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MINI REVIEW: AUDIOSLAVE "OUT OF EXILE"

Artist: Audioslave
Album Title: Out Of Exile
Genre: Rock/Hard Rock
2005
Interscope Records

When did I buy it?: I bought it on the day it was released, May 24 2005.

Why did I buy it?: I was an Audioslave fan from the time I bought their first album in 2003, so I was curious about their sophomore effort. I had the chance to preview it online, and I liked it so much that I wanted to buy it right when it came out. I specifically wanted it for the track "Doesn't Remind Me."

What are the best songs?: There really aren't any bad songs on Out Of Exile. Even the weakest tracks offer either beauty or power, or both. The album starts off strong with "Your Time Has Come." While perhaps not the killer opener that "Cochise" was, it still kicks major butt with its relentless guitar and drum attack.

The second track, title track "Out Of Exile," is perhaps the strongest song on the album. It combines a heavy Rage-style instrumental assault with Chris Cornell's poetic lyrics and beautiful singing voice and melody. The main melody will be stuck in your head for days, and the chorus is classic Cornell. The beautiful melodies continue on third single "Doesn't Remind Me." Even more so than "Out Of Exile," this song's verse melody will grab your attention. Chris plays it smooth and soulful during the verses, crazy and loud during the chorus. This gem of a song is then capped off with a sweet guitar solo from Tom Morello. "Doesn't Remind Me" is truly a unique and great Audioslave track and one of their best so far.

"Drown Me Slowly" keeps the hard rock vibe going. Unlike some of the previous tracks, Chris brings out his primal scream for the whole song. Morello puts his mark on it with a weird hip-hop inspired solo. "Heaven's Dead" may not appeal to the hardcore fans, but it's as good a power ballad as any released in the past few years. This shows the beautiful, thoughtful side of Audioslave, at least moreso than on other songs.

Lastly, "#1 Zero" is a hard-rocker of the finest caliber. The lyrics, about a would-be power struggle between two people, are quite interesting. Beyond the lyrics, the band gives a very fine instrumental performance. The song starts out slow and semi-quiet, but gets very intense in the middle section. When the intensity kicks in, it packs the power of a freight train and then some!

Any bad stuff?: Like I said before, all the songs are good. I want to get that out of the way before I start my complaints so that I don't have to keep repeating it.

"Dandelion" may be a good song, but the title makes it stand out uncomfortably. I don't think the hardcore fans appreciate it very much, so it probably should have been a B-side instead of an album track.

"Be Yourself" should not have been the first single. It's not a hard-rocking song, and thus did not capture the imaginations of either the hardcore Audioslave fans or casual radio listeners (I want to note here that, by "hardcore fans," I mean the fans who favor the faster, more aggressive songs over the slower ballads). I think "Out Of Exile" would have been a better choice for first single. That said, this track will please fans who loved "Like A Stone."

The only filler track on the album is "Yesterday To Tomorrow." I don't think it really breaks any new ground in the Audioslave sound. It would have been one of the standouts of their debut, but it has much stronger competition from the best songs on Out Of Exile.

That's it for the negative points. The rest of the album is just amazing.

Overall Thoughts: To use a baseball analogy, Audioslave's first album was a bunt - it was a solid effort, but didn't go as far as it could have. Out Of Exile, on the other hand, is a home run in every way possible. The band sounds so much better here on every track. They sound like a true band, a testament to the time they spent on the road promoting their debut. They sound a little lost on some the tracks from that first album, but on this one they seem to have a direction that moves beyond their previous projects. Yes, the band members are still going to sound like Rage Against The Machine. Why wouldn't they, after so much time together? Chris Cornell is still going to sound like Chris Cornell. The difference this time is that they blend those two elements together in a better way.

This album is packed with great melodies courtesy of Chris Cornell. It's hard rock, but yet it still sounds beautiful. That combination of beauty and power should become a huge part of Audioslave's style. "Doesn't Remind Me," in particular, blows away everything they did on the previous album. The creativity is there and it shows. A lot of fans didn't like this album, and I don't really know why. I think it's the fault of previous expectations against actual results. I came into Audioslave fandom without much real knowledge of either Rage or Soundgarden apart from the hits, so I hear things with fresh ears. And what these ears hear is one of the most exciting, captivating, diverse and just plain rocking albums of the past few years. The future looks bright for Chris, Tom, Brad and Tim.

Album Score: 5 out of 5. Yeah, I said it. Five out of five. Not one of these tracks is skip-worthy. I immediately fell in love with this album, and I'm still in love with it.