a vocal force

singer chris cornell is happy doing the solo thing

by ed condran, cleveland free times, november 2007

Even though it's the year of the reunion, Chris Cornell was never tempted to reform Soundgarden. The leather-lunged vocalist, who has one of the biggest and best set of pipes in rock history, watched as such rock heavyweights as the Police and Van Halen put aside differences in order to score some serious filthy lucre.

Cornell was surprised that he wasn't asked about a reformation. "It's funny," he says in a phone interview. "I'm not sure why that is. On the business side, someone probably said, 'We have more than enough reunions this year.' Next year, someone will say, 'The reunion thing did great last year. What are we going to do now?' Then they'll call us."

Don't count on Cornell answering the call with an affirmative. The hard rock iconoclast, who splits time between America and France, is more than happy as a solo artist at the moment. Cornell is touring behind his second solo album, Carry On, which dropped in June. The disc is heavier than his 1997 debut, Euphoria Morning, but not quite as rocking as his Soundgarden material. The leadoff track, "No Such Thing," comes close to approximating his Soundgarden days.

"The album is just where I'm at right now," he says. "It has elements of Soundgarden but that shouldn't be surprising since I wrote those songs. I hold the Soundgarden songs in high regard." Cornell is also plenty high on his Audioslave and even Temple of the Dog material since he plays tracks from each of those bands he fronted on his current tour.

"There's no reason I shouldn't go back," he says. "Like I said, I wrote the songs. Everything I like about music is in the set. I call the shots and do what I like musically. I do 'Fell on Black Days' and 'Black Hole Sun.' When I was with Soundgarden, they didn't want me to do those songs. The tendency was to play more aggressive stuff that might not have connected with the fans."

It's obvious that Cornell, who mixes up his set on a nightly basis, still has a big soft spot for Soundgarden. He's been playing tracks such as "Jesus Christ Pose," "Rusty Cage" and "Outshined." "Those old [Soundgarden] songs are still pretty powerful," he says. "We left behind a really solid legacy."

Cornell sounds melancholy at times when speaking of his former bandmates but claims there's not much of a chance for a reunion. However, it's apparent that down the line, he would be open to performing under the Soundgarden moniker.

"I would say right now, zero percent," he says. "I'm having too good a time with this band. But you know what? Soundgarden went from cutting-edge to the new, cool thing to an elder statesman of rock. After we broke up, we were classified as a classic rock band. But if we were going to reunite, I would have to ask the question, 'What are we reuniting for? Is it because a couple of us got together to work on some songs that were turning out great? Is it for a benefit?'"

You can't help but wonder if Cornell would consider being part of a supergroup or fronting another band, since he did just that with three quarters of Rage Against the Machine when they formed Audioslave. The adventurous Cornell indicated that he would be up for such a challenge.

Meanwhile, Cornell is penning solo tunes and covering Michael Jackson tracks. Cornell recorded a hazy, lazy version of Jacko's greatest hit, "Billie Jean," for Carry On.

"I was messing around with the thought of doing a cover song," he explains. "I thought, 'What would be good and shock people?' I came up with the craziest idea of covering a Michael Jackson song. I did an acoustic version of it and [producer] Steve Lillywhite heard it and thought that I should record it and release it as a B-side. Once everyone heard it, we knew it had to be on the record."

Reprinted from Cleveland Free Times. Originally available as a feature online here.

Chris Cornell Fan Page © Clare O'Brien 2007