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Audioslave

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Audioslave
Audioslave
Background information
Years active2001 – Present
MembersBrad Wilk
Tom Morello
Tim Commerford
Chris Cornell

Audioslave is an alternative rock supergroup consisting of Chris Cornell (formerly of Soundgarden) and the instrumentalists of Rage Against the Machine. Tom Morello plays guitar, Tim Commerford plays bass, and Brad Wilk drums. The music is fueled by Cornell's powerful voice and Tom Morello's unique and unconventional style of guitar playing, with heavy hip-hop style solos, scratches down his guitar's neck, synthesizer-like sound effects, and an extensive use of pedals and devices to change the guitar's sound. As with Rage Against the Machine, the band prides itself on the fact that all sounds are produced using only vocals, guitar, bass guitar, or drums.

While Rage Against the Machine's music was politically influenced, Audioslave's is not, as Chris Cornell said he did not want to become the new singer of Rage Against The Machine and needed the freedom to write lyrics which were not overtly political. However, the band is part of the Axis of Justice, which is a non-profit organization formed by Morello and Serj Tankian of System of a Down. Its purpose is to "bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice together."

History

Formation (2000–2001)

The band's history dates back to October of 2000, after Rage Against the Machine broke up when singer Zack de la Rocha left the band. The other three members of the seminal hard rock band stayed together, planning to continue as a trio under the "Rage" name. Several vocalists jammed with the band at this time, including B-Real of Cypress Hill. Music producer Rick Rubin later suggested that they jam with Chris Cornell, formerly of Soundgarden, and "see what happens." The chemistry clicked between the singer and the three musicians, and they began work in the studio in May 2001, writing 21 songs in 19 days (the first of which was "Light My Way").

Audioslave (2002–2003)

Allegations that they argued during production are not entirely unfounded; the group broke up in April 2002, before they had even released an album. Under the tentative name "Civilian" (or "The Civilian Project"), 14 rough demo tracks were leaked onto various peer-to-peer filesharing networks around the same time as their pre-Audioslave breakup, confirming any rumors of the new RATM/Chris Cornell formation. The most notorious and well-known aspect of their temporary dissolution came that summer after the band cancelled their appearance in the popular, annual rock festival Ozzfest. Subsequent interviews with the band revealed that early problems had been partly due to external pressures which were resolved when the band members sacked their previous management companies and hired Los Angeles company The Firm.

Once that was completed, the Audioslave moniker was chosen by the band, and in August 2002, Audioslave's first single, "Cochise", was released, named for the famous American Indian chief, the last to die free and unconquered. Later in the fall, they would go on to release their debut, self-titled album on November 19, 2002.

The group's first studio album, Audioslave, drew mixed reactions from critics but swiftly attained double platinum-selling status. Some lambasted the group as millionaire musicians who constantly argued during album production, and whose 1970s rock sound is primarily the result of post-studio modification. Others compared them to Led Zeppelin, saying they add much-needed sound and style to contemporary mainstream music. They toured extensively worldwide in 2003, silencing many critics and gaining largely positive reviews for their spectacular live performances, including overshadowing the headlining "reunited" Jane's Addiction at that year's version of Lollapalooza.

Out of Exile (2004–2005)

In the Spring of 2005, Audioslave announced that their sophomore effort was completed and would see release that summer. As a special treat to fans who did not see them on Lollapalooza, the band secretly booked a small club tour to promote their upcoming album. On this tour, the band began performing songs from their previous bands, including Soundgarden's "Spoonman", "Outshined", and "Black Hole Sun", Rage Against The Machine's "Bulls on Parade", "Sleep Now in the Fire", and "Killing in the Name" as well as several new songs, including "Your Time Has Come", "Be Yourself", "Doesn't Remind Me", "The Worm", and "Man Or Animal." While it was definitely a great experience for fans to see a multi-platinum selling band in venues so tiny, the downside was that many shows had sold out before they were technically even announced as happening.

On May 6, 2005, Audioslave became the first American rock group to perform a concert in Cuba, playing for free in front of an audience of 70,000. The concert was organized with the joint authorization of the United States Treasury Department and the Instituto Cubano de la Musica. This concert was recorded, and released on DVD on October 11, 2005. It came in two versions, a basic package consisting of only the DVD, and a deluxe edition consisting of a DVD and a CD of the Sessions@AOL.

Their second album, Out of Exile, was released on May 24, 2005. It debuted #1 on the U.S. charts, and featured the song "Be Yourself" as the leading single. "Be Yourself" was soon followed by "Your Time Has Come" and "Doesn't Remind Me", the latter given rave reviews and frequent radio airplay. Currently, the fourth single, "Out of Exile", is receiving moderate to high airplay on radio nationwide. The whole album was uploaded online at Audioslave's Myspace site for previewing. Critics did note Cornell's stronger vocals on Audioslave's sophomore disc, likely the result of him quitting smoking and drinking.

More recently, Audioslave performed at the Live 8 concerts. Their performance was in Berlin, Germany. On August 19, 2005, Audioslave announced their first-ever headlining arena tour across the U.S. and Canada. Audioslave were nominated for the 2006 Grammy Awards in the "Best Hard Rock Performance" category for their song "Doesn't Remind Me".

In 2006, video game company Vivendi Games announced that two songs from Out of Exile, "Your Time Has Come" and "Man Or Animal", would be featured on its racing game, FlatOut 2.

Revelations (2006—)

Brendan O'Brien, who has produced or mixed the albums of numerous major rock acts of the past twenty years, including Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam and Bruce Springsteen, is at the helm for their third record, provisionally titled Revelations. Audioslave has 20 songs written (a few of which were sampled during their 2005 tour) and returned to the studio in early January to finish recording them. This follow-up to Out of Exile is now 100% completed. The album is said to have a number of songs influenced by old-school R&B and Soul. In a recent interview, guitarist Tom Morello said that the album would feature 'funky grooves' that are similar to those of Led Zeppelin and Earth, Wind & Fire.

It is interesting to note that even though the group had supposedly recorded almost 2 dozen songs in their first month, their 2nd and 3rd efforts only consist of 12 tracks each. Revelations was recently pushed back to a September 5th release; consequently this summer Audioslave will not be touring Europe as first reported. 'Original Fire' has been pegged as the first single from the effort, and the song goes for adds on July 17th. MTV.com reported that the video for the song, directed by P.R. Brown was shot on the week of July 3rd to July 7th [1]. On July 11th the song was made available online on Audioslave's official website for free streaming.

The title song from Revelations will be released on the upcoming EA Sports football title Madden '07. The game will release on most consoles on August 22, 2006.

In July 2006, according to Blabbermouth.net, rumors were released that Revelations would be the band's final album with Cornell as he has plans for his second solo album. However, according to MTV.com, Cornell has quickly denied the break up.

Two songs from the upcoming album are prominently featured in Michael Mann's summer blockbuster, Miami Vice. Cornell is also confirmed as the artist behind the theme song to the upcoming James Bond film, Casino Royale. He will also release a solo album in 2007.

Another song, "Snakes on a Plane" will be the title track from the film "Snakes on a Plane."

A cover version of the band's song "Cochise" appears in the Playstation 2 Video Game Guitar Hero from Harmonix, makers of previous hit games Frequency and Amplitude.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums and Compilations

Singles

Year Song US Hot 100 US Modern Rock U.S. Mainstream Rock UK singles Album
2002 "Cochise" 69 9 2 24 Audioslave
2003 "Like A Stone" Certified Gold US 31 1 1 Audioslave
2003 "Show Me How to Live" 67 4 2 Audioslave
2004 "I Am The Highway" 66 3 2 Audioslave
2004 "What You Are" 17 8 Audioslave
2005 "Be Yourself" 32 1 1 40 Out of Exile
2005 "Your Time Has Come" 12 12 Out of Exile
2005 "Doesn't Remind Me" 68 3 2 Out of Exile
2005 "Out of Exile" 14 9 Out of Exile
2006 "Original Fire" 79 6 6 Revelations

Music Videos

  • Cochise - 2002
  • Like a Stone - 2003
  • Show Me How To Live - 2003
  • I Am The Highway (live) - 2003
  • Be Yourself - 2005
  • Your Time Has Come - 2005
  • Doesn't Remind Me - 2005

Music sample

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Audioslave shares its name

Audioslave worked out a deal with an unsigned band from Liverpool that uses the same name, with the U.S. band paying $30,000 in a deal that allows both bands to use the name. However, the U.K. band has now changed its name to The Most Terrifying Thing.

Tom Morello told LAUNCHcast that his band didn't purposely take the Liverpool outfit's name:

That was Chris's suggestion that sort of came to him in a vision. We're all on the two-way pagers, and Chris one night said, 'I got it. It's Audioslave.' We were all, like, 'All right, fantastic.' I think that it adds a kind of a...It's the last thing in the world, to paraphrase Elvis Costello, talking about band names is like dancing about architecture--there's just no point in it because the band name becomes the music and the people.

Morello added of the name, "I think it adds a kind of three-dimensional depth to the rest of the package."

Christopher Price, singer for the U.K.'s Audioslave, told the publication NME,

We'd had a few messages posted on our website from fans telling us that an American band was trying to steal our name--but we didn't take them seriously at first. Then, one day, our manager got a call from the U.S. to say they were interested in negotiating a deal--and it was then we decided we should get a solicitor involved. But we're all big fans of the American rock scene anyway, and we felt quite chuffed they wanted our name.

Part of the settlement indicates that each band must be true to its own identity when marketing and promoting recordings or concerts.

Live

Audioslave toured extensively in 2002/03 and again in 2005. Their shows have quickly become popular, and have often sold out at venues around the world. Audioslave has also been known to play unreleased or upcoming tracks at their shows, as well as a variety of cover songs. Some songs covered live have been "White Riot" (The Clash), "Seven Nation Army" (The White Stripes), "Working Man" (Rush), and numerous versions of songs from their past bands, including a song by Cornell's supergroup tribute band, (Temple of the Dog), called "Hunger Strike" among hits of their other bands, (Soundgarden, Rage Against the Machine). Many of these songs, as well as plenty of other original live material, can be legally downloaded at various places on the internet.

Although not officially announced at this point, it is likely Audioslave will go on tour after the release of their third album, Revelations, which is scheduled for release in 2006.

According to sources at their record label, the UK tour and the Reading and Leeds Festivals appearance were canceled so the band could concentrate on supporting the upcoming album. RockReview

Audiophiles: The Official Audioslave Fan Club

In May 2006 Audiophiles, Audioslave's official fan club, was launched with the full support of the band. The fan club receives numerous benefits because of its affiliation with the band, including a print newsletter. Pre-sale tickets are also available to members of the club, as well as contests for items such as signed memorabilia.

References

  • "Audioslave Works Out Settlement To Share Name With U.K. Band". LAUNCH. Oct. 24, 2002. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  • "Audioslave To Make History By Playing Free Show In Cuba". MTV. May 4, 2005.
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