden’ album. It features Cornell doing a brilliant acoustic cover of ‘Billie Jean’, as well as a bunch of Soundgarden and Audioslave tracks, which were all recorded in Stockholm last year during a promotional tour for Audioslave’s last album, Revelations.

Carry On does ‘carry on’ a bit in parts… how funny was that? Ahem. ‘Safe And Sound’ flouts some questionable horns and comes off a bit cheesy. Thankfully, moments of the usual self-indulgence witnessed on solo albums are kept to a minimum.

All in all, Carry On is a good album. Make no mistake, it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Even Soundgarden and Audioslave fans might be disappointed by the lack of ball-tearing screams and some of the more straightforward arrangements. But overall, there are enough great tracks to make this one worth buying. Check it out.

Tom Whitty

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