[ Music Index | Silicon Valley | Metroactive Home | Archives ]

Spring Music Guide 2003 Audioslave Support: Burning Brides Date: March 19-20, 8pm. $32.25. The Warfield, 982 Market St., San Francisco. 415.775.7722 Current Album: Audioslave (Epic, 2002) Vitals: '90s alt-metal heavyweights form a hard-rocking supergroup. Breakthrough: "Cochise" (2002) Current Single: "Like a Stone" (2003) Scouting Report: From the start, it seemed like a hard-rock version of Blind Date: Hook former Soundgarden screamer Chris Cornell up with the Zach-less Rage Against the Machine and see what happens. The sparks sure didn't fly the first time around; after a year of writing and recording, and just before they were to hit the road last summer on OzzFest 2002, Cornell split, insisting the relationship wasn't working out. But last fall, the parties reconciled, shared a big group hug in the "Cochise" video and decided to push forward with this music marketer's wet dream. Its difficult not to look back fondly on past loves and compare them to the present, fair or not. For all of Audioslave's promise on paper, the group is far less polemic and incendiary than Rage, and never really approaches Soundgarden's snarling murk metal, either. Excellent musicianship certainly abounds, but the songs rarely gel enough to galvanize the listener. Still, if you're a fan, be sure to catch them live while you can--something tells me they're not gonna remain a blissful union for very long. (MAG) Send a letter to the editor about this story to letters@metronews.com. [ Silicon Valley | Metroactive Home | Archives ]