17 December 2006

Music : Album Review 006-009 (Chris Cornell Special)

4 great, must-have Chris Cornell albums reviewed here.. Read on.

Album Review 006 : Chris Cornell - Unplugged In Sweden

Oh my god! I could not stop listening to this album. I love it so much I listened to it everywhere. I got it on rotation in my office PC and I think I'm starting to annoy some people in the office. They started asking me 'Who the hell is that guy screaming on your speakers? Enuff already!!'. Well sorry folks, I can't get enough.

Got to be one of the best live acoustic album ever produced, Cornell did this acoustic set in Sweden on September 7 in a bar with about 150 people in attendance. Not only does he treat the audience to new Audioslave material (since released), he perfoms some acoustic gems from Soundgarden and Temple of the Dog. I am also a huge fan of cover songs, and this performance does not disappoint. Cornell has one of the most amazing rock voices and gives us great interpretations of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song," Elvis Costello's "(What's so Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding," and Led Zeppelin's "Thank You,".

I simply love the acoustic take on "Fell on Black Days" and "Blackhole Sun". But the one standout track in this album is Cornell's amazing cover of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean". Yes, Billie Jean. Cornell sang it with so much emotion and intensity that by the time he belted the chorus, you would tend to forget the original version. I had to admit, I never really listen to the lyrics of Billie Jean before, but after hearing Cornell's version, I now understand the meaning of the song. Cornell told MTV News that his upcoming second solo studio LP will feature this Michael Jackson's cover. Can't wait for that. But for now, if you're a Cornell fan you have to check this album out. The sweet sound of nothing except Chris Cornell's voice and his guitar. Brilliant.

Track Listing :
01 Doesn't Remind Me (Audioslave)
02 Like A Stone (Audioslave)
03 Wide Awake (Audioslave)
04 Fell On Black Days (Soundgarden)
05 Be Yourself (Audioslave)
06 Billie Jean (Michael Jackson)
07 Original Fire (Audioslave)
08 Redemption Song (Bob Marley)
09 (What's So Funny 'bout) Peace, Love and Understanding? (Elvis Costello)
10 All Night Thing (Temple of the Dog)
11 Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden)
12 Call Me A Dog (Temple of the Dog)
13 Thank You (Led Zeppelin)


Album Review 007 : Chris Cornell - Lost And Found

This is the unofficial collection of Chris Cornell's rarities, b-sides, soundtracks and demos album series. Lost and Found contains some of his well-known work as well as some very rare gems such as "Hey Baby" with MACC (McCready, Ament, Cornell, Cameron) taken from a rare Jimi Hendrix tribute album and the French version of "Can't Change Me" from the Japanese version of his solo album Euphoria Morning. The extra bonus track is the excellent Casino Royale's theme song "You Know My Name". This album is actually created by a fan and actually appeared on some of Audioslave official fan forum. The quality of the tracks are quite good for an unofficial compilation album. A must have for any Chris Cornell fan.

Track Listing :
01. Mission 2000 (Mission Impossible 2 Soundtrack)
02. Sunshower (Great Expectations Soundtrack)
03. Seasons (Singles Soundtrack)
04. Can't Change Me (French Version, Euphoria Morning Japanese Bonus Track)
05. Ave Maria (w/ Eleven)
06. Someone to Die For (w/ Eleven)
07. Heart of Honey (w/ Eleven)
08. Like Suicide (Soundgarden. Acoustic)
09. Right Turn (Alice Chains SAP EP)
10. Hey Baby (MACC, Jimi Hendrix Cover)
11. Into the Void (Soundgarden, Black Sabbath Cover)
12. Girl U Want (Soundgarden, Devo Cover)
13. Come Together (Soundgarden, Beatles Cover)
14. Karaoke (Soundgarden, Burden in my Hand Bonus Track)
15. She's a Politician (Soundgarden, SOMMS)
16. Blind Dogs (Soundgarden, The Basketball Diaries Soundtrack)
17. Wild Horses (Live Featuring Lovemongers)
Bonus Track : You Know My Name (Casino Royale Soundtrack)


Album Review 008 : Chris Cornell - Lost And Found II

The continuation of the Lost and Found series, Lost And Found II contains more of Chris Cornell amazing works. There'a also a bonus track, the live Tonight Show with Jay Leno performance of "You Know My Name". I love the Ramones cover, "I Can't Give You Anything" because it rocks! A nice retrospective of Cornell's career.

Track Listing :
01. Fell On Black Days (Video Version)
02. Stray Cat Blues (Rolling Stones)
03. Everybody’s Got Something To Hide (Beatles)
04. Thank You (Sly & The Family Stone)
05. Spoonman (Demo)
06. Flutter Girl (Demo)
07. Touch Me (Fancy)
08. She Likes Surprises
09. Cold Bitch
10. Fresh Deadly Roses
11. Homicidal Suicidal (Budgie)
12. Show Me
13. Can You See Me (Jimi Hendrix)
14. I Can’t Give You Anything (Ramones)
15. I Don’t Care About You (Fear)
16. Toy Box
17. Heretic ('Pump Up The Volume' Soundtrack)
18. Stolen Prayers
Bonus Track: You Know My Name (Tonight Show)


Album Review 009 : Chris Cornell - Live In Denver 2000

This is from a live performance on the Euphoria Morning Tour. Most of the tracks performed are from Cornell's debut solo CD, but it is really cool hearing him do the Soundgarden song "Fell on Black Days" as well as "Seasons" from the Singles soundtrack with Eleven as his backup band. From what I can gather listening to it, this was professionally recorded and mixed, as evidenced by Cornell saying so himself before one of the songs. Check out the rocked-out version of the song "Sunshower". A great opening track to any concert. And check out Cornell hitting that very high note in "Seasons". He is definitely the best hard rock vocalist ever. Wish I was there..

Track Listing :
01. Sunshower
02. Can't Change Me
03. Flutter Girl
04. Mission
05. Preaching The End Of The World
06. Seasons
07. Fell On Black Days
08. Disappearing One
09. Moon Child
10. Sweet Euphoria

For you download headz, here's links to all of the albums reviewed above. Enjoy! :
Unplugged In Sweden
Lost And Found
Lost And Found II
Live In Denver 2000

23 comments:

Zack said...

Wah, ko buat overtime update blog ke Edd? hehe...

Thanks for the links anyway. Artwork album tu smart gila!

Nazim Masnawi said...

Dia ni jew ke, hah? Jew, eh?

Edd Vedder said...

zack..
weekends aku dekat ofis la. Kena kerja beb. Tapi bila dh bosan tu, update la blog kejap. Hehe..

Nazim..
Aku tak amik tahu la plak agama dan pegangan hidup si Cornell ni. So, kalau dia jew, kenapa?

PS: Zack ko pegi tak Pay Less Books punya sale?

N a d i a said...

ko ni buat aku tertekan je la!...cisss..anyway, ko ada idea tak kat mana nak beli cd2 si cornell ni?

Edd Vedder said...

Nadia..
Beli..? Hmmm, aku rasa kalau ko cari dekat US pun ko takkan jumpa, sbb album2 ni semua direlease online oleh fan. Cuba la download kat links tu beb.. 30 minit aja dh settle.

Nazim Masnawi said...

"So, kalau dia jew, kenapa?"

I dunno. Macam... entahlah, macam weird pulak. Emm, yelah, macam... macam agungkan orang Yahudi. I... I dunno. I dunno.

Edd Vedder said...

Nazim..
Haha.. you're thinking too much, man. Aku tak kata si Cornell ni God dan aku sembah dia. I like his voice, that's all.

BTW, bukankah kau yg letak gambar Happy Hanukkah kat blog aritu? Fuckin' prick..

zan said...

Jew..aku tak rasa Cornell Jew..
Pasal lagu2 dia banyak yang berunsur "kristian" mcm contoh sweet euphoria, 4th of july, ava maria (walaupun lagu cover) n jesus christ pose.
Even dia Jew pun, as long dia tak nyanyi or wat lagu yg kutuk agama lain (baca: Islam) pun ok what? Petruci yg terang-terangan buat lagu kutuk Nabi Muhammad pun ramai yang still sanjung dia..hehe
P/s: Vedder puji Nabi kita dalam "Not For You"..tapi naper tak di highlight kan eh?

Nazim Masnawi said...

"I like his voice, that's all."

Hmm, ye ke? Okey, aku percaya kau... kali ni. Akan datang kalau fakta bertukar sebaliknya, gentle cakap, aku... aku tak terkejutlah.

"...letak gambar Happy Hanukkah kat blog..."

Well, Faisal Tehrani yang suruh. I dunno, man.

N a d i a said...

masalahnye aku malas. heheh...ko pun tau kan, aku blum terkena lagi aura gile donlot nih?..;-) takpe..nanti aku tanya cornell sendiri dlm mimpi..

Zack said...

Aku tak gi la Edd.
Last weekend yek? Tengok post My Chemical Weekend tu. Hubby aku ajak kuar pun aku malas, hehe...

Edd Vedder said...

eezwany. welkam.
BTW, it's temple of the dog. Not temple of the days. And Cornell didn't brought out TOTD. It was a tribute band to Andrew Wood of Mother Love Bone. And they came out before Soundgarden, Nirvana or Pearl Jam made Seattle famous.

..sorry for being a nitpicker. I can't help it. :)

Edd Vedder said...

..and for the record, if it really does matter, Cornell is Catholic.

zan said...

Edd..
takde link yang leh donlot satu-satu ke?
Pastu pakai format .rar lak tu..aduh..player aku takleh main la plak format ni..
Kalo ko dapat convertkan ke .mp3 kan ke best Edd..memang ko dah macam original Vedder..suka membantu insan yang tak terdaya ni..hahaa

Edd Vedder said...

zan..
lagu2 tu semua mmg format mp3. Format .rar tu sebenarnya compression tool winrar. Lebih kurang mcm winzip la. Ko pegi kat download.com cari software winrar dan install.

Kalau donlod satu2 lagi la penat. Biar download sat album terus, baru afdal. Hehe. Lagipun bukannya lama pun. 15-30 min dah settle.

zan said...

Edd..
Aku dah buat sepeti yang ko suruh..terima kasih bebanyak geng..
betapa terasa lengkap hidup aku (cheh) tatkala mendengar cornell menyanyikan Sunshower secara "live". Teringat aku part dalam filem ni masa lagu ni berkumandang..hahaha
Mane ha nak carik "the great expectation" ni dlm dvd? Puas aku selongkar kedai2 dvd kat damansara uptown..takde la..Ade port tak?

Nazim Masnawi said...

Kesian, Eezwany. Baru masuk dah kena sound kaw-kaw.

Edd Vedder said...

zan..
Great Expectation? buat yg mcm aku buat. Download. Hehe.
and.. You're welcome. :)

nazim..
bukan sound. sekadar membetulkan fakta. hehe.

Zack said...

Zan, kau ni ibarat dah diberi betis, nak bulu betis pulak la, hehe...(gurau je bang, jangan marah...)

Aku ada VCD dan CD Great Expectations. Pergh, scene masa lagu tu memang (how do i put this...)MASYUK!!

Hell, sapa start this stupid semitic shits? Kalau satu2 lagu tu sedap, tak kira la dia bangsa apa dude. Kecuali MLTR la, memang aku boikot dah, hehe...

zan said...

bukan xder pengalaman men "donlot" filem ni edd. Even suma koleksi "L" word aku suma aku d/load. tapi feel dia tak sama ngan ko menonton dvd. kalo d/load, ko x leh nak pilih subtitles, nak ubah setting sound jadi english dts ke, ape ke..n gambo tak cantik..haha. cerewetnya aku..

Unknown said...

Hey Edd, can I buy these four albums with the artwork somehow instead of downloading them?

Edd Vedder said...

hey robert..
I suggest you join the audioslave fan forum. I think they sell these album there.

pjoe said...

ezzwany suck ass...
yup..its me..
aku salah taip kot masa tu.
ya aku tau tu album tribute untuk andrew wood.

dan aku masih ingat satu vclip totd..
dalam semak samun..
lagu hunger strike aku rasa.

aku pun dah lupa yang aku bagi komen guna nama sissy, eezwany tu.
but that's mt real name dude.

:D

temple of the days..
hahahahhahaha

-aku ni jenis tak periksa apa yang aku taip..just send camtu je