Audioslave- 'Out of Exile' (Polydor) Released 23/05/05

 

When rockstars form ‘supergroups’, the eventuality can go two ways. The new band can exceed expectations and present material that could be described as possibly even ‘better’ than previous classics. Or, and this is the general outcome, the material, like movie sequels, never surpasses the original. Anyone remember the mythical ‘Tapeworm’ project? This largely depends on how much impact the previous bands had and how much effect the band had on their fans.

So just imagine the position that Audioslave must’ve been in, making their debut (great, but could’ve been better) and now, following it up with the ‘difficult’ second album with the novelty of them being ‘those guys from Rage and Soundgarden’ having now largely worn off. They now have to prove themselves as Audioslave.

Thankfully, this album is an underrated gem. It becomes clear from the opening riff of opener ‘Your Time Has Come’, that Audioslave mean serious business this time. The riffs throughout this album are about as unorthodox and anti-insert-riff-here as you can get, but they fit perfectly with the unique gravely tones of Cornell’s vocals. It should however be noted that if fans are looking for the new Rage album, they should most definitely avoid this. It’s more Soundgarden than Rage, songs such as ‘Dandelion’, ‘Yesterday to tomorrow’ and ‘The Worm’ sound as if they could be lifted from Soundgarden’s two definitive albums ‘Badmotorfinger’ and ‘Superunknown’ This is not to say that this album isn’t worth buying for Rage fans, by no means. The music of Rage is still evident. You could be forgiven for thinking that Zack de la Rocha’s punchy lyrics could enter at any moment tracks such as ‘Drown me slowly’ and especially the title track.

In short, this isn’t Rage’s fifth album and it isn’t Soundgarden’s seventh. It’s Audioslave’s second. And it kicks ass!!!!