Thursday, May 18, 2017

Chris Cornell

This morning as I finished my shift at work, news broke that Chris Cornell (lead singer of Soundgarden and Audioslave) passed away suddenly at the age of 52. It was later revealed that Chris took his own life in his hotel room in Detroit. It's a sad story. For no specific reason, I don't usually join in the chorus of people who mourn celebrity deaths. Truthfully, as much as some of these musicians and actors have inspired me, and I have found solace in thier work - I don't know them, and I don't think that what I have to say on the internet is particularly helpful to anyone other then me. But in this case, I felt compelled to add my voice to the people.

I didn't know Chris Cornell, I never met him, and I never even got to see him perform in concert. I have no amazing stories of how his music saved my life, or got me through a specifically hard time - but what I can say is that Chris Cornell, and his amazing voice were a significant part of the soundtrack of my life. Whether it be hearing Soundgarden for the first time at the hands of my Uncle David (He played me "Spoonman" of course), or whether it was going back and discovering his one time supergroup Temple of the Dog, or whether it was embracing certain songs out of his solo career, or whether it was later on with Audioslave - his voice - no matter what ensemble it was found with was always close to my heart and close to my ears.

Let's talk about his voice. If you read articles and stuff you'll hear about the uniqueness of his voice. You'll hear about his near 4 octave range, you'll hear about his rankings in lists of top rock vocalists etc - but you don't need all that. All you have to do is listen. He's got a great singing voice. He can bring it down and be intimate, he can scream, he can sing. He was blessed with a wonderful voice. And as a non-musician, music loving, amateur singing sensation - I paid special attention that voice.

He was also part of a special generation and special "scene" of musicians. Much is made of the Seattle Grunge movement of the late 80's and early to mid 90's. Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and of course Nirvana. These bands shared a creative spark coming out of the Pacific Northwest scene, but also in my opinion (however uninformed it might be) they drove each other to greater excellence in music.

Anyway, his death is sad. Sadder still as it is a result of suicide. And I thought instead of saying all the cliche things that people say in moments like these - that instead I would share with you (and yes I'm aware there is no one reading this blog again yet) my favorite song from each segment of Chris Cornell's career. So, my favorite Soundgarden song, my favorite Temple of the Dog song, my favorite Chris Cornell solo song, and my favorite Audioslave song. I'm also going to link you to a special bonus song - a live performance of a particularly meaningful Led Zeppelin song - that he absolutely destroys in a good way. As an aside if you were to ask me - my favorite Chris Cornell record is Temple of the Dog - it's pretty freakin' amazing. So - thank you Chris Cornell for sharing your gift, and here in this space I will share it as well.

Soundgarden - Fell on Black Days

Temple of the Dog - Say Hello 2 Heaven

Chris Cornell - Sunshower

Audioslave - I am the Highway

Chris Cornell - Thank You (Led Zeppelin Cover)

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home