Chris Cornell - Scream

Rating:

* *

At least he's not sulking. And this time round, while former Soundgarden and Audioslave singer Chris Cornell is not exactly screaming as the album title suggests, he's sounding sprightly and soulful with the modern day hip-hop/pop beats of Timbaland backing him up.

The thing is, this pairing is mostly fraught because it sounds silly, flimsy, and at times, laughable. If these two believe themselves to be rule breakers who have created "a new sound" then it makes you question their past musical pedigree. Yes, Cornell might be one of the finest vocalists of the last 20 years, and from one of the most powerful and grunty bands (Soundgarden that is), but musical innovator he is not. And Timbaland knows how to rock a good

tune, but to be honest he's a little more hit or miss than his reputation suggests.

Scream

is head-nodding, catchy stuff, but be prepared to get some serious sideways glances if you're caught blasting this from your pimped-out, low riding Mazda Familia. This ain't no Justin Timberlake album. As one colleague suggested, it's an album where Chris Cornell gets to sing JT's castoffs, which is a bit unfair considering Cornell co-wrote everything here. But who knows how well stocked Timbaland's freezer full of beats is?

However, there are some high points and the pair come together in pure pop perfection on

Sweet Revenge

, with a menacing and dark R&B mood, and the futuristic funk jaunt of

Ground Zero

. More of that revolutionary thinking would have been good.

But songs like opener

Part Of Me

- with it's ridiculous, breezy line, "No that bitch ain't a part of me" - and the synth soaked sappiness of

Never Far Away

will leave Soundgarden fans permanently fixed in a Jesus Christ pose. Even those who are wooed by Cornell's charms and good looks, or have wallowed in his self-piteous wailings of recent years, will find it hard to warm to his new pop-and-club inspired direction.

Scott Kara