Audioslave – ‘Original Fire’ (Epic / Interscope) Released 28/08/06

Tom Morello’s recent account of Audioslave’s forthcoming third album, 'Revelations', as “Led Zeppelin meets Earth, Wind And Fire” turns out to be so accurate as to render further comment almost redundant. Sounding, quite literally, like a guitar-heavy rock cover of a long-lost 70s soul classic is fine, as far as it goes – Cornell’s voice is as strong as ever, and the musicianship as proficient as you’d expect, although Morello is in non-groundbreaking, unashamedly retro mood. But ultimately, speaking as someone proud to claim Rage’s eponymous debut as first ever CD purchase, it’s hard not to feel disappointed that three quarters of the band could start out with so much promise and proceed to spend the subsequent decade and a half moving in entirely the wrong direction.