Audioslave
Encyclopedia
Audioslave was an American rock
supergroup
that formed in Los Angeles, California
in 2001. It consisted of former Soundgarden
lead singer/rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell
and the former instrumentalists of Rage Against the Machine
: Tom Morello
(guitar
), Tim Commerford
(bass
and backing vocals
) and Brad Wilk
(drums
). Critics initially described Audioslave as an amalgamation of Rage Against the Machine and Soundgarden, but by the band's second album, Out of Exile
, it was noted that they had established a separate identity.
The band's trademark sound was created by blending 1970s hard rock
with 1990s alternative rock
. Moreover, Morello incorporated his well-known, unconventional guitar solos into this mix. As with Rage Against the Machine, the band prided themselves on the fact that all sounds on their albums were produced using only guitar, bass, drums and vocals.
After Audioslave released three successful albums, received three Grammy
nominations, and became the first American rock band to perform an open-air concert in Cuba
, Cornell issued a statement in February 2007 announcing that he was permanently leaving the band "due to irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical differences." As the other three members were busy with the Rage Against the Machine reunion
, and Morello and Cornell had each released solo albums in 2007, Audioslave was officially disbanded.
announced he was leaving Rage Against the Machine
. This led to the band's breakup, but the remaining three members of the band decided to stay together and announced plans to continue with a new vocalist. Several vocalists jammed with the three, including B-Real
of Cypress Hill
, but they did not want another rapper
or anybody who sounded like de la Rocha. Music producer and friend Rick Rubin
later suggested that they play with Chris Cornell
, the ex-frontman of Soundgarden
. Rubin also persuaded the three of them to go into group therapy
with performance coach Phil Towle
after the breakup. Rubin was confident that with the right new voice Rage Against the Machine had the potential to become a better band; he believed "it could turn into a Yardbirds
-into-Led Zeppelin
scenario." Commerford later credited Rubin for being the catalyst that brought Audioslave together. He called him "the angel at the crossroads" because "if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here today."
The chemistry between Cornell and the other three was immediately apparent; as Morello described: "He stepped to the microphone and sang the song and I couldn't believe it. It didn't just sound good. It didn't sound great. It sounded transcendent. And...when there is an irreplaceable chemistry from the first moment, you can't deny it." The quartet wrote 21 songs during 19 days of rehearsal, and began working in the studio in late May 2001 with Rubin as producer, while sorting out the label and management issues.
as follows:
After the name was announced, it emerged that it was already being used by an unsigned band from Liverpool
. The two bands worked out a settlement, with Audioslave paying $30,000 in a deal that allowed each band to use the name. To avoid confusion, the Liverpool band would rename themselves "The Most Terrifying Thing."
The name was mocked by critics due to its uninspired nature, and was regarded as one of the worst in contemporary rock music, or even of all time. Pitchfork Media
called it the "most asinine bandname of the year," and Chuck Klosterman
of Spin
magazine chided it as "one of the dumbest band names in recent rock history."
, even though at that time the band had no official name or release date for their debut album. A few days later, reports surfaced that the band had broken up before they had played for a public audience. Cornell's manager confirmed that the frontman had left the band, with no explanation given. Under the name "Civilian" (or "The Civilian Project"), 13 rough rehearsal demo tracks were leaked onto peer-to-peer
filesharing networks in May 2002. According to Morello, the band was frustrated because the songs were not in their finished form and in some cases, "weren't even the same lyrics, guitar solos, performances of any kind."
Initial rumors suggested that Cornell took issue with having two managers actively involved in the project (Jim Guerinot of Rebel Waltz
represented Cornell, and Peter Mensch of Q Prime handled Rage Against the Machine). According to the band, however, the split was not triggered by personal conflicts, but by their quarreling managers. After the mixing of the album was finished, roughly six weeks later, the group reformed and simultaneously fired their former management companies and hired another, The Firm. Their previous labels, Epic
and Interscope
, settled their differences by agreeing to alternate who released the band's albums.
The band divulged their official name and launched their website in early September. The first single, "Cochise
," was posted online in late September, and was on the radio in early October. Critics praised Cornell's vocal style, a distinct departure from the rapping of de la Rocha, and found that "the former members of RAtM have gone and done a Paul Weller, retreating from the ground they broke back [to] the sounds that inspired them." Music video director Mark Romanek
shot a video for "Cochise," which shows the band playing atop a tower under construction in the midst of a giant fireworks display providing all the lighting. The firework explosions during filming prompted fears of a terrorist attack among residents living near Los Angeles
' Sepulveda Dam
, the shooting location.
The self-titled debut album, Audioslave
, was released on November 19, 2002, and entered the Billboard 200
chart at No. 7 after selling 162,000 copies in its first week. It was certified gold
by the RIAA within a month of release, and by 2006 achieved triple platinum status. It is the most successful Audioslave album to date, having sold more than three million copies in the United States alone. Despite its commercial success, Audioslave received mixed reviews. Some critics lambasted the group's effort as uninspired, and predictable. Pitchfork Media
praised Cornell's voice, but criticized virtually every other aspect of the album, deeming the lyrics "complete gibberish" and Rubin's production "a synthesized rock-like product that emits no heat." Other critics, however, praised the supergroup's style reminiscent of 1970s rock and compared it to Led Zeppelin
and Black Sabbath
, saying they added much-needed sound and style to contemporary mainstream rock.
Audioslave made their live debut on November 25, 2002, performing a brief concert on the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater
on Broadway
in New York City
for the Late Show with David Letterman
. This was the first time any band had appeared on Letterman's marquee. That year's KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas was their first official paying concert, in which the band played on the first night, December 7, 2002, after giving a secret club show the night before. Towards the end of the band's six-song set, Cornell told the audience, "These guys saved my life this year," and the show ended with his bandmates hugging him. Afterwards, asked to expand on his comments, he would say only that he had dragged the trio "through a trail of shit" in the past months.
During this time, there was a rumor that Cornell had checked himself into drug rehabilitation
. He later confirmed it in an interview with Metal Hammer
that was conducted from a clinic payphone. In a San Diego CityBEAT article, Cornell explained that he went through "a horrible personal crisis" during the making of the first record, staying in rehab for two months and separating from his wife. He credited Morello, Commerford and Wilk with helping him rebound from the difficult period. He dismissed the rumors about being in rehab for OxyContin or heroin, but when asked, offered only, "Various things. I'm not picky. Mainly for drinking."
"Like a Stone
," the second single from Audioslave, was released in early 2003. It was the highest-charting single from the album, peaking at number one on Billboard
s Mainstream Rock Tracks
and Modern Rock Tracks
charts. It was certified gold by the RIAA, making it Audioslave's most successful single ever. The music video for "Like a Stone
" was written and directed by Meiert Avis
. It was shot in the Los Angeles house where Hendrix wrote Purple Haze. The video uses negative space to invoke the memory of musicians past. The music video for the third single, "Show Me How to Live," was banned from MTV
, reportedly because it shows the band in a high-speed car chase running police cars and motorcycles off the road. The band's first DVD, Audioslave
, was released on July 29, 2003.
The band toured extensively worldwide in 2003, gaining positive reviews for their live performances, including at the revived Lollapalooza
.
" and Audioslave for "Best Rock Album
." They spent the rest of 2004 on break from touring and working on the second album. This gave Morello time to concentrate on his solo project, The Nightwatchman
, and also to take an active part in political activities. Cornell had time to focus on his personal life; after his divorce from his first wife was finalized, he married Vicky Karayiannis, a Paris
-based publicist he met during Audioslave's first European tour.
Work on a new album had started in 2003 during the Lollapalooza tour, and continued at the end of the year when band members entered the studio. Aside from writing new material, the band also had some leftover songs from the Audioslave sessions; according to Morello, they had "almost another album's worth of stuff [already done]." "Be Yourself
," the first single from the still-untitled album, was panned by some critics, who felt it was "limp, and the lyrics are bland and directionless." Nevertheless, it reached number one on the Mainstream and Modern Rock charts.
In April 2005, the band launched a club tour, which lasted until late May. Although on previous tours Audioslave occasionally played cover songs
, they deliberately avoided playing their former bands' songs to avoid using those songs as a "crutch" to "help sell and break Audioslave" as their aim was to establish the band as an "independent entity." After achieving that goal, they thought it was "time to own those histories," and began performing a selection of the two bands' most popular songs on the tour.
The second single, "Your Time Has Come
" was released through a unique promotion, lasting one week, which involved radio listeners around the world. Radio stations were asked to post a link on their websites to a special timed-out download of the song. Once one million people clicked on the link, the song was unlocked and became downloadable by all one million.
On May 6, 2005, Audioslave played a free show in Havana
, Cuba
, in front of an estimated 50,000 people at the La Tribuna Antiimperialista José Martí (José Martí
Anti-Imperialist Stand) venue, which was purpose-built in 2000 for mass protests against the U.S. government. Audioslave became the first American rock group to perform an open-air concert in the socialist republic of Cuba
. The band traveled to Havana—bringing along their camera crew—on May 4 to spend two days visiting historic sites and interacting with Cuban musicians and youngsters. Morello and the rest of the band insisted that the trip was not to make a political statement, but to take part in a musical cultural exchange. Cornell commented: "Hopefully, this concert will help to open the musical borders between our two countries." The trip was organized with the joint authorization of the United States Department of the Treasury
and the Instituto Cubano de la Musica (Cuban Institute of Music), as travel by U.S. citizens to Cuba is restricted, but the authorization arrived so late that the band had to cancel and postpone several confirmed dates of their U.S. tour. The 26-song-set concert—which included several Soundgarden
and Rage Against the Machine
songs—was the longest the band had ever played.
Out of Exile
was released internationally on May 23, 2005, then a day later in the U.S. It debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 chart, the only Audioslave album to reach this position. The following week, however, it dropped to number three, with a 62-percent sales decrease—consequently reaching platinum. Cornell admitted to writing his most personal songs ever on this album, influenced by the positive changes in his life since 2002. He also described the album as more varied than the debut and relying less on heavy guitar riffs.
The album was received more favorably than Audioslave's debut; critics noted Cornell's stronger vocals, likely the result of quitting smoking and drinking, and pointed out that Out of Exile is "the sound of a band coming into its own." Allmusic, which gave Audioslave a lukewarm review, praised the album as "lean, hard, strong, and memorable." The lyrics, however, were still a common complaint. MusicOMH.com wrote that Cornell's lyrics "continue to border on the ridiculous"; the album's softer, slower approach was frequently criticized as well.
Following the album's release, the band embarked on a European tour, performed at the Live 8
benefit concert in Berlin
on July 2, 2005, and played their first North American headlining arena tour from late September to November 2005. The music video for "Doesn't Remind Me
," the third single from Out of Exile, was posted online in September 2005. Audioslave's second DVD, Live in Cuba
, featuring the concert in Havana, was released on October 11, 2005. It was certified platinum in less than two months.
as producer.
Audioslave had 20 songs written and recorded 16 of those in only three weeks. However, the album's release date was postponed to early September, and the band cancelled their previously announced European tour, to have a new album to support, when they embarked on touring. The first single off the album, "Original Fire
," was made available online on Audioslave's official website for free streaming in early July.
News about Cornell's departure emerged in July 2006, when insiders stated that after the third album he would split for a solo career. The singer immediately denied the rumors, stating "We hear rumors that Audioslave is breaking up all the time. ... I always just ignore [them]." In the same interview, he also discussed his intentions to record a new solo album, the second in seven years, before the end of August.
A special marketing campaign
preceded the new album's release in August, when the art concept was featured on Google Earth
as a fictional utopian island, Audioslave Nation, created in the South Pacific
. Several songs from the upcoming album appeared on movie and video game soundtracks; "Wide Awake" and "Shape of Things to Come" were featured in Miami Vice
, while "Revelations" was on the soundtrack of Madden NFL 07
. Revelations was released on September 5, 2006. The album entered the Billboard 200 at #2 and sold 142,000 copies during its first week of release. It became the band's least commercially successful album; dropping even faster than Out of Exile, its sales were down 65 percent the following week, achieving gold certification a month later. The album showed funk, soul and R&B
influences that were non-existent for the band before; Morello referred to the new sound as "Led Zeppelin meets Earth, Wind & Fire
." Additionally, several songs took a more overtly liberal political stance than previous Audioslave releases.
The album received a similar critical response to Out of Exile with the majority of reviewers praising the band's integrity on the record. The new funk and soul influences were also welcomed favorably, Allmusic called the album Audioslave's "most colorful, diverse, and consistent record yet." Many others, however, saw it as "just another rock record," and musically not much different from the previous album.
Cornell decided to delay the Revelations tour until 2007, because he wanted to "let the album come out for awhile" and also concentrate on his second solo album. The rest of the band went along; Morello also revealed his plans to release his debut solo album in early 2007. The second, and final single from the album, "Revelations" was released in October 2006 with an accompanying music video a month later.
On January 22, 2007, Rage Against the Machine was announced to reunite for one show only, at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
, on April 29, 2007. Less than a month later, on February 15, 2007, Cornell officially announced his departure from Audioslave, issuing this statement:
He stated that, as far as he was concerned, Audioslave had disbanded, and that a greatest hits collection would be issued in the future, because of label commitments. The New York Post
reported that according to sources the split was not about "irresolvable personality conflicts" but about the money, a friend of Cornell said: "Chris was unhappy with the financial arrangement within the group—he wrote all the music, yet the other three bandmates took an equal share in the multimillion-dollar publishing rights."
Morello has said that he never officially heard and still has not heard from Cornell that he was leaving the group. Cornell countered: "Tom and I did have communications about the fact that I was gonna go make a record, and that I was tired of what ended up seeming like political negotiations toward how we were gonna do Audioslave business and getting nowhere with it." He also added that this process of "doing Audioslave business" led him to go solo.
Cornell admits that he has not spoken to the other members of Audioslave since the breakup. He has said that the breakup was not about money, but that he was just not getting along with the other members during their later years. Said Cornell, "Getting along as people is one thing. Getting along as a group of people that can work together in a band situation...We weren't particularly getting along well, no. Bands work in a way where everyone at some point has to have a similar idea of how you do things...Three albums into it, it started to seem like our interests weren't as conjoined anymore."
In 2011, Cornell revealed further information about the band's breakup; "Personally a lot of it was me trying to land on my feet again. I went through a lot of personal turmoil right around the time Audioslave formed and unfortunately I think that affected the band a little bit in terms of me not really being grounded.... I think there was stuff that could have been resolved, and there was drama that was probably unnecessary, typical rock band stuff. I certainly played a role in it. I definitely feel like I was part of a lot of unnecessary stuff. It didn’t need to become what it became. You learn with experience."
Both Soundgarden
and Rage Against the Machine
have reformed since Audioslave's breakup.
As opposed to de la Rocha's lyrics, Cornell's were mostly apolitical; Morello referred to them as "haunted, existential poetry." They were characterised by his cryptic approach, often dealing with themes of existentialism
, love, hedonism
, spirituality
and Christianity
.
Audioslave's first two albums drew influences from 1970s hard rock such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath and from the members' previous bands (the grunge
sound of Soundgarden and the funk metal
sound of Rage Against the Machine). For Revelations, which was influenced by 1960s and '70s funk, soul and R&B music, Morello used vintage guitars and amplifiers and Cornell adopted his "seventies funk and R&B-flavor vocals." The guitarist also cited Sly & the Family Stone
, James Brown
and Funkadelic
as a reason for the funk overtones on the album.
Just as Rage Against the Machine did, Audioslave also included the statement "All sounds made by guitar, bass, drums and vocals" in their albums' booklets as Morello's guitar work often caused listeners to believe that the band used samples
, synthesiser effects or different turntable techniques
to produce certain sounds.
" by Tom Morello.
The time spent on songwriting by the band was always short. They wrote 21 songs in 19 days for the first album and exceeded that rate for the second album by having a song or sometimes two written every day. This method was adopted for the third album as well.
Cornell's battle with drug addiction and alcoholism was a defining factor in the writing and recording process of the debut album. The singer admitted that he was "never able to write effectively" while drinking, and attended rehab after recording Audioslave. Although Morello stated that Revelations was "the first record [Cornell] didn't smoke, drink or take drugs through the recording," he later clarified his statement by saying: "Chris was stone sober during the making of our Out of Exile album. Chris was also sober during the making of Revelations and prior to recording he gave up smoking as well."
")—then later wrote an anti-war song, "Sound of a Gun," and what Morello called "the most political song Audioslave's ever written," "Wide Awake" for Revelations. "Wide Awake" was an attack on the Bush administration's failure to act over the consequences of Hurricane Katrina
.
The band was openly anti-Bush
and against the Iraq War from the beginning; on March 17, 2003, only hours after President Bush announced plans to invade Iraq, the band performed live in Hollywood with messages reading "How many Iraqis per gallon?" and "Somewhere in Texas
, a Village is Missing an Idiot," scrolled across the stage. The music video for "Doesn't Remind Me" was also critical of the Iraq war. Wilk called Bush "a fucking scam" in an interview, criticizing the Bush administration's rationale for war in Iraq.
During the time of the second album's release several politically-charged Rage Against the Machine songs resurfaced in Audioslave's live set. Although the members committed to not making political statements during their Cuba tour, Commerford stated in an interview that the concert made Audioslave more politically active than Rage Against the Machine ever was. While in Cuba, Cornell said that he takes "every aspect of human life" into consideration, when it comes to writing lyrics, and that he would write about the experience in a song, or more songs. This culminated in the political influences on Revelations, although he did not write about Cuba specifically. He asserted that he felt Audioslave can be a band like U2
, which is "not overtly political, but Bono
gets a lot done." That year, the band played at two more concerts organized to raise political awareness: Live 8
, which aimed to end global poverty, and the Hurricane Katrina benefit concert, ReAct Now: Music & Relief
.
Audioslave was prominently involved in the Axis of Justice
, a non-profit organization formed by Tom Morello and System of a Down
's Serj Tankian
to "bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots
political organizations to fight for social justice
." Axis of Justice tents were set up at almost every Audioslave show, and with the exception of Commerford all band members appeared on the Concert Series Volume 1
CD/DVD charity album released in 2004.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
supergroup
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
that formed in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
in 2001. It consisted of former Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
lead singer/rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell
Chris Cornell
Chris Cornell is an American rock musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Soundgarden and as the former lead vocalist for Audioslave. He is also known for his numerous solo works and soundtrack contributions since 1998...
and the former instrumentalists of Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...
: Tom Morello
Tom Morello
Thomas Baptiste "Tom" Morello is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist best known for his tenure with the bands Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, his acoustic solo act The Nightwatchman, and his newest group, Street Sweeper Social Club...
(guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
), Tim Commerford
Tim Commerford
Timothy Robert Commerford , also known by his various monikers/stage names is the bassist/backing vocalist for American alternative metal band Rage Against The Machine and the now-defunct supergroup Audioslave.-Biography:Tim Commerford was born on February...
(bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and backing vocals
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
) and Brad Wilk
Brad Wilk
Brad Wilk is an American musician, best known as the drummer of the American rock bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave.-Family and early life:...
(drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
). Critics initially described Audioslave as an amalgamation of Rage Against the Machine and Soundgarden, but by the band's second album, Out of Exile
Out of Exile
Out of Exile is the second studio album by the American rock supergroup Audioslave, first released on May 23, 2005 internationally and a day later in the United States. It is the band's only number one album on the Billboard 200. Four singles were released: "Be Yourself", "Your Time Has Come",...
, it was noted that they had established a separate identity.
The band's trademark sound was created by blending 1970s hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
with 1990s alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
. Moreover, Morello incorporated his well-known, unconventional guitar solos into this mix. As with Rage Against the Machine, the band prided themselves on the fact that all sounds on their albums were produced using only guitar, bass, drums and vocals.
After Audioslave released three successful albums, received three Grammy
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nominations, and became the first American rock band to perform an open-air concert in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Cornell issued a statement in February 2007 announcing that he was permanently leaving the band "due to irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical differences." As the other three members were busy with the Rage Against the Machine reunion
Rage Against the Machine reunion tour
-Songs played:*Testify*Bulls on Parade*People of the Sun*Bombtrack*Know Your Enemy*Bullet in the Head*Born Of A Broken Man*Clampdown *Vietnow*Without A FacePlayed once in Portugal.*Down Rodeo*Kick Out the Jams...
, and Morello and Cornell had each released solo albums in 2007, Audioslave was officially disbanded.
Formation (2000–2002)
Audioslave's history dates back to October 18, 2000, when lead vocalist Zack de la RochaZack de la Rocha
Zacarías Manuel "Zack" de la Rocha is an American rapper, musician, poet, and activist best known as the vocalist and lyricist of Rage Against the Machine.-Early life and childhood:...
announced he was leaving Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...
. This led to the band's breakup, but the remaining three members of the band decided to stay together and announced plans to continue with a new vocalist. Several vocalists jammed with the three, including B-Real
B-Real
Louis Freese, better known by his stage name B-Real, is an American rapper of Cuban and Mexican heritage, and a film and TV actor...
of Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. Cypress Hill was the first Latino hip-hop group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums, selling over 18 million albums worldwide...
, but they did not want another rapper
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
or anybody who sounded like de la Rocha. Music producer and friend Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin
Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings...
later suggested that they play with Chris Cornell
Chris Cornell
Chris Cornell is an American rock musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Soundgarden and as the former lead vocalist for Audioslave. He is also known for his numerous solo works and soundtrack contributions since 1998...
, the ex-frontman of Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
. Rubin also persuaded the three of them to go into group therapy
Group therapy
Group psychotherapy or group therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which one or more therapists treat a small group of clients together as a group...
with performance coach Phil Towle
Phil Towle
Phil Towle is a self-titled "Performance Enhancement Coach" most notable for his work with the heavy metal band Metallica, lead singer/guitarist James Hetfield, as shown in the documentary Some Kind of Monster. In it, he is shown working with the band through the process of the loss of longtime...
after the breakup. Rubin was confident that with the right new voice Rage Against the Machine had the potential to become a better band; he believed "it could turn into a Yardbirds
The Yardbirds
- Current :* Chris Dreja - rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Jim McCarty - drums, backing vocals * Ben King - lead guitar * David Smale - bass, backing vocals...
-into-Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
scenario." Commerford later credited Rubin for being the catalyst that brought Audioslave together. He called him "the angel at the crossroads" because "if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here today."
The chemistry between Cornell and the other three was immediately apparent; as Morello described: "He stepped to the microphone and sang the song and I couldn't believe it. It didn't just sound good. It didn't sound great. It sounded transcendent. And...when there is an irreplaceable chemistry from the first moment, you can't deny it." The quartet wrote 21 songs during 19 days of rehearsal, and began working in the studio in late May 2001 with Rubin as producer, while sorting out the label and management issues.
Name
The original idea for the band's name was "Civilian," but it was dropped when members found out that it was already taken. Morello later discredited the story, contradicting Commerford and Cornell, and commented that "Civilian" was merely a rumor circulating at the time. He stated: "The band has only ever had one name, and that is Audioslave." Morello described the origin of the "Audioslave" name to LAUNCHcastLAUNCHcast
Yahoo! Music Radio is an Internet radio service offered by CBS Radio through Yahoo! Music. The service, formerly offered by LAUNCH Media, and originally developed by Todd Beaupré and Jeff Boulter, debuted on November 11, 1999, and was purchased by Yahoo! in October, 2001...
as follows:
That was Chris's suggestion that sort of came to him in a vision. We're all on the two-way pagers, and Chris one night said, "I got it. It's Audioslave." We were all, like, "All right, fantastic." ... To paraphrase Elvis CostelloElvis CostelloElvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, talking about band names is like dancing about architecture—there's just no point in it because the band name becomes the music and the people.
After the name was announced, it emerged that it was already being used by an unsigned band from Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. The two bands worked out a settlement, with Audioslave paying $30,000 in a deal that allowed each band to use the name. To avoid confusion, the Liverpool band would rename themselves "The Most Terrifying Thing."
The name was mocked by critics due to its uninspired nature, and was regarded as one of the worst in contemporary rock music, or even of all time. Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
called it the "most asinine bandname of the year," and Chuck Klosterman
Chuck Klosterman
Charles John "Chuck" Klosterman is an American author and essayist who has written for The New York Times Magazine, The Believer, and The Washington Post, and has written books focusing on American popular culture....
of Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
magazine chided it as "one of the dumbest band names in recent rock history."
Audioslave (2002–2003)
On March 19, 2002, Audioslave was confirmed for the seventh annual OzzfestOzzfest
Ozzfest is an annual festival tour of the United States featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon Osbourne, both of whom also organize each yearly tour with their son Jack Osbourne...
, even though at that time the band had no official name or release date for their debut album. A few days later, reports surfaced that the band had broken up before they had played for a public audience. Cornell's manager confirmed that the frontman had left the band, with no explanation given. Under the name "Civilian" (or "The Civilian Project"), 13 rough rehearsal demo tracks were leaked onto peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
filesharing networks in May 2002. According to Morello, the band was frustrated because the songs were not in their finished form and in some cases, "weren't even the same lyrics, guitar solos, performances of any kind."
Initial rumors suggested that Cornell took issue with having two managers actively involved in the project (Jim Guerinot of Rebel Waltz
Rebel Waltz Recording Co.
Rebel Waltz Recording Co. is a recording studio based in Franklin, Tennessee run by Ethan Luck and Daniel Spencer . Rebel Waltz Recording Co. started in September 2006...
represented Cornell, and Peter Mensch of Q Prime handled Rage Against the Machine). According to the band, however, the split was not triggered by personal conflicts, but by their quarreling managers. After the mixing of the album was finished, roughly six weeks later, the group reformed and simultaneously fired their former management companies and hired another, The Firm. Their previous labels, Epic
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
and Interscope
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...
, settled their differences by agreeing to alternate who released the band's albums.
The band divulged their official name and launched their website in early September. The first single, "Cochise
Cochise (song)
"Cochise" is the first single by Audioslave for their eponymous debut album released in 2002. The single was released with a white and a black cover...
," was posted online in late September, and was on the radio in early October. Critics praised Cornell's vocal style, a distinct departure from the rapping of de la Rocha, and found that "the former members of RAtM have gone and done a Paul Weller, retreating from the ground they broke back [to] the sounds that inspired them." Music video director Mark Romanek
Mark Romanek
Mark Romanek is an American filmmaker, whose directing work includes feature films, music videos and commercials.He wrote and directed the critically acclaimed 2002 film One Hour Photo starring Robin Williams...
shot a video for "Cochise," which shows the band playing atop a tower under construction in the midst of a giant fireworks display providing all the lighting. The firework explosions during filming prompted fears of a terrorist attack among residents living near Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
' Sepulveda Dam
Sepulveda Dam
Located in Los Angeles, California, the Sepulveda Dam is a project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, built in 1941 to withhold winter flood waters along the Los Angeles River...
, the shooting location.
The self-titled debut album, Audioslave
Audioslave (album)
Audioslave is the eponymous debut studio album by the American rock supergroup Audioslave and was released on November 19, 2002 . The album's music features Chris Cornell providing his familiar classic rock-esque wails and croons to the songs. It features the hit singles "Cochise", "Show Me How to...
, was released on November 19, 2002, and entered the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart at No. 7 after selling 162,000 copies in its first week. It was certified gold
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
by the RIAA within a month of release, and by 2006 achieved triple platinum status. It is the most successful Audioslave album to date, having sold more than three million copies in the United States alone. Despite its commercial success, Audioslave received mixed reviews. Some critics lambasted the group's effort as uninspired, and predictable. Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
praised Cornell's voice, but criticized virtually every other aspect of the album, deeming the lyrics "complete gibberish" and Rubin's production "a synthesized rock-like product that emits no heat." Other critics, however, praised the supergroup's style reminiscent of 1970s rock and compared it to Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
and Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
, saying they added much-needed sound and style to contemporary mainstream rock.
Audioslave made their live debut on November 25, 2002, performing a brief concert on the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater
Ed Sullivan Theater
The Ed Sullivan Theater, located at 1697-1699 Broadway between West 53rd and West 54th, in Manhattan, is a venerable radio and television studio in New York City...
on Broadway
Broadway (New York City)
Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
for the Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman is a U.S. late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show's music director and band-leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is...
. This was the first time any band had appeared on Letterman's marquee. That year's KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas was their first official paying concert, in which the band played on the first night, December 7, 2002, after giving a secret club show the night before. Towards the end of the band's six-song set, Cornell told the audience, "These guys saved my life this year," and the show ended with his bandmates hugging him. Afterwards, asked to expand on his comments, he would say only that he had dragged the trio "through a trail of shit" in the past months.
During this time, there was a rumor that Cornell had checked himself into drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...
. He later confirmed it in an interview with Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer is a monthly heavy metal music magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and in several other countries by different publishers. Metal Hammer articles feature both mainstream bands and more unusual acts from the whole spectrum of heavy metal music...
that was conducted from a clinic payphone. In a San Diego CityBEAT article, Cornell explained that he went through "a horrible personal crisis" during the making of the first record, staying in rehab for two months and separating from his wife. He credited Morello, Commerford and Wilk with helping him rebound from the difficult period. He dismissed the rumors about being in rehab for OxyContin or heroin, but when asked, offered only, "Various things. I'm not picky. Mainly for drinking."
"Like a Stone
Like a Stone
"Like a Stone" is a song by American hard rock band Audioslave, featured on their 2002 debut studio album Audioslave. When released as the band's second single in January 2003, the song topped both the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks and Hot Modern Rock Tracks charts, and reached number...
," the second single from Audioslave, was released in early 2003. It was the highest-charting single from the album, peaking at number one on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s Mainstream Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock Tracks
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...
and Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
charts. It was certified gold by the RIAA, making it Audioslave's most successful single ever. The music video for "Like a Stone
Like a Stone
"Like a Stone" is a song by American hard rock band Audioslave, featured on their 2002 debut studio album Audioslave. When released as the band's second single in January 2003, the song topped both the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks and Hot Modern Rock Tracks charts, and reached number...
" was written and directed by Meiert Avis
Meiert Avis
Meiert Avis is an Irish music video and commercial director. Avis has directed videos for artists such as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Avril Lavigne, Jennifer Lopez, New Found Glory and Josh Groban amongst many others....
. It was shot in the Los Angeles house where Hendrix wrote Purple Haze. The video uses negative space to invoke the memory of musicians past. The music video for the third single, "Show Me How to Live," was banned from MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, reportedly because it shows the band in a high-speed car chase running police cars and motorcycles off the road. The band's first DVD, Audioslave
Audioslave (DVD)
Audioslave is the name of a DVD EP by American rock supergroup Audioslave, released in 2003. It contains the three videos the band had made up to that point, "Cochise", directed by Mark Romanek, "Like a Stone", directed by Meiert Avis, and "Show Me How to Live", directed by Richard C. Sarafian...
, was released on July 29, 2003.
The band toured extensively worldwide in 2003, gaining positive reviews for their live performances, including at the revived Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...
.
Out of Exile (2004–2005)
In 2004, Audioslave was among the nominees for the 46th Grammy Awards: "Like a Stone" was nominated for "Best Hard Rock PerformanceGrammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance was an award presented to recording artists at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, for works containing quality performances in the hard rock music genre...
" and Audioslave for "Best Rock Album
Grammy Award for Best Rock Album
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the rock music genre...
." They spent the rest of 2004 on break from touring and working on the second album. This gave Morello time to concentrate on his solo project, The Nightwatchman
The Nightwatchman
The Nightwatchman is the alter-ego and solo act of Rage Against the Machine, Street Sweeper Social Club and former Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello...
, and also to take an active part in political activities. Cornell had time to focus on his personal life; after his divorce from his first wife was finalized, he married Vicky Karayiannis, a Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
-based publicist he met during Audioslave's first European tour.
Work on a new album had started in 2003 during the Lollapalooza tour, and continued at the end of the year when band members entered the studio. Aside from writing new material, the band also had some leftover songs from the Audioslave sessions; according to Morello, they had "almost another album's worth of stuff [already done]." "Be Yourself
Be Yourself (Audioslave song)
"Be Yourself" is the first single by Audioslave for their second album Out of Exile. It was released in 2005. The song topped the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for seven weeks and the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart for four weeks in 2005....
," the first single from the still-untitled album, was panned by some critics, who felt it was "limp, and the lyrics are bland and directionless." Nevertheless, it reached number one on the Mainstream and Modern Rock charts.
In April 2005, the band launched a club tour, which lasted until late May. Although on previous tours Audioslave occasionally played cover songs
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
, they deliberately avoided playing their former bands' songs to avoid using those songs as a "crutch" to "help sell and break Audioslave" as their aim was to establish the band as an "independent entity." After achieving that goal, they thought it was "time to own those histories," and began performing a selection of the two bands' most popular songs on the tour.
The second single, "Your Time Has Come
Your Time Has Come
"Your Time Has Come" is the second single by the American hard rock band Audioslave from their second album Out of Exile. It was released in 2005.The song is featured on the Soundtrack of the game FlatOut 2.-Song meaning:...
" was released through a unique promotion, lasting one week, which involved radio listeners around the world. Radio stations were asked to post a link on their websites to a special timed-out download of the song. Once one million people clicked on the link, the song was unlocked and became downloadable by all one million.
On May 6, 2005, Audioslave played a free show in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, in front of an estimated 50,000 people at the La Tribuna Antiimperialista José Martí (José Martí
José Martí
José Julián Martí Pérez was a Cuban national hero and an important figure in Latin American literature. In his short life he was a poet, an essayist, a journalist, a revolutionary philosopher, a translator, a professor, a publisher, and a political theorist. He was also a part of the Cuban...
Anti-Imperialist Stand) venue, which was purpose-built in 2000 for mass protests against the U.S. government. Audioslave became the first American rock group to perform an open-air concert in the socialist republic of Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. The band traveled to Havana—bringing along their camera crew—on May 4 to spend two days visiting historic sites and interacting with Cuban musicians and youngsters. Morello and the rest of the band insisted that the trip was not to make a political statement, but to take part in a musical cultural exchange. Cornell commented: "Hopefully, this concert will help to open the musical borders between our two countries." The trip was organized with the joint authorization of the United States Department of the Treasury
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
and the Instituto Cubano de la Musica (Cuban Institute of Music), as travel by U.S. citizens to Cuba is restricted, but the authorization arrived so late that the band had to cancel and postpone several confirmed dates of their U.S. tour. The 26-song-set concert—which included several Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
and Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...
songs—was the longest the band had ever played.
Out of Exile
Out of Exile
Out of Exile is the second studio album by the American rock supergroup Audioslave, first released on May 23, 2005 internationally and a day later in the United States. It is the band's only number one album on the Billboard 200. Four singles were released: "Be Yourself", "Your Time Has Come",...
was released internationally on May 23, 2005, then a day later in the U.S. It debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 chart, the only Audioslave album to reach this position. The following week, however, it dropped to number three, with a 62-percent sales decrease—consequently reaching platinum. Cornell admitted to writing his most personal songs ever on this album, influenced by the positive changes in his life since 2002. He also described the album as more varied than the debut and relying less on heavy guitar riffs.
The album was received more favorably than Audioslave's debut; critics noted Cornell's stronger vocals, likely the result of quitting smoking and drinking, and pointed out that Out of Exile is "the sound of a band coming into its own." Allmusic, which gave Audioslave a lukewarm review, praised the album as "lean, hard, strong, and memorable." The lyrics, however, were still a common complaint. MusicOMH.com wrote that Cornell's lyrics "continue to border on the ridiculous"; the album's softer, slower approach was frequently criticized as well.
Following the album's release, the band embarked on a European tour, performed at the Live 8
Live 8
Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from 6–8 July 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid...
benefit concert in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
on July 2, 2005, and played their first North American headlining arena tour from late September to November 2005. The music video for "Doesn't Remind Me
Doesn't Remind Me
"Doesn't Remind Me" is the third single from American hard rock band Audioslave's second album Out of Exile. It was released on May 24, 2005, in the United States, and was nominated for "Best Hard Rock Performance" at the 48th Grammy Awards...
," the third single from Out of Exile, was posted online in September 2005. Audioslave's second DVD, Live in Cuba
Live in Cuba
Live in Cuba is the first live DVD of the American rock supergroup Audioslave, containing footage of the free concert that the band performed in Cuba in front of over 70,000 people. The concert itself is considered to be an historical event, as it marks the first time in Cuban history that an...
, featuring the concert in Havana, was released on October 11, 2005. It was certified platinum in less than two months.
Revelations and breakup (2006–2007)
In December 2005, Audioslave received its third Grammy nomination at the 48th Grammy Awards in the "Best Hard Rock Performance" category for "Doesn't Remind Me." Audioslave began recording their next album; Cornell had already expressed his desire to make "an album every year or year-and-a-half" even before Out of Exile was released. In early July 2005, after the conclusion of the European tour, the band returned to the studio to write new songs; Morello said their aim was to "blur the lines between rehearsing, recording and touring." The actual recording began in January 2006, with plans to release the album, Revelations in June. This time, the band chose Out of Exiles mixer, Brendan O'BrienBrendan O'Brien (music producer)
Brendan O’Brien is a record producer, mixer, engineer, and musician.At age 14, O'Brien played guitar for the Atlanta-based cover band Pranks. In the late 1970s, he moved on to writing, performing and recording with the Samurai Catfish band...
as producer.
Audioslave had 20 songs written and recorded 16 of those in only three weeks. However, the album's release date was postponed to early September, and the band cancelled their previously announced European tour, to have a new album to support, when they embarked on touring. The first single off the album, "Original Fire
Original Fire
"Original Fire" is the first single from the album Revelations by American hard rock band Audioslave. The song debuted on radio stations on July 17, 2006 and the single itself was released on August 28, 2006....
," was made available online on Audioslave's official website for free streaming in early July.
News about Cornell's departure emerged in July 2006, when insiders stated that after the third album he would split for a solo career. The singer immediately denied the rumors, stating "We hear rumors that Audioslave is breaking up all the time. ... I always just ignore [them]." In the same interview, he also discussed his intentions to record a new solo album, the second in seven years, before the end of August.
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
preceded the new album's release in August, when the art concept was featured on Google Earth
Google Earth
Google Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence Agency funded company acquired by Google in 2004 . It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite...
as a fictional utopian island, Audioslave Nation, created in the South Pacific
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
. Several songs from the upcoming album appeared on movie and video game soundtracks; "Wide Awake" and "Shape of Things to Come" were featured in Miami Vice
Miami Vice (film)
Miami Vice is a 2006 American crime drama film about two Miami police detectives, Crockett and Tubbs, who go undercover to fight drug trafficking operations. The film is a loose adaptation of the 1980s TV series of the same name, written, produced, and directed by Michael Mann...
, while "Revelations" was on the soundtrack of Madden NFL 07
Madden NFL 07
Madden NFL 07 is the 2007 edition of the popular Madden NFL series. It is the first in the video game series to be released for the PlayStation 3 and Wii consoles. Former Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander is on the cover.-Features:...
. Revelations was released on September 5, 2006. The album entered the Billboard 200 at #2 and sold 142,000 copies during its first week of release. It became the band's least commercially successful album; dropping even faster than Out of Exile, its sales were down 65 percent the following week, achieving gold certification a month later. The album showed funk, soul and R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
influences that were non-existent for the band before; Morello referred to the new sound as "Led Zeppelin meets Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire is an American soul and R&B band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969 by Verdine and Maurice White. Also known as EWF, the band has won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. They have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of...
." Additionally, several songs took a more overtly liberal political stance than previous Audioslave releases.
The album received a similar critical response to Out of Exile with the majority of reviewers praising the band's integrity on the record. The new funk and soul influences were also welcomed favorably, Allmusic called the album Audioslave's "most colorful, diverse, and consistent record yet." Many others, however, saw it as "just another rock record," and musically not much different from the previous album.
Cornell decided to delay the Revelations tour until 2007, because he wanted to "let the album come out for awhile" and also concentrate on his second solo album. The rest of the band went along; Morello also revealed his plans to release his debut solo album in early 2007. The second, and final single from the album, "Revelations" was released in October 2006 with an accompanying music video a month later.
On January 22, 2007, Rage Against the Machine was announced to reunite for one show only, at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is a three-day annual music and arts festival, organized by Goldenvoice and held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley...
, on April 29, 2007. Less than a month later, on February 15, 2007, Cornell officially announced his departure from Audioslave, issuing this statement:
Due to irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical differences, I am permanently leaving the band Audioslave. I wish the other three members nothing but the best in all of their future endeavors.
He stated that, as far as he was concerned, Audioslave had disbanded, and that a greatest hits collection would be issued in the future, because of label commitments. The New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
reported that according to sources the split was not about "irresolvable personality conflicts" but about the money, a friend of Cornell said: "Chris was unhappy with the financial arrangement within the group—he wrote all the music, yet the other three bandmates took an equal share in the multimillion-dollar publishing rights."
Morello has said that he never officially heard and still has not heard from Cornell that he was leaving the group. Cornell countered: "Tom and I did have communications about the fact that I was gonna go make a record, and that I was tired of what ended up seeming like political negotiations toward how we were gonna do Audioslave business and getting nowhere with it." He also added that this process of "doing Audioslave business" led him to go solo.
Cornell admits that he has not spoken to the other members of Audioslave since the breakup. He has said that the breakup was not about money, but that he was just not getting along with the other members during their later years. Said Cornell, "Getting along as people is one thing. Getting along as a group of people that can work together in a band situation...We weren't particularly getting along well, no. Bands work in a way where everyone at some point has to have a similar idea of how you do things...Three albums into it, it started to seem like our interests weren't as conjoined anymore."
In 2011, Cornell revealed further information about the band's breakup; "Personally a lot of it was me trying to land on my feet again. I went through a lot of personal turmoil right around the time Audioslave formed and unfortunately I think that affected the band a little bit in terms of me not really being grounded.... I think there was stuff that could have been resolved, and there was drama that was probably unnecessary, typical rock band stuff. I certainly played a role in it. I definitely feel like I was part of a lot of unnecessary stuff. It didn’t need to become what it became. You learn with experience."
Both Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
and Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...
have reformed since Audioslave's breakup.
Musical style and influences
By combining '70s style hard rock riffing with alternative rock, Audioslave created a distinctive sound. This mix was driven by Cornell's wide vocal range, Morello's innovative guitar solos and the rhythm section of Wilk and Commerford. Morello, although stating he "never felt musically limited" in Rage Against the Machine, did say that he had "a lot more scope to explore with Audioslave" and a "wider musical territory." This meant that the instrumentalists had the opportunity to write slow and melodic songs, something they had not done before.As opposed to de la Rocha's lyrics, Cornell's were mostly apolitical; Morello referred to them as "haunted, existential poetry." They were characterised by his cryptic approach, often dealing with themes of existentialism
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
, love, hedonism
Hedonism
Hedonism is a school of thought which argues that pleasure is the only intrinsic good. In very simple terms, a hedonist strives to maximize net pleasure .-Etymology:The name derives from the Greek word for "delight" ....
, spirituality
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
and Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
.
Audioslave's first two albums drew influences from 1970s hard rock such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath and from the members' previous bands (the grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
sound of Soundgarden and the funk metal
Funk metal
Funk metal is a subgenre of funk rock that fuses elements of heavy metal and funk. Allmusic has claimed that "funk metal evolved in the mid-'80s when alternative bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Faith No More, Infectious Grooves, Mordred and Fishbone began playing the hybrid with a stronger...
sound of Rage Against the Machine). For Revelations, which was influenced by 1960s and '70s funk, soul and R&B music, Morello used vintage guitars and amplifiers and Cornell adopted his "seventies funk and R&B-flavor vocals." The guitarist also cited Sly & the Family Stone
Sly & the Family Stone
Sly and the Family Stone were an American rock, funk, and soul band from San Francisco, California. Active from 1966 to 1983, the band was pivotal in the development of soul, funk, and psychedelic music...
, James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
and Funkadelic
Funkadelic
Funkadelic was an American band most prominent during the 1970s. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, began the funk music culture of that decade.-History:...
as a reason for the funk overtones on the album.
Just as Rage Against the Machine did, Audioslave also included the statement "All sounds made by guitar, bass, drums and vocals" in their albums' booklets as Morello's guitar work often caused listeners to believe that the band used samples
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
, synthesiser effects or different turntable techniques
Turntablism
Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using phonograph turntables and a DJ mixer.The word 'turntablist' was coined in 1995 by DJ Babu to describe the difference between a DJ who just plays records, and one who performs by touching and moving the records, stylus and mixer...
to produce certain sounds.
Songwriting and recording process
All of Audioslave's lyrics were written by Cornell, while all four members—as a band—were credited with writing the music. Their songwriting process was described by Wilk as "more collaborative" and "satisfying" than Rage Against the Machine's, which was "a battle creatively." Cornell also felt the same way; he saw Soundgarden's songwriting method inferior to Audioslave's. Rick Rubin, producer of the band's first two albums, was also lauded as "a great collaborative partner" and was likened to "the fifth BeatleFifth Beatle
The Fifth Beatle is an informal title that various commentators in the press and entertainment industry have applied to persons who were at one point a member of The Beatles, or who had a strong association with the "Fab Four" during the group's existence...
" by Tom Morello.
The time spent on songwriting by the band was always short. They wrote 21 songs in 19 days for the first album and exceeded that rate for the second album by having a song or sometimes two written every day. This method was adopted for the third album as well.
Cornell's battle with drug addiction and alcoholism was a defining factor in the writing and recording process of the debut album. The singer admitted that he was "never able to write effectively" while drinking, and attended rehab after recording Audioslave. Although Morello stated that Revelations was "the first record [Cornell] didn't smoke, drink or take drugs through the recording," he later clarified his statement by saying: "Chris was stone sober during the making of our Out of Exile album. Chris was also sober during the making of Revelations and prior to recording he gave up smoking as well."
Politics
While Rage Against the Machine's music was politically influenced, Audioslave's originally was not. Cornell stated he did not want to become the new singer of Rage Against the Machine or any political band, but he would play benefits the other band members wanted to play. Despite his reluctance to write political lyrics, he himself never discounted the possibility; he already touched upon political issues in Audioslaves "Set It Off"—a song inspired by 1999's WTO riots (the "Battle of SeattleWTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity
Protest activity surrounding the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, which was to be the launch of a new millennial round of trade negotiations, occurred on November 30, 1999 , when the World Trade Organization convened at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Washington,...
")—then later wrote an anti-war song, "Sound of a Gun," and what Morello called "the most political song Audioslave's ever written," "Wide Awake" for Revelations. "Wide Awake" was an attack on the Bush administration's failure to act over the consequences of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
.
The band was openly anti-Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
and against the Iraq War from the beginning; on March 17, 2003, only hours after President Bush announced plans to invade Iraq, the band performed live in Hollywood with messages reading "How many Iraqis per gallon?" and "Somewhere in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, a Village is Missing an Idiot," scrolled across the stage. The music video for "Doesn't Remind Me" was also critical of the Iraq war. Wilk called Bush "a fucking scam" in an interview, criticizing the Bush administration's rationale for war in Iraq.
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, which is "not overtly political, but Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
gets a lot done." That year, the band played at two more concerts organized to raise political awareness: Live 8
Live 8
Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from 6–8 July 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid...
, which aimed to end global poverty, and the Hurricane Katrina benefit concert, ReAct Now: Music & Relief
ReAct Now: Music & Relief
ReAct Now: Music & Relief was a four and a half hour long benefit concert which aired on September 10, 2005. MTV, VH1, CMT, MTV2, MTVU, VH1 Classic and The N broadcast the concert, which raised about $30 million for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts via the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army,...
.
Audioslave was prominently involved in the Axis of Justice
Axis of Justice
Axis of Justice is a non-profit organization co-founded by Serj Tankian and Tom Morello. Its purpose is to bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots progressivism to fight for social justice together.-Formation:...
, a non-profit organization formed by Tom Morello and System of a Down
System of a Down
System of a Down, also known by the acronym SOAD and often shortened to System, is a rock band from Southern California. The band was formed in 1994. It consists of Serj Tankian , Daron Malakian , Shavo Odadjian and John Dolmayan...
's Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American singer–songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, playwright, record producer, poet, and political activist...
to "bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots
Grassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
political organizations to fight for social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
." Axis of Justice tents were set up at almost every Audioslave show, and with the exception of Commerford all band members appeared on the Concert Series Volume 1
Concert Series Volume 1
Axis of Justice: Concert Series Volume 1 is a live CD/DVD by various artists in support of the Axis of Justice organization.-Track listing:Audio: *Interview with Michael Moore...
CD/DVD charity album released in 2004.
Band members
- Chris CornellChris CornellChris Cornell is an American rock musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Soundgarden and as the former lead vocalist for Audioslave. He is also known for his numerous solo works and soundtrack contributions since 1998...
- lead vocals, additional guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Tom MorelloTom MorelloThomas Baptiste "Tom" Morello is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist best known for his tenure with the bands Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, his acoustic solo act The Nightwatchman, and his newest group, Street Sweeper Social Club...
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Tim CommerfordTim CommerfordTimothy Robert Commerford , also known by his various monikers/stage names is the bassist/backing vocalist for American alternative metal band Rage Against The Machine and the now-defunct supergroup Audioslave.-Biography:Tim Commerford was born on February...
- bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals - Brad WilkBrad WilkBrad Wilk is an American musician, best known as the drummer of the American rock bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave.-Family and early life:...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussion
Discography
- AudioslaveAudioslave (album)Audioslave is the eponymous debut studio album by the American rock supergroup Audioslave and was released on November 19, 2002 . The album's music features Chris Cornell providing his familiar classic rock-esque wails and croons to the songs. It features the hit singles "Cochise", "Show Me How to...
(2002) - Out of ExileOut of ExileOut of Exile is the second studio album by the American rock supergroup Audioslave, first released on May 23, 2005 internationally and a day later in the United States. It is the band's only number one album on the Billboard 200. Four singles were released: "Be Yourself", "Your Time Has Come",...
(2005) - Revelations (2006)