Chris Cornell - Carry On
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Free Music Notes for Carry On
Free Music Review: Don't listen to the naysayers
Hit: 5 Stars
If I'd listened to the folks that gave bad or mediocre reviews on this album I would have missed another awesome ensemble of Chris' unique spin on life. The tones on all of the tracks would move anyone no matter what music preference. You can't have a biased point of view or it would take away from both the message of each song and sound. Give it a shot and skip the bad reviews. Enjoy! Free Music Review: 3.5 stars
Hit: 3 Stars
If 3 stars indicates "average", this album scores ever-so-slightly above that. Reasons to buy the album: (1) first Cornell album to really show off his vulnerable side and (2) the first half of the album. The cons: (1) the songwriting doesn't consistently hit the highs we've come to expect of Cornell and (2) the marked decline of the second half (bar its saving grace, 'You know my name'). Possibly the riskiest move was the cover of Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean', which I personally don't like. I want to love this album so much but simply can't. I'm not sure what else to say, which sums it up really: generally uninspiring. But who knows? It seems to be getter better with more listens. "Carry On" is worth owning if only for picking certain songs for playlists but it really doesn't hold its own as an album. I think Cornell's approach tho is good -- there's only so long someone can pull of the rock-god thing. It just needs a little refining. Free Music Review: What are all you critics REALLY listening to??
Hit: 5 Stars
I'm truly surprised that so many Chris Cornell fans aren't more enthusiastic about "Carry On", his 2nd solo release. After all, one of Cornell's trademarks has always been his dislike of repetition (ever hear of "expect the unexpected?"), and it's through his fearlessness to experiment with different genres of music that we, as fans, have come to hear some of the most brilliant music of our time. "Carry On" is certainly no exception. Cornell has probably put the broadest range of musical styles on "Carry On" than he has on any of his previous works - be it with Soundgarden, Temple Of The Dog, Audioslave, or any other solo attempts, and the bottom line is, he has unquestionably succeeded with "Carry On"!! It doesn't matter which of the "former" Chris Cornell's one may have preferred: It can still be found here, but with much, much more. Being first a rock fan, songs such as "No Such Thing", "Poison Eye", and "You Know My Name" were immediate standouts for me. However, after several more listens to "Carry On", I found myself slipping into the more bluesy tracks like "Arms Around Your Love", "Killing Birds", and Chris's fantastic take on Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." One of my personal favorites, "She'll Never Be Your Man", I'm hard-pressed to even categorize. One thing's for certain, though, Chris Cornell's much publicized clean-up act has left one of this generation's greatest voices much smoother, with a range that doesn't need to be screamed to be heard. If you've followed Cornell's career from the beginning, as I have, it's not too difficult to see that "Carry On" is probably his most personal release to date. As a fan who has constantly tried (like most other fans) to decipher Chris's lyrics, I think that "Carry On" seems to represent an "act two" of both his career and his life. Do yourself a favor, and don't prejudge anything Chris Cornell puts out there. Eventually, he WILL draw you in. Free Music Review: four good ones
Hit: 3 Stars
As a long time Soundgarden and Cornell fan, it wasn't as good as his first solo album, of which I could listen to throughout. This one has only 4 songs that are worthwhile. He's still hot, though!Free Music Review: A New Source of Inspiration
Hit: 5 Stars
Anyone expecting Chris Cornell to rehash and recycle well-pioneered paths from previous albums is in for a pleasant surprise with "Carry On". For Cornell, musical exploration and adventurous spirit trumps churning out variations on a commercially proven theme, a danger that his last band Audioslave flirted with at times on "Out of Exile" (2005) and "Revelations" (2006). It's no wonder then that Cornell was ready to strike out again on his own.
Conscious reinvention or natural evolution, the results are magnificent and hardly unexpected given the recent tectonic shifts in Cornell's personal life. Having openly abandoned substance abuse, Cornell went through an apparently acrimonious divorce, married anew, had two new children, took up residence in France and restored and opened a hip Paris restaurant and club, "Black Calavados".
It's not that there aren't nostalgic Cornell trademarks throughout the material -- to the contrary, actually: familiar chord progressions, riffs, vocal patterns and lyrical themes are judiciously (and naturally) integrated into the material. The shifting riff-driven hook of "No Such Thing" recalls both recent Audioslave work and Soundgarden hits of yore. Hardcore Soundgarden fans will recognize the chorus chord progression of the rocking "Poison Eye" as uncannily similar to "Down on the Upside" (1996) B-Side "Karaoke".
Hooks abound in infectious pop gem "Arms Around Your Love", laden with rich harmonies, most notably in the chorus. Ostensibly a whipping from a vicious Monday-morning quarterback of a conscience about failures that drove a lover into another's arms, it's really a broader reflection of regret for things that weren't said when it counted. In this context, "she" could be interpreted as one's sense of regret ("she's gonna make you pay for it"), and the "he" with his "arms around your love" could be death, rather than the lover for whom your lover left you.
"Safe and Sound" is extraordinarily well crafted in its evolution from observing global dysfunction, to diagnosing the causes thereof, to prognosis, if not prescription, for cure. Tapping into the zeitgeist of angst and uncertainty in the face of rampant consumerism, environmental destruction, tribalism, tyranny, militarism and terrorism, the quavering uncertainty of "Safe and Sound" in the verses nevertheless rises and resolves in the pre-chorus, chorus and bridge into a heartening, almost defiant optimism. After all, Cornell believes in a promised land.
"Silence the Voices", epic and sweeping, embodies a cinematic sturm und drang not found in Cornell's work since Soundgarden's "Superunknown" (1994). The military drum, down-tuned chord progression, fluid bass and jangly guitar provide an ominous yet melancholy backdrop for the theme. Cornell is more at home in this type of broader social criticism than in the current-events-driven "Rage"-style anger of Audioslave's "Wide Awake", promising a more lasting relevance to this song than "Wide Awake".
To be sure, the torment, depression, and ambivalence about fame that dogged Cornell through the time of his last solo album "Euphoria Morning" (1999) resulted in some profound music and lyrics. But although we are reminded in the chorus of the richly rewarding "Ghosts" that the old Cornell "doesn't live here anymore", it's just a less tormented, more assured adult into which the old Cornell has grown. "Carry On" amply demonstrates that love, optimism, passion for life and a sense of responsibility are an equally fertile source of inspiration for an artist of Cornell's prodigious talents.