SOUND BITES

I was 14 when I first heard Chris Cornell sing. As an avid consumer of MuchMusic during my teenage years (and they as an avid provider of actual musical content), I discovered countless bands and artists during the many, many hours I spent in front of the living room TV. During a nondescript day circa 1990 or so, there was a segment wherein an up-and-coming band named Soundgarden was having a discussion with one of the VJs regarding the controversy that surrounded their current single Hands All Over . Certain outlets were hesitant to spin the track due to the recurring refrain of "kill your mother". Cornell defended the lyrics, citing the song to be about our strained relationship with the earth and reasoning that it was about the environment and not matricide. Of course, the video was played, along with a disclaimer of some sort that basically implored the listener to not take it so literally. Obviously, I'd never heard a voice like that before. So commanding, cro...

Surprising turns from established heavy bands. New heights for critical darlings. Up and coming artists making strong first impressions. The back half of summer saw all of this and more, as even the dog days saw some worthwhile releases that begged our attention. The fourth collection of Song of the Year nominees are:

His stature as a vocalist is undisputed; Chris Cornell, for anyone who's paid even a passing glance to rock music over the last quarter century, is one of the genre's defining singers, just like other distinctive voices like Eddie Vedder and Maynard James Keenan. Whether belting out rage hymns with Soundgarden, digging for radio gold with Audioslave or presenting one of his intimate solo acoustic performances, you never confuse Cornell with someone else. For whatever reason, Cornell's solo records have had to endure harsher criticisms than those of his bands over the years. The first, Euphoria Mourning (I altered the spelling on it because he's done so himself on the newly reissued version of the album), dropped in 1998 (after the original split of Soundgarden) to initial excitement but eventually lived on only in the memories of card carrying fans. This was followed post-Audioslave with Carry On in 2007, which received mixed results. By far his most scrutinized so...