Chris Cornell: Mood for change

Wed 17th Oct, 2007 in Features

Chris Cornell is legend in the world of rock, having multiple successes with Temple of the Dog, Soundgarden, Audioslave and his solo career; he has been musically blessed for over 13 years. Luck is an institution that cannot be attributed to Chris Cornell as he works on his next musical project and produces results that are unparalleled by any of his peers.

It seems that Chris Cornell’s second solo album Carry On has created a deja vu effect for the artist. Chris Cornell reiterated that it had been in the works for a while, much like his first solo album Euphoria Morning. He started to see an emerging pattern where his solo works were getting slowed down by being in a band, and this triggered the realisation that if he is ever going to get anywhere with his Solo career, then being in a band had to be laid to rest.

Carry On is a breakaway from anything Chris has done previously. He has often expressed that he has wanted to create music that is a lot softer vocally and musically and Carry On was another chance to explore this. His cover of Billy Jean is a perfect example. Chris went on to say that he has wanted to cover Billie Jean for a while, but it is hard to convince a band to cover such a song, so it was something that was saved for the solo album. If you listen to Billie Jean it has a certain blues slant to it, that compliments Chris’ voice beautifully – something that could really only have come out of working solo.

Carry On is Chris Cornell’s opportunity to explore different styles, and experiment with things musically that previously may not have been possible. Chris was quick to say that he is at the point in his career where he can do this, and it is mostly accepted. We joked about the fact that if he was to do something left of the middle people would probably pick up on this, and be wary of it. But he knows his limits. He knows where he can and can’t go and what he can and can’t play and this is exactly why he is one of the greatest rock musicians of our time. He can push the boundaries, without tearing them down. When asked whether he could specifically place himself in any one genre, he was at odds ends to do so and admitted that he is an extremely hard musician to market. Without sounding conceited, he was able to explain that he could be a James Blunt type musician or a Rob Zombie type musician and it would work either way for him, which is correct, he could pull off both, but thankfully he is sticking to what he does best.

Chris Cornell is about to embark on a national tour with Linkin Park, with two sideshows for Sydney and Melbourne. They have him running a tight ship, with no time for leisure. It’s just show after show and then off to Europe for more solo shows. Talking about touring with another artist then lead to my next dorky question – whether he had any artists he would like to work with in the future. Chris expressed that his days of working with other people are over. Trying to coordinate yourself and someone else for a session is too hard, he said, and that he would much prefer to work solo.

Chris said that if he could hypothetically work with anyone, it would be Jesus. Jesus could come back and produce a rock album with him and it would be awesome. I decided to put on my smart arse cap and ask whether he thinks Jesus’ father would approve, to which he replied of course! Then I posed to question that what if Jesus came to earth, and he was into dance and electro, then what? And Chris was quick to respond that he would possibly consider using DJ Jesus anyway. A normal progression from working with three awesome bands, and a successful solo career would be to work with our Saviour Jesus Christ, naturally.

An amazing realisation is that this megastar has remained a humble man, with small plans for his future. Chris has definitely settled down and moved on, but has by no means slowed down. A solo career is just another page in his extremely colourful life, hopefully not the ending.

Chris Cornell is currently touring with Linkin Park – check the gig guide for tour dates.