Having been clean of narcotics for three years, Chris Cornell can be forgiven for thinking his super- group Audioslave’s latest album 'Out Of Exile' is “One of the best rock records ever made”. A break away from the industry can make a veteran like Cornell a little senile but there is much truth in his braggadocio statement. For starters the record is currently top of the US album charts and is doing the commercial rounds quite healthily around the globe.
As a live prospect, the record is full of taut rhythms and biceps ripping at the seams. Cornell and his efficient musicians stroll onstage full of smiles. The sprightly 40-year-old, wearing a figure hugging vest and sinewy in movement, knows he is in good company as the remaining members of Rage Against The Machine blast out 'Your Time Has Come', a sleek and fluid riff produced by the unprecedented guitar work of Tom Morello, shifting gears at a frenetic pace whilst Cornell perfects his angst-ridden yowl.
Title track 'Out Of Exile' follows, a slow burning lick advancing towards a tree chopping guitar solo layered by a mixture of gruff verses and tumultuous harmonics. The band are unafraid of delving into past glories, Cornell briefly departs to leave Morello, Wilk and Commerford to jam old RATM favourite 'Bulls On Parade' and makes it a double whammy of RATM tunes when Cornell returns to sing vocals on the communist angst of 'Sleep Now In The Fire'.
Recent single 'Be Yourself' is the most tranquil moment of the set. Morello lending heavily from the clean hooks of John Frusciante and Cornell exchanges his shouted vocals for a much sweeter and melodic delivery. The encore weighs in at a gargantuan forty minutes. Cornell returns to the stage to play Soundgarden’s grunge classic 'Black Hole Sun', stripped down with an acoustic guitar and a communal sing-a-long that harps back to the halcyon days of early nineties Seattle.
The band return to aid Cornell with some more new material before Morello explodes unexpectedly into RATM’s seminal classic 'Killing In The Name Of'. Cornell can’t match Zac De La Rocha’s vocals but that becomes irrelevant as a cauldron of madness ensues across the CIA. 'Cochise' closes the triumphant set, a direct cousin to Led Zepplin's 'Whole Lotta Love' but enough firepower to signal a bold statement to all their musical contemporaries. Both Soundgarden and RATM produced albums and equally performances throughout the nineties to stake claim to the rock aristocracy. As Audioslave they want to swallow the world as a dual alliance. On this form, they have as much chance as anyone.
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