Fresh Metal
Chris Cornell - Euphoria Morning
(A&M/Universal)
When I heard (as the months ticked by) that this wasn't that rockin', my anticipation crested,
because of my high regard for mellow Soundgarden, then waned once I saw a few reviews. Fact is,
this thing's quite a snoozer, as impenetrable as the awkward, ill-fitting record title, a cross
between Radiohead, Oasis, soft Lenny Kravitz, softer Manic Street Preachers and the bits of
Soundgarden which were so mellow, they felt unarranged. Love the guy's voice, and his lyrics, but
too much of this just lopes with no directive, most every track adding some sort of new
alternative/acid jazz novelty effect (usually just a smarmy guitar tone) that just distracts from
the songs while adding little. Like the large amounts of sinking, soaring and general motion in
the lyrics, I just felt awash in this thing, listen after listen, and not in a good way. We
Canuckleheads can go ahead and compare it to the dreaded Edwin slab, 'cos it's the same sort of
cyclical meander. There are hooky tracks (Flutter Girl, Page/Planter Follow My Way and just barely
Pillow Of Your Bones), but much of it is this Gap-garbed nu-Beatles stuff that pushes away
enjoyment.
Rating 6
Tribute To Aerosmith - Not The Same Old Song And Dance
(Deadline)
This is probably the most pleasing way to do one of these things, stuff it full of fantastic guest
stars and enjoy the ride. The music's pretty much predictable here, but that's cool, because it's
the vocalists who take centre scarf. Pure guilty pleasure is Ted Nugent, who is nicely matched to
'Rag Doll'. An even better match is Ronnie James Dio with, you guess it, 'Dream On' (guitar
uber-wank by Yngwie). But you know who steals the show? Bad boy Vince Neil, who is the man born
for 'Chip Away The Stone', a cool semi-rarity for the band, a great hunk of Stones that Vince
shakes up and sprays all over your party dress. Man, pretty much every slot is filled by a legend
or semi-legend here. I mean this was no quick crap thing, despite the cheapo packaging.
Recommended.
Rating 7.5
Hard Reviews Page 2
