KEY POINTS:
When two musicians as influential as Tom Morello and Chris Cornell go solo there are bound to be some quality results. Surely. Strangely, the problem with these two albums from the Audioslave bandmates is that while they sound impeccable and mostly the songs are great, it's unlikely they'll
get played more than a couple of times.
The Nightwatchman, the political acoustic folk persona of Morello (also from Rage Against the Machine), is well-meaning but bears a preachy political load. Meanwhile, the 16-track second solo album from Cornell (formerly of Soundgarden) is overly long and indulgent.
First, the Nightwatchman. There's a haunting, and almost tormented feel to One Man Revolution. For a guitarist, Morello has always had a lot to say about music, religion and politics and you can tell he's been itching to let rip with some of his own rhetoric.
On these gentle guitar-driven songs he's like a cross between the singing socialist Billy Bragg, mixed with the dour half-talk, half-singing voice of Nick Cave or Leonard Cohen, with hints of Neil Young.
On Maximum Firepower the religious imagery is thrown around like shrapnel - "For the sins of the father, the son he must pay, The Night Watchman giveth and he taketh away" - and Union Song uses a brazen harmonica to incite a call to arms for Morello's comrades on the picket lines.
But it's mostly dour and earnest stuff from this bright and intelligent political activist. It's a shame because with a few more splashes of humour, like on the title track when he sings about being hugged on the streets of Havana, then not being on the list at the Playboy mansion, he could've lightened things up and inspired us to listen to his politics again.
At least Morello doesn't overstay his welcome, unlike Cornell. Perhaps he's mellowing in his old age, or maybe he's in love, but the fearsome howler of Rusty Cage and Black Holed Sun fame has officially gone middle of the road on his second solo album. It's more John Cougar Mellencamp than Johnny Cash, that's for sure.
The world found one of the great rock voices in Cornell when he was in Soundgarden. On Carry On, the follow-up to 1999's Euphoria Morning, he uses that hulking and husky voice to great effect but he gets carried away. You can see why he does it, because his voice is an instrument. He's got much more than a set of great rock'n'roll lungs and solo outings are his best chance to show off his soul, R&B and crooning abilities.
On a song like the beautiful Arms Around Your Love, which is reminiscent of Hunters and Collectors' Throw Your Arms Around Me in more than name, he serenades rather than strains and squawks; on No Such Thing and Poison Eye he snarls like he would have in Soundgarden; and on Safe and Sound and Your Soul Today, he's a true soul man.
However, there are easily four - if not six - tracks in need of culling, especially the awful cover of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean and You Know My Name, the terrible theme to Casino Royale.
It sounds odd to say, but: great songs, pity about the torture of having to sit through the whole lot.
The Nightwatchman - One Man Revolution
Label: Sony/BMG
Verdict: Raging guitarist needs to lighten up his political folk
Chris Cornell - Carry On
Label: Interscope
Verdict: Former Soundgarden/Audioslave singer carries on too long