i like the song and I don't think cornell's voice isn't shot just yet but morello's solo really does not fit the song. He has to learn this isn't RATM anymore, it doesn't work with this band and it gets boring after awhile.
It's pretty different sounding, very funky - remember to crank it up loud boys and girls!!
Very boring
"It's the American Dream I am disbelieving... When the gas in my tank feels like money in the bank... I’m gonna blow it all this time, take me one last ride..." - Gone (vedder)
sorry i dont like it... they are just pushing as much crap out as they can and its getting annoying... like this is without even comparing to rage and soundgarden.... which i used to do with the first album (no comparison btw... sg and rage are 1000 times better).. but with this new stuff im not doing that.. even compared to some of the other newerish crap out right now its just not that good
I think it sounds catchy and a bit more funky than usual Audioslave. But I do agree that Tom Morello overdoes the solo, as he always seems to do. It's obvious that he is writing most of the music parts. The style of Audioslave is a bit more simple and straightfoward, unlike Soundgarden which was always creative with patterns and chord changes. Where's Kim Thayil when needed the most?
Why dont you go fuck yourself. I can have my opinion. And if you compare something like Black from 92 and Black from 05 or 06 you can tell his voice is shot worse than Cornells.
how about u go fuck ureself, ure the person who's posting shit about pearl jam on a pearl jam forum. thats stupider then fucking your sister
idiot
"a wave came crashing like a fist to the jaw, delivered him wings said look at me now"
we've all been given wings to fly, now all we have to do is soar
I think it sounds catchy and a bit more funky than usual Audioslave. But I do agree that Tom Morello overdoes the solo, as he always seems to do. It's obvious that he is writing most of the music parts. The style of Audioslave is a bit more simple and straightfoward, unlike Soundgarden which was always creative with patterns and chord changes. Where's Kim Thayil when needed the most?
go pick up a guitar, and play a solo that fits over this song, yeah it sounds wierd but what should he have done???
record yourself, post a soundclip, and let us decide wich 1 sounds better.
although i do agree that soundgarden were an extremely creative force in rock
my $0.02
"a wave came crashing like a fist to the jaw, delivered him wings said look at me now"
we've all been given wings to fly, now all we have to do is soar
go pick up a guitar, and play a solo that fits over this song, yeah it sounds wierd but what should he have done???
record yourself, post a soundclip, and let us decide wich 1 sounds bettrer.
So what, you think that just because someone who doesn't claim to be a great guitarist can't play like Tom Morrello, this means that Tom Morrello himself couldn't have played this particular one any better, or more creatively?
This song sounds like the entire band wrote it and recorded it in their s...
Sorry, must have nodded off for a bit there. What was I saying?
'We're learning songs for baby Jesus' birthday. His mum and dad were Merry and Joseph. He had a bed made of clay and the three kings bought him Gold, Frankenstein and Merv as presents.'
So what, you think that just because someone who doesn't claim to be a great guitarist can't play like Tom Morrello, this means that Tom Morrello himself couldn't have played this particular one any better, or more creatively?
No
im not saying anything about toms sound. im just not saying it sounds bad, i didnt mean to single that 1 guy out and i didnt want it to seem like i was doing that, however, because the solo doesnt fit, or sounds wierd, or is overcooked, it doesnt mean its bad, just different. wich is what it takes to change something you dont like, try something DIFFERENT.
"a wave came crashing like a fist to the jaw, delivered him wings said look at me now"
we've all been given wings to fly, now all we have to do is soar
I am the Highway is enough to convince me that this band still has something special. Aside from that the albums have not been bad just a bit limited in diversity and structure, but with time this will free up. Never really noticed until now that Ed's voice has become alot raspier but I like it because it adds some character, however the change in Chris's voice is way more noticable because of his higher register.Tom is begining to piss me off with these solos, some one needs to rein him in and Chris should be the main song writer I feel.
Im pointing out the obvious. If youd like me to upload a song from 92 and a song from 05 well see whos voice has changed the most.
You don't have to upload anything - it is obvious that both CCs and EVs voices have disintegrated over time....I can tell on studio albums. 15 years + heavy smoking + heavy drinking = major changes in vocal rates.
HOWEVER, Ed has never had to range as much as Chris, thus he sounds good even now.
Ever seen Audioslave in concert? Cornell doesn't sound good at all. And we all know Ed still can light it up.
Upload this for me..... Cornell and Vedder on Hunger Strike, Santa Barbara 2003......which will prove the point that Ed can still sing and Cornell really struggles.
"This feeling is wonderful...don't you ever turn it off."
-JJ
Song by song review of Revelations
---
THE BOOK OF REVELATIONS
Courtesy of Tom, management and SonyBMG, today I was lucky enough to be invited to attend a lunchtime press playback of "Revelations" on behalf of Audiophiles! I'll have a fuller report of today’s events for you later, in the pages of our first fan newsletter. But for now, I know everyone wants to hear how the new album sounds, so I'll do my best to give you a hot-off-the-sound-system Audiophiles report. After a single listen it’s bound to be sketchy, so please forgive any omissions - I’ll try to fill in more later!
It's a brutally powerful rock album. Absolutely no doubt about that. The sound is hard, bluesy, abrasive, sometimes funky and almost viciously concise; very tight, very coherent, and there are few moments which lay off the pace or the pressure. If anything, Tom's extended his sound palette but there's nothing on this album that you could call self-indulgent. There are memorable, singable hooks everywhere, the rhythm section are monstrously potent, and Chris's vocals are some of the most authoritative we've heard since Audioslave began.
Lyrically, it’s darker than Out of Exile. It’s not a return to the desperation of the debut album, but it reflects a mature man who’s started to take stock of his life and the damage he has suffered. It’s angry in places, but it’s not the uncontrolled anger of a young man; it’s the anger that comes with wisdom. Anger at a society which hurts and damages the innocent, anger at god, perhaps even anger at himself for time lost and unrecoverable. As he sings in “Shape Of Things To Come,” “I will lay no blame but on myself.”
Track by track:
Revelations: a blinder of an opener, possibly a single-in-the-making. A big riff, a huge memorable chorus. Chris is raging, insistent, challenging, shouting at god? “You know what I dream sleeping in my bed…why don’t you guide me in if I’m such a lost soul?…Since you know everything, just clue me in…I don’t want to live without your revelations”. It’s desperately bitter, yet almost sardonic. I could hear echoes of “Wooden Jesus”.
One And The Same: a wah intro from Tom, then the riff we know and a big, ballsy blues-rock vocal from Chris. This one is familiar from the live shows last year. The lyrics seem to be about the difficulty of trusting people, the danger of betrayal by people who “don‘t hate you“ but are “going to come kill you.…they don’t mean you any harm, it’s just what they do, could be your mother, your father, your best friend in the world.” The big, savage chorus is “love and pain are one and the same”.
Sound of A Gun: the recorded version has a wilder, crazier, more chaotic solo from Tom than the one we heard live, but otherwise it’s fairly unchanged. The song looks at the violence of the world, its mindless danger, from the point of view or someone who is safe enough to afford compassion….looking back at his own childhood “safe and wild, naked and unarmed” he pities the “innocent unknowns buried in the sand.” In wars, in gang killings, in drug deaths? Maybe all of them.
Until We Fall: starts with an acoustic guitar intro from Tom and for a while, tries to trick you that it’s going to be a “Doesn’t Remind Me” style ballad. Then in kicks its huge chorus, absolutely epic in size and scope. Lyrically, its packed with imagery of rescue and survival; a man who “slipped through the chainlink of a broken heart” to escape on the back of a giant bird. But there’s darkness, too, and mystery. “Who do you battle in your dreams? Who strokes your feathers till you scream?”
Original Fire: this one had the entire press room nodding their heads and grinning. It kicks like a battalion of mules, this one - fierce, male, brutal, tribal. It will be a HUGE live celebration. Not sure what it means - it’s one of those universally applicable ones, I think - but the chorus goes “the original fire has died and gone, but the riot inside moves on.” Ferocious solo from Tom, full of downward, scraping glissando, and a killer vocal with some beautiful feral screams.
Broken City: perhaps the most original song on the album - and no, it’s not “Sleight of Hand“. Here the vocal is the main point of focus - and there are masses of words, almost a Dylan or a Springsteen-style approach to song writing. Chris delivers them fast, almost talking some of them, almost throwaway, but as they tumble past you realise they’re as rich with imagery as ever. The city is female: “I watch her bleed and crack”. It’s rich with memory, an elegy for a dying way of life where “the shipyard is a graveyard,“ where once “they stole this town from the frontier”. There’s another big, killer, singalong chorus (“outside kicking in the broken city…”) an almost impish “doo doo doo” refrain and some wonderfully layered vocal effects.
Somedays: this one will rip your head off. The intro slices through the air like a big blade and the thing just doesn’t let up pressure. Big chorus, big Cochise-style yell going into the solo. And the lyrics? What it is to be human. “There’s no need to apologise for the riot in your eyes, but some days just ain’t so easy.”
Shape Of Things To Come: on first listen, maybe my favourite. One of the few low-key, restrained vocal performances from Chris in the verses; his voice gorgeously rich in tone. But then - once again, and if there’s a pattern to this album it’s this - it resolves into an utterly huge, in-your-face, make-you-cry-with-joy chorus. It’s about future-fear - the fear of a husband, of a father, for what the world might become. There’s hope in it, but it’s personal hope. “There is a crack in the clouds, but only for a moment now…I hold my family to my breast, I fear the worst but hope the best will come to see us blessed.” Every parent who watches the world will know what he’s talking about here. “Break down in the shape of things to come, but I’m moving like a soldier…”
Jewel Of the Summertime: those who thought this might be a soft and sappy love ballad need not worry. It’s probably the heaviest song on the album. There’s a big, scary Brad-and-Timmy intro, a solo from Tom so abrasive it rubs the skin off your brain, and a fiery, testosterone-soaked vocal from Chris. It’s not another horny “Man Or Animal”, though - it’s a grown man looking back over his life, revisiting the wild anger of his youth and the long dark night of his adult soul, all as if his life had taken a single day of sunrise, noon and sunset and a night when “all that I met were dark silhouettes“. Now, to borrow from Emily Dickinson, it’s morning again, excellent and fair. He’s “bathing in the bright ultraviolet rays, a jewel of the summertime.” A lovely moment near the end where vocal and guitar are playing the melody line in unison and seem to blend into one.
Wide Awake: quite simply, a protest song about the failure of the world and its leaders to act over Hurricane Katrina. Chris plays with the image of the hurricane’s “eye”; “follow the leaders”, he says, “were it an eye for an eye they’d all be blind.” I’d have to say that I found it the weakest song musically, though, which is a shame - but after one listen, it’s difficult to take everything in. Maybe it’s a grower. It’s certainly heavy and angry, vocals well to the fore, some incredible screams at the end, Shadow on The Sun-style. And some righteously angry sentiments: world leaders are “trading lives for oil”, “sleeping at a time when you should have been wide awake.”
Nothing Left To Say But Goodbye: quite simply heartrending. It’s the honest confession of a man who has been rescued from death. It’s the same kind of song as The Curse - in other words, an introspective piece of Cornell taken and raised to the nth power by a great rock band. But where the cracks showed in The Curse, here the joint effort is fully integrated, the band living and breathing every second of emotion, never sounding tacked on or extraneous. There’s a huge, lumbering, gorgeous bass-and-guitar figure near the end, and a big, monstrous double-tracked chorus. And with no false pride, no face-saving, but absolute honesty, Chris writes himself into the skin of a stray dog “I was hungry when you found me, and you could tell by my tail and my rib cage what was once around me….I’ll sleep at your feet, stand guard at your front door…I know a good thing when it throws me a bone.”
Moth: Another great big huge memorable rock statement to finish. Tom really digs deep here into his sound-hoard, pulling out something organ-like which sounds almost medieval at one point. The imagery is all survival; it might be Chris’s final up-yours to the booze and the drugs. “Thought I was smarter as I flew into the sun but it turned the way it does with everyone”. The killer chorus here is “I don’t fly around your fire any more, been burned and fallen down so many times before.”
I like driving backwards in the fog, 'cause it doesn't remind of anything...
Yeah, that was on the Club Audiophiles website. I was pumped for the album when I read it, but then when I actually heard Original Fire and compared it to how great the person said it was, I get the feeling Revelations is gonna suck. But who knows.
It's a town full of losers and I'm pulling out of here to win
You don't have to upload anything - it is obvious that both CCs and EVs voices have disintegrated over time....I can tell on studio albums. 15 years + heavy smoking + heavy drinking = major changes in vocal rates.
HOWEVER, Ed has never had to range as much as Chris, thus he sounds good even now.
Ever seen Audioslave in concert? Cornell doesn't sound good at all. And we all know Ed still can light it up.
Upload this for me..... Cornell and Vedder on Hunger Strike, Santa Barbara 2003......which will prove the point that Ed can still sing and Cornell really struggles.
Yea, I know Ed's voice is better than Cornells now but Overall Eds sounds more different. I saw Audioslave in Long Beach last November and he sounded good. Not as good as he used to.
no shit. pj fans are a very diverse group. some who like hard rock/ classic rock are definately going to enjoy audioslave and probably a few won't. what is a waste of time is for people who have already decided against something to post. i won't be posting, "beyonce's melodies are rediculous, she has beautiful voice but uses it horribly" even though that is my true opinion. or i could post, " KISS - most overrated band of all time and they generally suck ass" ok, once i rang in on a nickleback bashing, but thats all that thread was about.
as far as audioslave goes: they kick ass. i saw them last october and it was an amazing and energizing show. i'll definately buy the new album. original fire: good song, definately different, but i hope that i hear more classic morello riffs in the album. either way it will be one of the best rock/ hard rock/ classic rock albums FOR ME this year.
I don't think it is Brendan O'Brien's fault they write shitty songs. Brendan is the man.
LOL, well put
Guess all of us on here will never agree on the Audioslave thing...I don't know, its just to me they sound as tired, generic and MTV friendly as NickelCreedJovi...
'The more I studied religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.' - Sir Richard Francis Burton
Guess all of us on here will never agree on the Audioslave thing...I don't know, its just to me they sound as tired, generic and MTV friendly as NickelCreedJovi...
dude check out the new song clips from the Miami Vice film (you can find them in one of the threads here), they are anything but tired and generic, quite honestly Original fire doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as these songs - the whole band sound very restrained and atmospheric - seriously if you can find me anything by Nickleback that remotely compares i will eat my words.
dude check out the new song clips from the Miami Vice film (you can find them in one of the threads here), they are anything but tired and generic, quite honestly Original fire doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as these songs - the whole band sound very restrained and atmospheric - seriously if you can find me anything by Nickleback that remotely compares i will eat my words.
hmm, guess I'll give them a shot, but if they're anything like the last two albums (I am The Highway aside) I can see myself nodding off.
I guess for some people, and by that Im including myself, who was a huge Rage and Soundgarden fan I just find Audioslave so watered down. I guess the overblown 'look at our big budget' mtv friendly posing videos dont help.
'The more I studied religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.' - Sir Richard Francis Burton
dude check out the new song clips from the Miami Vice film (you can find them in one of the threads here), they are anything but tired and generic, quite honestly Original fire doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as these songs - the whole band sound very restrained and atmospheric - seriously if you can find me anything by Nickleback that remotely compares i will eat my words.
I did. Those songs are bullshit too. Fortunately, you will hear no more complaining about Audioslave from me, because I've written them off as a shit band.
Tom Morello is really an incredible guitarist. Why he keeps making his shit sound like a raccoon getting raped by a rhinoceros is beyond me. He can play anything with the best of 'em...yet he keeps pushing the silly noises that totally fuck up the songs.
Wilke is totally exposed playing anything but the hip hop beats. Maybe he's a great guy. He certainly plays drums better than me. There, I said something nice
Chris needs to stop wasting his voice on this shit and get back to being the genius that everyone knows him to be. I have no criticism of him, except that i don't get why he's wasting his time on material that is beneath him.
Tim Commerford has grown the most as a musician from what I can hear, and is actually a pretty badass rock bassist. I have no criticism of him. He's solid.
Comments
The One and Only
Very boring
08/02/07 - LOLLA!!!
Actually, where's Matt... (oops) Oh yes, Kim will do them good. At least he's free, I think.
idiot
we've all been given wings to fly, now all we have to do is soar
go pick up a guitar, and play a solo that fits over this song, yeah it sounds wierd but what should he have done???
record yourself, post a soundclip, and let us decide wich 1 sounds better.
although i do agree that soundgarden were an extremely creative force in rock
my $0.02
we've all been given wings to fly, now all we have to do is soar
So what, you think that just because someone who doesn't claim to be a great guitarist can't play like Tom Morrello, this means that Tom Morrello himself couldn't have played this particular one any better, or more creatively?
This song sounds like the entire band wrote it and recorded it in their s...
Sorry, must have nodded off for a bit there. What was I saying?
- the great Sir Leo Harrison
im not saying anything about toms sound. im just not saying it sounds bad, i didnt mean to single that 1 guy out and i didnt want it to seem like i was doing that, however, because the solo doesnt fit, or sounds wierd, or is overcooked, it doesnt mean its bad, just different. wich is what it takes to change something you dont like, try something DIFFERENT.
we've all been given wings to fly, now all we have to do is soar
You don't have to upload anything - it is obvious that both CCs and EVs voices have disintegrated over time....I can tell on studio albums. 15 years + heavy smoking + heavy drinking = major changes in vocal rates.
HOWEVER, Ed has never had to range as much as Chris, thus he sounds good even now.
Ever seen Audioslave in concert? Cornell doesn't sound good at all. And we all know Ed still can light it up.
Upload this for me..... Cornell and Vedder on Hunger Strike, Santa Barbara 2003......which will prove the point that Ed can still sing and Cornell really struggles.
"This feeling is wonderful...don't you ever turn it off."
-JJ
Vedder's part in that song isn't difficult to sing any way and Chris definately still has his share of special moments in concert.
You're right - even Timmy C. can mimic Eddie for the Audioslave cover. Nowadays, when Chris tries to reach a high note, he screams it. It's saddening.
i'd go with joe baressi.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
no shit. pj fans are a very diverse group. some who like hard rock/ classic rock are definately going to enjoy audioslave and probably a few won't. what is a waste of time is for people who have already decided against something to post. i won't be posting, "beyonce's melodies are rediculous, she has beautiful voice but uses it horribly" even though that is my true opinion. or i could post, " KISS - most overrated band of all time and they generally suck ass" ok, once i rang in on a nickleback bashing, but thats all that thread was about.
as far as audioslave goes: they kick ass. i saw them last october and it was an amazing and energizing show. i'll definately buy the new album. original fire: good song, definately different, but i hope that i hear more classic morello riffs in the album. either way it will be one of the best rock/ hard rock/ classic rock albums FOR ME this year.
LOL, well put
Guess all of us on here will never agree on the Audioslave thing...I don't know, its just to me they sound as tired, generic and MTV friendly as NickelCreedJovi...
dude check out the new song clips from the Miami Vice film (you can find them in one of the threads here), they are anything but tired and generic, quite honestly Original fire doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as these songs - the whole band sound very restrained and atmospheric - seriously if you can find me anything by Nickleback that remotely compares i will eat my words.
hmm, guess I'll give them a shot, but if they're anything like the last two albums (I am The Highway aside) I can see myself nodding off.
I guess for some people, and by that Im including myself, who was a huge Rage and Soundgarden fan I just find Audioslave so watered down. I guess the overblown 'look at our big budget' mtv friendly posing videos dont help.
I did. Those songs are bullshit too. Fortunately, you will hear no more complaining about Audioslave from me, because I've written them off as a shit band.
Tom Morello is really an incredible guitarist. Why he keeps making his shit sound like a raccoon getting raped by a rhinoceros is beyond me. He can play anything with the best of 'em...yet he keeps pushing the silly noises that totally fuck up the songs.
Wilke is totally exposed playing anything but the hip hop beats. Maybe he's a great guy. He certainly plays drums better than me. There, I said something nice
Chris needs to stop wasting his voice on this shit and get back to being the genius that everyone knows him to be. I have no criticism of him, except that i don't get why he's wasting his time on material that is beneath him.
Tim Commerford has grown the most as a musician from what I can hear, and is actually a pretty badass rock bassist. I have no criticism of him. He's solid.
old music: http://www.myspace.com/slowloader