I knew who the Strokes were, and I liked them. During those earlier 21st century years, I was a pre-teen/teen in a small town in Pennsylvania. When we talk about the ‘00s these days, especially on this website, we tend to talk about the rise of the NYC rock revival in the early part of the decade, and then the rise of Williamsburg and indie’s burgeoning mainstream presence as the decade closed. (Or all of Pearl Jam if you consider that Cameron would become their drummer later that decade.) As a tribute to their late friend Andrew Wood (the singer of Mother Love Bone, the band Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard were in before Pearl Jam) after his death, there are some heart-wrenching moments, like opener “Say Hello 2 Heaven.” I feel like someone’s going to cover this in tribute to Cornell at some point, and I don’t know whether that’ll be moving and somehow provide closure - the idea of someone paying tribute to Cornell with a song he wrote in tribute to his deceased friend - or whether it’ll be too saddening and uncomfortable.Īudioslave – “Cochise” (from Audioslave, 2002) If you’re reading this article, you probably already know the story - Temple Of The Dog was the one-off collaboration between Cornell, his Soundgarden bandmate Matt Cameron, and most of Pearl Jam. Temple Of The Dog – “Say Hello 2 Heaven” (from Temple Of The Dog, 1991)

He had the presence, the voice, the look, the creativity - the stuff that makes people say “They don’t make them like that anymore.”Īs part of our tributes to Cornell, we decided to take a look at all the other stuff outside Soundgarden, to highlight lost gems and look at the other places those talents took him over the course of a three-decade career. He was built in a different mold, but worked differently within the context of his generation. Within all that, though, what was consistent was Cornell’s status as one of the last great rock frontmen from the end of rock’s era of popular dominance. Soundgarden’s first run is nearly perfect, and the different directions Cornell explored in subsequent years sometimes worked brilliantly, sometimes not-so-brilliantly. There’s no way to get around the fact that those weren’t always consistent or successful projects. Then there were full-fledged solo albums, a James Bond theme, and Audioslave, the band where he teamed up with Tom Morello, Brad Wilk, and Tim Commerford from Rage Against The Machine. During Soundgarden’s first run, there was also Temple Of The Dog and the odd solo track. Those are the years where Cornell did his best work, when his songwriting could expose the deepest inner demons and also suggest other worlds, when his voice could go from the unearthly wail of “Jesus Christ Pose” to the soulful darkness of “Fell On Black Days.”Īlong the way, Cornell had plenty of other projects.

There’s no getting around that band’s importance here - they were one of the seminal bands of their time, a group that helped define a generation’s sound and ethos and concerns, and will at some point sit comfortably in the classic rock lineage they drew upon in ways both clearer and more creative than some of their peers. Understandably, many of these tributes focused primarily (or solely) on Cornell’s work with Soundgarden.

The fact that he was one of the most unique and talented songwriters of his generation, in ways he still doesn’t always get credit for and in ways that garnered him respect from his predecessors and contemporaries alike. The nakedness and vulnerability in so many of his lyrics.

His voice, of course - with its impressive range, and his impressive ability to go to so many different places with it. Whatever angle they took, almost all of them noted things that were core to Cornell as an artist. After the news of Chris Cornell’s tragic passing broke yesterday morning, tributes and remembrances steadily appeared throughout the day.

Forum chris cornell songbook