One day a friend suggested I check out the new (self titled) album from Audioslave and when I said I didn’t know them, he gave me a little history. He told me they were the joining of the band members from Rage Against the Machine (Tom Morello, Brad Wilk and Tim Commerford) and Chris Cornell (the singer from Soundgarden) and that all the sounds you hear on the album are made using only musical instruments and no samples. He told me they were relatively heavy, but considering I like heavy music this was no problem for me.
Here are some small band facts to set the scene for you. They were brought together by Rick Rubin who has had his hand in the success of many bands and musicians over the years. At one point the band nearly didn’t get it together due to quarrelling managers and record companies, but a compromise was finally reached which allowed them to move forwards and release the first album and form a group. Cornell was battling with drug problems during the making of the first album and used the project to find his feet after leaving Soundgarden and pursuing mixed success solo work. Later in their career they became the first American band to play in Cuba and at the time Morello insisted there was no political message to this, but that they were on an artistic cultural exchange, although the impact of their decision could never be ignored when RATM had been such a political band in the past. Anyway….
After the recommendation I went down on my lunch break and bought the album (as well as numerous other CD’s) and I remember slipping the disc into my CD player as I walked home and the raw, powerful intro to ‘Cochise’ washing over me. I was instantly hooked. I didn’t really know much Soundgarden stuff, so Cornells vocal style was new to me and to my ears suited the music perfectly. Heavier songs like ‘Gasoline’ are balanced with slightly gentler tracks like ‘Shadow on the Sun’ which has some incredible bass lines and overall it is solid album from start to finish.
Their first album is one of the rare gems where every track is outstanding and the CD didn’t leave my stereo at home or my portable CD player as I travelled too and from work, for weeks. It quickly became the music that coloured and influenced me during that summer and I happily passed on the recommendation to anyone who would listen. They managed to blend the power and rawness from RATM’s sound with Cornells distinctive vocals and come up with a sound that is instantly unique and compelling. There are some albums that set the time and place when you heard them so perfectly that every subsequent listen over the years instantly takes you back there. ‘Audioslave’ became such an album for me.
Over the bands life they made two other albums and whilst they are also good (‘Out of Exile’ especially developed the bands sound), they each have a different feel and for me don’t quite match the urgency and power of the first album. Whenever I play the album it reminds me of walking through London’s streets during the summer, feeing the heat from the pavements, watching groups of people drinking and laughing outside pubs, making my way home as it grew dark and having these songs as the soundtrack to my thoughts and feelings.
I came across many great bands through the sharing of music with work friends, but this is one of the albums that endures and even now, at the first sniff of summer, it comes out and I play it loud and proud.
