Chris Cornell returns with first solo album
by Marc Weingarten
Request Magazine
Chris'
Cornell is P
c h o w i n g gs
breakfast in his |
plush suite at
the Four Sea- |
sons hotel in *
Los Angeles 2
and checking I
out a certain r
rock maga- ft
7inp\ list of
the 90 best albums of the ‘90s. He’s made the
* cut, but just barely: Soundgarden’s 1994 master
piece Superunknown checks in a No. 70, which
kind of tickled him, but he still grumbles about
Sleater-Kinney being much higher on the list-like,
what’s up with that?
Besides, Cornell is a bit befuddled about this
constant need for rock critics to canonize. “I’m so
schizophrenic about my musical tastes. I like songs,
and then I don’t like them,” he said. “I don’t
even remember all the amazing songs I’ve ever
heard."
Then it occurs to him that his first solo album,
Euphoria Morning, will drop three months before
the century’s end. Does that mean it will slip through
the cracks when it comes time for other critics to
weigh in on the decade’s best? “It’ll make the Best
Album of the Last Three Months of the ‘90s
list,” he said with a laugh.
A solo venture isn’t always the smoothest flight
plan for those whose identities have been subsumed
by a band brand
name. If you want
to hear sob stories
on the topic, just
give Alice in
Chains’ Jerry
Cantrell and Stone
Temple Pilot’s Scott
Weilandaring. But
believe this: When
Cornell sings, at
tention must be
paid.
Let’s face it:
We all loved
Soundgarden gui
tarist Kim Thayil’s
monster-truck
riffage, and bassist
Ben Shepherd and
drummer Matt
Cameron’s boom
ing system made
our necks sore. But
Soundgarden still
might have been shilling seven-inch product on
Sub Pop Records were it not for Cornell, a
charismatic, frightfully sexy frontman with turbo
powered pipes. He’s the kind of artist for whom
rock was invented.
Working closely with the L.A. duo Eleven, aka
multi-instrumentalists Alain Johannes and Natasha
Shneider, better known as the opening act for the
Superunknown tour (and as the band drummer Jack
Irons was with between his stint with the original
Red Hot Chili Peppers and current job as Pearl
Jain’s drummer),
Cornell retains
Soundgarden’s
smoldering drama
and visions of apoc
alypse on Euphoria
Morning, but does
so with less bluster
and more subtle
ty. The melodies
weave and slink
around his stunning
muscular growl,
while guitar armies
and tribal drums
quietly conduct
field maneuvers
behind him.
“1 thought, If I’m
gonna have a solo
career, I’m not re
ally an instrumen
talist, I’m a singer,
and that’s what the
focus should be,”
Cornell said. Very often I was the first one in
Soundgarden to say, ‘You know, turn the guitars
up,’ but when you’ve done something for a long
time, you’ve got to become better at it.”
For Euphoria Morning, Cornell decamped to
L.A. from Seattle and went strictly homemade.
The album was recorded at Johannes and Shnei
der’s home studio in West Hollywook-no six-fig
ure producers or catered meals to distract from the
task at hand. “Alain and Natasha were very quick
and ready to go at all times,” Cornell said. “We
tried to keep things really sparse and keep my voice
as big a part of the mix as possible. We never felt
like we weren’t gonna achieve what we wanted to
achieve.”
Still, are the Teen Beat-niks and the aggro-rock
fans that control the fin de siecle Zeitgeist ready to
embrace a guy who made his first album when Brit
ney Spears was in Huggies? This is, after all, the
same denuded pop-cultural landscape that produced
the first grunge wave in the late ‘80s. Maybe, ac
cording to Cornell, it’s time for a counterrevolu
tion.
“In 1989, it was hair metal [that stank]; now
it’s commercial rap,” he said. “Back then, every
video was, we arrive at our gig by helicopter, and
my supermodel girlfriend is doing splits on my Jag,
and we’re richer and better than you. Now rap is
an aixmi mai Kina oi oravaao. wno wouia ve rnougni
there would be a musical style where the per
son’s name would be the lyrics? At some point,
fans have got to feel insulted by that.”
During the recording of Euphoria Morning, a
little mantra played over and over in Cornell’s head,
and it went something like this: Don’t suck. He
knows he can’t control the consumption patterns
of fickle pop fans, but he can control the quality
of his output. “I wanted to make a record that was
n’t being done by 50 other bands, and I’m not chas
ing the tail end of any trend.” Cornell steals aglance
at his half-empty breakfast tray and says, “It’s re
ally about quality, service and value. Listen to the
record, and I’ll change your sheets in the morn
ing.”
Cover photo courtesy of Request Magazine
Courtesy of Request Magazine
Chris Cornell, former lead singer of Soundgarden,
releases his first solo effort, Euphoria Morning.
McCain concert raises
money for children
by Brock Vergakis
News Editor
Edwin McCain performed a benefit
concert Wfednesday night at the Koger Cen
ter to raise money for The Alliance for
South Carolina’s Children.
The proceeds raised will be donated to
help the alliance, which is “committed to
preventive programs and early interven
tions which improve the quality of life
for children and save tax dollars,” accord
ing to a pamphlet provided by the alliance.
McCain, a South Carolina native, and
former USC student, is on tour promoting
his latest album, Messenger.
This is McCain’s third album since sign
ing with Atlantic Records.
At the Roger Center Wednesday night,
“Charleston’s native son” told stories and
played music for about two hours.
Members of USC’s Symphony Or
chestra provided backup music for part of
the concert.
This was the first time The Alliance for
South Carolina’s Children used the
Roger center as a venue for a benefit con
cert.
According to Connie Scrivens of the
Roger Center, ticket sales were “tremen
dously successful.”
Edwin McCain and his band were joined by the USC Symphony Wednesday night at the Koger
Center. They played to raise money for The Alliance for Childrea