Chris Cornell and… Timbaland?!? WTF!

Subject header says it all..."Out of a seemingly unlikely collaboration, comes an instantly familiar sound which defies genre's and pushes the envelope of sound."

By Blurt Staff

Honestly, we couldn't make this stuff up.

***

The eagerly anticipated 3^rd solo record from Chris Cornell, entitled Scream, will be released this Spring, on March 10^th, via Interscope Records. Best known as the acclaimed lead singer and songwriter for Soundgarden and Audioslave, Cornell and producer Timbaland have created a 13-track, inventive new work which looks to spearhead a brave new world of cross-genre collaboration.

The two artists were introduced at the suggestion that Timbaland create remixes for Cornell's 2007 solo album, Carry On. Not content to merely remix a few songs, Timbaland proposed that they record an entire album. Work began in early 2008 in Miami, and 5 tracks from the album are already creating a buzz on the internet and on radio, including "Scream," "Part Of Me" "Long Gone" and "Watch Out."

Scream is a seamless work. Timbaland makes inventive use of Cornell's soaring melodies and incisive lyrics, setting his intense vocal performances against a lush, expressive soundscape and irresistible stutter-step beats. Like so many genre-busting musical innovations of the past -- including David Bowie's disco collaboration with Nile Rodgers, "Let's Dance" - Scream is a testament to Cornell's ever evolving musicianship and artistry.

A musical tour de force, Scream's album opener "Part of Me" acts as the smash club hit on the record and "Long Gone" showcases Chris's stunning vocals and emotive melodies. Despite its varying moods, the album is a cohesive collection of songs produced by two of the most acclaimed American hit-makers on the music sphere today. As Cornell recently told veteran rock journalist Matt Pinfield, "If you get into a kind of comfortable corner, where you're doing what you're used to, you can get locked in that corner and stuck there, and you're done. That's never going to happen to me." Cornell says, "The whole album is a pretty radical musical departure for me. It is the highlight of my career."

Currently residing in Paris and Los Angeles, Chris Cornell has been heralded as the chief architect for grunge, writing a string of hits for Soundgarden, including the Grammy Award-winning "Black Hole Sun" and "Spoonman," After recording  the last album with Soundgarden, Cornell continued to shine as a critically acclaimed solo artist. "Can't Change Me," the first single from his 1999 solo debut Euphoria Morning, was nominated for a Grammy Award, while a reworked version of "Mission" was included on the soundtrack to the film Mission: Impossible II. In 2000, Cornell put his solo career on hold to join former Rage Against the Machine members Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk in Audioslave. In 2006, Cornell co-wrote and performed the theme song for the James Bond film Casino Royale, entitled "You Know My Name." Cornell is the only American male solo artist to date who has ever been commissioned to write the theme song for the Bond franchise.

Out of a seemingly unlikely collaboration, comes an instantly familiar sound which defies genre's and pushes the envelope of sound.