Carry On

pearljam766

Hey, is anyone else excited about Cornell's new cd Carry On coming out June 5th? The new stuff sounds pretty sick so far.

The Pen Is Mightier

The album is dedicated to Ed's ukelele

Pegasus

there was a thread about it (it's out..not exactly leaked since the winners of the M&G at the Astoria for example were given a copy), but it seems to have been deleted.

the general opinion was that it's not very good.
It's very pop, not Rock.

off_the_record

its readily available if you know how to use to the internet.

and yes, its not very good...at all.

searchlightsoul

Disagree. Nothing wrong with it, some really good songs like safe and sound and disapearing act. Not sure where the general consensus that it sucked came from?

facepollution

searchlightsoul wrote:

Disagree. Nothing wrong with it, some really good songs like safe and sound and disapearing act. Not sure where the general consensus that it sucked came from?

I think that consensus comes from comparing it to his previous work. It pains me to say it, but a fair few of the songs are totally unremarkable. Wow I never thought I would be making negative remarks about Cornell's music.....I do agree there are SOME good songs on it, but it's nowhere near as consistent as Euphoria Morning, in my opinion.

Rhinocerous Surprise

The first couple bars of Killing Birds sounds like a Kelly Clarkson song or something.

That aside, I do really like this album. It's not Soundgarden, but it's not Audioslave either. So, y'know, good with the bad and all that noise.

clarefromscotland

I've had it since the middle of last week (I've got a press copy - it was only the NME competition winners who got copies at the Astoria m&g, and I'm not sure if those had all 16 tracks from the UK release) and although it took me a couple of listens to get into properly (don't his songs always?) I'm now enjoying it enormously. It's far more consistent than Euphoria morning and a lot more ballsy. It might lack the big dramatic grandstanding things like "Steel Rain" but the songs are more varied in style and genre and there are many gorgeous things on it - recommend "Disappearing Act", "Killing Birds" (which harks back lyrically to "Like Suicide"), "Ghosts" and the Prince-ish "Today" (which is only on the UK version).

Clare
http://www.chriscornell.org.uk

wavescamecrashing

carry on is a good album.

safe and sound is my fave so far.

cornell always does something new, a year ago i wouldnt have expected to hear half of those songs. Voice is in fine form.

ONly tracks im not massively keen on are poison eye and billie jean, coz i prefer the unplugged version.

intodeep

all i want to know is are there songs like sunshower and seasons on it.

If so i'm buying it

clarefromscotland

clairenordon wrote:

carry on is a good album.
ONly tracks im not massively keen on are poison eye and billie jean, coz i prefer the unplugged version.

Great minds think alike Claire.....I'm not keen on Poison Eye either, and I think the Stockholm Billie Jean (or almost any of the live versions, especially the Astoria) is better than the studio one. But I can't stop listening to this album, it's really getting under my skin in a major way. More so then Revelations did - that had a big impact on me initially but tailed off, and these days I don't listen to it much.

Clare

mole1985

Hey now ya see i like poison eye but i'm not keen on arms around your love or safe and sound (more the chorus on that last one) It is a bit poppy but there are some good tracks on it, Poison eye, killing birds, Billie Jean, Your soul today, scar on the sky. The problem i think the album is that it's pretty much the same style throughout and it wears a little thin. Billie Jean is the only really clear cut different form the rest. If cornell keeps recording 'em i'll keep buying them.

intodeep

so he is putting the billie jean cover on the album?


that may be all i need to know in order to not buy this album.

I think it can be a little lame for bands to put covers on their albums. Unless it is a particularly obscure cover or it is on a live album.

this seems like a way to have a sure fire radio hit.

failedpersephone

Killing Birds is a really good solid song, the song that I can't seem to like at ALL is Finally Forever. my god this song is horrible...it actually made my eyes water.

but I think that overall Cornell has stretched a little (I like that he doesn't keep revisiting Soundgarden, EM, or Audioslave) I love the bluesy factor that he has added to his songs and even if they sound a bit more pop than I was expecting they arent so bad as to deserve a Clarkson comparison.

even tho I already have this album, I will purchase it once it comes out...I don't really like cheating. :rolleyes:

facepollution

mole1985 wrote:

The problem i think the album is that it's pretty much the same style throughout and it wears a little thin.

See I think totally the opposite, its various genres are all over the place. To me the varied styles on Euphoria Morning worked really well, they sounded like they all belonged on the same record. I don't know, just seems like his primary target with this album was to get a lot of exposure as a solo artist rather than turning in a truely jaw-dropping record - which he is so capable of. Thus it feels like he didn't know what sort of album he wanted to make (soul, country, hard rock, 70's style pop?). And I don't care what anyone says, the inclusion of You Know My Name was a blatant attempt to gather interest in the record. It doesn't particularly fit, and to my mind has been tacked onto the end purely for exposure. In my opinion it would have made much more sense to just include it as a bonus track and put Today as an album track - since it is one of the better ones.

Were this any other artist I would probably view the album completely differently, it's by no means awful and is totally listenable, but the lack of cohesive identity, in my opinion, stops it from being a classic. Right now I can only see me remembering this as the album where he threw everything including the kitchen sink in.

Ms. Haiku

When I saw the thread title I immediately thought of Kansas' Carry On. That was my first favorite song EVER. Ahhh, the memories.

I don't know Chris Cornell's music very much, but it seems like he has a lot of fans.

wavescamecrashing

face pollution, i totally get wht ur saying, today should be on the album proper, with ykmn a bonus. i love both songs but today makes more sense.

i think the point of carry on is to showcase his voice and maybe capitalise on a wider audience or dare i say it- a different audience to what he is used to, get radio play..etc

One of the reasons i think audioslave broke up was because they stifled Cornell's singing and songwriting, this album has let him do exactly what he wants to do. Compared to artists who rehash the same thing over and over again, cornell and carry on are refreshing departures. Its a compliment to the guy that he can sing all those different types of song. he couldve made a soundgarden/em part two, but hasnt, and i think thats to his credit.

both sg and em are unique in that they werent later diminished by cornell attempting to form a tribute act to his old songs.EM is the most beautiful record, along with grace, to come out of the 90s, imo, and to try and recreate it would be a betrayal to its importance.

cc still acknowledges the role those records played in his life by playing them live, which is more than most ppl would do for their fans.

MCG

I haven't heard this one yet but I'm very excited to hear it on the release date. I liked Euphoria Morning a lot and have been awaiting a follow up ever since.

mole1985

It seems a lot of people forget that Euphoria Morning had a lot of songs co-written by the band 'eleven' and it heaves full of eleven's style. Not too take anything away from it's magnificience of course.

facepollution

clairenordon wrote:

face pollution, i totally get wht ur saying, today should be on the album proper, with ykmn a bonus. i love both songs but today makes more sense.

i think the point of carry on is to showcase his voice and maybe capitalise on a wider audience or dare i say it- a different audience to what he is used to, get radio play..etc.

You make some really good points, and I agree to some extent, it's more the standard of songwriting that bugs me. Arms around your love isn't a bad song by most people's standards, but it's totally lacking in the sophistication he usually uses.

clairenordon wrote:

Compared to artists who rehash the same thing over and over again, cornell and carry on are refreshing departures. Its a compliment to the guy that he can sing all those different types of song. he couldve made a soundgarden/em part two, but hasnt, and i think thats to his credit..

I have no issue with him trying out different styles, but the album seems to reach for so many different styles that it just lacks identity. About half the album in my mind, is very good, but songs like No Such Thing, Arms Around Your Love, Your Soul Today are the epitome of average - the kind of songs he could write in his sleep. Not awful songs, but somewhat unremarkable when compared with ANY of his previous material.

Although I'm sure nobody is interested in what I think, what I would love to hear from him is a Nebraska type stripped down album, or a soul album, not just a bunch of songs thrown together. Like what is No Such Thing even doing on the album? Is it there to draw in the Audioslave fans, despite the fact nothing else on the album sounds anything like it?

Rhinocerous Surprise

failedpersephone wrote:

Killing Birds is a really good solid song, the song that I can't seem to like at ALL is Finally Forever. my god this song is horrible...it actually made my eyes water.

but I think that overall Cornell has stretched a little (I like that he doesn't keep revisiting Soundgarden, EM, or Audioslave) I love the bluesy factor that he has added to his songs and even if they sound a bit more pop than I was expecting they arent so bad as to deserve a Clarkson comparison.

even tho I already have this album, I will purchase it once it comes out...I don't really like cheating. :rolleyes:

I wasn't really saying that it's as bad as a Clarkson song. It just actually reminds me of a Clarkson song - y'know, the actual music of it. I think it's Since you Been Gone, or whatever that song was.

facepollution

mole1985 wrote:

It seems a lot of people forget that Euphoria Morning had a lot of songs co-written by the band 'eleven' and it heaves full of eleven's style. Not too take anything away from it's magnificience of course.

Totally, but I think their guidance and unique style helped give the album its identity.

Pearl Jam and toast

facepollution wrote:

I think that consensus comes from comparing it to his previous work. It pains me to say it, but a fair few of the songs are totally unremarkable. Wow I never thought I would be making negative remarks about Cornell's music.....I do agree there are SOME good songs on it, but it's nowhere near as consistent as Euphoria Morning, in my opinion.

I think when I finally hear the whole thing this will be my opinion.

Cornell's lost a lot.. he seems to be writing very un-challenging pop rock nowadays.

I'll still go see him when he tours Carry On because the man's voice is unbelievable.

clarefromscotland

I agree with facepollution that it's all over the place genre-wise but I think that's probably intentional, or if not intentional, exactly, it's just what happened when he was writing the songs. I think he needed to stretch out after four years of having his head in a vice writing for Audioslave's abilities. Which is not to say they were a bad band - I don't think they were, but their capabilities as players and imagineers (if you know what I mean) were limited. Now he's a bit freer he's just splurging creatively and seeing where it takes him.

Here's my review....

http://www.subba-cultcha.com/article_album.php?id=5161

I do have some sympathy with whoever said they wanted a "Nebraska" from him though. I'd love that too. Maybe one day. He's certainly in a prolific phase right now. In the meantime, there's the Stockholm solo live set....

searchlightsoul

What I don't get is why he feels the need to write pop songs wirth dumbed down lyrics that like facepollution said could have been written in his sleep. It is almost as if perhaps he has reached that point in his career where no one feels able to say to him that "hey that direction sucks' or something like that. But I guess thats the thing about being solo. There is no doubt however that this album is a considerable step up both creatively and vocally from Revelations but I agree that it remains short of the mark .

dharma69

Carry On has the touch of Adult Contemporary w/ power chords all over it...which surprised me.

Chances are we would've been expecting way too much from him for an album that resembled/equaled Euphora Morning...different time, different moment, different man. Carry On is good....just not quite great.

With every listen I'm completely won over by Safe and Sound which sounded like a really good love sond when I heard it live but now that I can hear the lyrics I know that it's a lot more than that and that song's impressed the hell out of me.

Poison Eye...not so much. One song I find myself strangely attracted to is Killing Birds...and I say strangely attracted to because of the rhythm and the singing style. But that's what drew me in on Euphoria Morning; the unusual-ness of the songs. This album is softer, less challenging...like a guy musically at ease, unlike EM which sounded like a guy musically searching to express and expand.

It's not a bad record and I'm enjoying the songs...but surely he could've done, by my subjective ears, better.

But that's just me.

off_the_record

Ms. Haiku wrote:

When I saw the thread title I immediately thought of Kansas' Carry On. That was my first favorite song EVER. Ahhh, the memories.

except that song is "carry on wayward son"

wavescamecrashing

also hoping that he does more soul/bluesy stuff as well, but i think it will happen in time...

all points taken , will type more tomorrow when im not half asleep

dharma69

facepollution wrote:

Like what is No Such Thing even doing on the album? Is it there to draw in the Audioslave fans, despite the fact nothing else on the album sounds anything like it?

Thanks for saying that because, in the context of the album as a whole, No Such Thing seems terribly out of place. It bugged me a bit when I listened to the album through and I just thought that I was being hypocritical as the song was okay to me before I heard the album.

You worded it well for me.

facepollution

dharma69 wrote:

Thanks for saying that because, in the context of the album as a whole, No Such Thing seems terribly out of place. It bugged me a bit when I listened to the album through and I just thought that I was being hypocritical as the song was okay to me before I heard the album.

You worded it well for me.

Yeah it's weird cause I do like the song, and when I saw him do it live last week his singing was awesome on it, but it is still just meat and potatoes rock.

Pearl Jam and toast

dharma69 wrote:

This album is softer, less challenging...like a guy musically at ease, unlike EM which sounded like a guy musically searching to express and expand.

well said.