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Scream (Chris Cornell album)

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Scream is the third solo studio album by American musician Chris Cornell. Released on March 10, 2009 through Suretone Records and Mosley Music Group, it marked a shift from Cornell's previous musical efforts with the exclusion of some guitar and rock elements that were replaced with producer Timbaland's electronic pop soundscapes. The album was promoted with the release of five digital singles and three music videos, and was met with mostly negative reviews. The album debuted in the U.S at number 10 on the Billboard 200 with 26,000 copies sold.[4]

Production

Recording history

With the idea of remixing songs from his previous album Carry On (2007), Cornell first came into contact with Timbaland.[5] However, the collaboration evolved into the duo writing and recording an entire album in just six weeks, notably with the conceptual direction of "tying it all together musically", which Cornell describes as "[harkening] back to albums that I listened to when I was a kid, where the music never stops" and that it "begs to be listened to on headphones all the way through".[5]

Musical style

Billboard reported that Scream shows Cornell moving "in a much more R&B-oriented direction, with busy drum machine beats, buffed-up chorus vocals and string samples filling the nooks and crannies", comparing it to Gnarls Barkley and less that of "the guitar-driven music of Cornell's past with Soundgarden and Audioslave". Despite the controversy caused by teaming up with Timbaland,[6] Cornell insisted that he still played an integral part of the album's creation and didn't do what "Timbaland told me to do", further noting that they "didn't really have that relationship" and "it wasn't that type of a process. It was more, he would bring in a beat, an idea, I would write to it and sing it, and we would move on kind of to the next thing."[6]

Describing the album as a whole, Cornell compared it to Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon and Queen's A Night at the Opera, citing the psychedelic elements that Timbaland brought into the production.[7]

However, while a majority of the album is an R&B styled album, the hidden track "Two Drink Minimum" sees Cornell playing a blues-influenced rock song, with an acoustic guitar, organ, drums, and harmonica.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[8]
Billboard(mixed)[9]
Entertainment Weekly(B+)[10]
Hot Press(favorable)[11]
New York Times(mixed)[12]
NME[13]
Los Angeles Times[14]
Rolling Stone[15]
Robert Christgau(dud)[16]
Spin[17]

In the U.S, the album debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200 and thus became Cornell's first top 10 solo album. The next week it dropped 55 places to number 65, which was the largest second-week drop for a top 10-debuting album in two and a half years.[18] It was also a commercial disappointment, spending only 10 weeks on the Billboard 200.[19]

Initial critical response towards the release was mixed to negative. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 42, based on 19 reviews.[20] Scream received positive reviews from Entertainment Weekly and Hot Press who felt that the collaboration between producer Timbaland and Chris Cornell worked.[20] The mixed reviews were more prevalent, with Spin stating the album was "strangely appealing in its elaborately empty efficiency", while Billboard noted that "sometimes it's good bizarre. Other times it's bad bizarre."[20] Rolling Stone wrote that Scream "veers between drab–sleek and rock–dude soulful; Cornell's yowl never sounds at home".[20] Among the negative reviews, Allmusic wrote that "Scream is one of those rare big-budget disasters, an exercise in misguided ambition that makes no sense outside of pure theory."[21]

Nine Inch Nails creator Trent Reznor attacked the album, condemning it as "embarrassing" on Twitter.[22]

Track listing

All songs written by Chris Cornell, Timothy Mosley and Jerome Harmon, additional writing credits below.

No.TitleWriter(s)Additional ProductionLength
1."Part of Me"Johnkenun Spivery, Ezekiel Lewis, Balewa MuhammadCo-produced with Johnkenun Spivery
Backing Vocals: Timbaland, Ezekiel Lewis and Jim Beanz		5:14
2."Time"James Washington, Lewis, MuhammadBacking Vocals: Ezekiel Lewis & Jim Beanz
Co-produced with Jim Beanz		4:39
3."Sweet Revenge"Washington, James FauntleroyBacking Vocals: James Fauntleroy and Jim Beanz4:10
4."Get Up"Washington, FauntleroyBacking Vocals: James Fauntleroy and Jim Beanz3:35
5."Ground Zero"WashingtonBacking Vocals: Jim Beanz
Co-produced with Jim Beanz		3:09
6."Never Far Away"Washington, Ryan Tedder, Lewis, MuhammadCo-produced with Ryan Tedder
Backing Vocals: Ezekiel Lewis, Ryan Tedder and Jim Beanz		5:06
7."Take Me Alive" (featuring Justin Timberlake)Washington, Justin TimberlakeBacking Vocals: Jim Beanz4:36
8."Long Gone"Tedder, Lewis, Patrick "J. Que" Smith, MuhammadBacking Vocals: Ezekiel Lewis
Co-produced with Ryan Tedder		5:15
9."Scream"WashingtonBacking Vocals: Jim Beanz
Co-produced with Jim Beanz		6:14
10."Enemy"Washington, Tedder, Spivery, Lewis, MuhammadCo-produced with Ryan Tedder & Johnkenun Spivery
Backing vocals: Ezekiel Lewis, Ryan Tedder and Jim Beanz		4:35
11."Other Side of Town"Washington, TedderCo-produced with Ryan Tedder4:48
12."Climbing Up the Walls"Washington, TedderCo-produced with Ryan Tedder4:48
13."Watch Out"WashingtonBacking Vocals: Jim Beanz
Co-produced with Jim Beanz		4:02
14."Two Drink Minimum" (Hidden Track)John Mayer3:03

Bonus tracks

No.TitleWriter(s)Additional productionLength
15."Ordinary Girl" (Availability: iTunes US & UK)Washington, TedderCo-produced with Ryan Tedder4:33
16."Lost Cause" (Availability: iTunes UK, Barnes & Noble)Washington 4:20
17."Do Me Wrong" (Availability: Amazon.com & Japanese Editions.)Tedder, Evan Bogart, FauntleroyCo-produced with Ryan Tedder2:54
18."Stop Me" (Availability: Verizon Wireless - Blackberry Storm Exclusive,[23] Rhapsody digital-download service)Tedder, Bogart, FauntleroyCo-produced with Ryan Tedder
Backing Vocals: James Fauntleroy		3:34
19."Love Comes Down" (Availability: Unreleased)Washington, Lewis, Muhammad, Smith  
20."Why Do You Follow Me?" (Availability: Unreleased)   

Rock Versions

There are currently two Scream tracks that have had "Rock Versions" of them released. The first being an alternate version of "Long Gone", produced by Howard Benson,[24] which was accompanied by an official music video directed by DJ Skee's Skee.tv.[25]

The second track to come to light was a "Rock Version" of "Never Far Away". This version was not a remix, but a completely new recording, produced by Jordon Zadorozny. It has yet to be released for purchase, but has been, with permission from Cornell himself, made available for streaming by Alan Cross.[26] In October 2009, it was reported that Cornell was working with Jordon Zadorozny and Michael Friedman to rework the entire Scream album but this remains unconfirmed. This now seems unlikely as Cornell has now rejoined Soundgarden.[27]

No.TitleWriter(s)Release FormatLength
1."Long Gone" (Rock Version)Chris Cornell, Howard BensonReleased via the Long Gone (Rock Version) digital-only single3:41
2."Never Far Away" (Rock Version)Cornell, Jordon ZadoroznyOnly available for streaming3:59

Charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Austria Albums Top 75[28] 47
Canadian Albums Top 100[29] 13
Denmark Albums Top 40[28] 30
Dutch Albums Top 100[28] 61
Finnish Albums Chart[30] 18
German Albums Chart[31] 46
Polish Albums Chart[32] 32
Swiss Albums Top 100[28] 28
UK Albums Top 75[33] 70
U.S. Billboard 200[4] 10
World Albums Top 40[28] 35

References

  1. ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Higher Truth - Chris Cornell | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
  2. ^ Breihan, Tom (June 26, 2009). "Reznor Reveals Rejected Timbaland Remix". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  3. ^ Grebey, James (August 24, 2015). "Chris Cornell Says New Soundgarden Album Is Coming". Spin. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Information Not Found". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
  5. ^ a b "Chris Cornell Unveils Timbaland-Produced Tracks That Sound Like ... Chris Cornell And Timbaland". MTV. 2008-07-24. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
  6. ^ a b "CHRIS CORNELL Sets Release Date For New Album". Blabbermouth. 2008-08-25. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
  7. ^ "CHRIS CORNELL To Unleash His 'Scream' This Fall". Blabbermouth. 2008-07-29. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
  8. ^ "Scream - Chris Cornell". Allmusic.
  9. ^ https://web.archive.org/20090303230615/http://www.billboard.com:80/bbcom/reviews-album/scream-1003946042.story. Archived from the original on March 3, 2009. Retrieved March 3, 2009. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "Scream Review". Entertainment Weekly. 2009-03-04. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "Scream-ager of the year". Hot Press. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ "Critics Choice". New York Times. 2009-03-09. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ "Album review: Chris Cornell". NME. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ "Album review: Chris Cornell's 'Scream'". Los Angeles Times. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ "Internet Archive Wayback Machine". Web.archive.org. 2009-03-06. Archived from the original on 2009-03-06. Retrieved 2011-12-27. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  16. ^ "CG: Artist 253". Robert Christgau.
  17. ^ "Chris Cornell, 'Scream' (Interscope/Mosley)". Spin. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ "Music Chart Analysis, Artist Spotlights, Music Insider, Chart Beat & News". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
  19. ^ [1] Archived 2013-05-16 at the Wayback Machine
  20. ^ a b c d "Chris Cornel:Scream (2009): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 2009-04-07.
  21. ^ "Scream review: Allmusic". Allmusic. Macrovision, Inc. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  22. ^ Trent Reznor - Twitter
  23. ^ "Chris Cornell - "Stop Me"". The Timbaland Buzz. 2009-03-15. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
  24. ^ "iTunes - Music - Long Gone (Rock Version) - Single by Chris Cornell". Itunes.apple.com. 2009-05-05. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
  25. ^ "Long Gone (Rock Version) - Chris Cornell". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
  26. ^ [2] Archived 2009-11-01 at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ "Chris Cornell to rework entire "Scream" album into rock album". AlternativeAddiction. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
  28. ^ a b c d e "Chris Cornell - Scream - Music Charts". Acharts.us. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
  29. ^ "CANOE - JAM! Music SoundScan Charts". Jam.canoe.ca. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
  30. ^ Suomen virallinen lista [dead link‍]
  31. ^ "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts, News, Neuerscheinungen, Tickets, Genres, Genresuche, Genrelexikon, Künstler-Suche, Musik-Suche, Track-Suche, Ticket-Suche". musicline.de. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
  32. ^ OLiS Archived 2009-03-17 at the Wayback Machine
  33. ^  1 hr ago (2011-04-20). "Yahoo! UK & Ireland omg! - Celebrity Gossip | News | Photos | Videos". Uk.launch.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2011-12-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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