Chris Cornell – Part Of Me

3 stars (out of 5)

2


WARNING: Audioslave and Soundgarden fans should head for the door as soon as possible, because this is not going to be what you’re expecting. ‘Part Of Me’ is a dream pop/R&B single off Chris Cornell’s new album ‘SCREAM’’, co-recorded with record producer turned clothing designer Timothy ‘Timbaland’ Mosley. I’ll just wait a moment for the aforementioned fans to leave…

What I am not so subtly saying here is that Chris has taken a huge leap of faith on this single, and indeed the album as a whole. Let’s get one thing straight though, first of all the vocals in this single are absolutely terrific, harmonic yet powerful – true Chris calibre stuff. The lyrics however… not so much, in fact make that everything else, not so much. Some of the world’s greatest artists have jumped ship from one genre to another and been welcomed with open arms, but few have ever had the fan base and respect that Chris Cornell had prior to this single.

I’m not saying that the song is bad, far from it in fact, I expect to hear this blasting throughout central London nightclubs for many months to come, it’s just not where Cornell’s talent should be directed. The beat is spot on (Timbaland rarely lets you down in this department), the lyrics are as deep as you’d expect from an everyday ‘Top Of The Pops’ style song, and I’m sure the rest of the album will compliment this nicely. It would be like U2 releasing a country western album, it may well work but that’s just not what is expected by their fans to emanate from them.

It’s just the overall pop bravado that is drizzled over the whole single that really drags this down to another song for annoying people to interchangeably upload onto their mobile phones and play through bad quality speakers during the E7 bus route. I want to say I personally love it but at best it’s a ‘catchy, sing in your head for the rest of that day then move on’ single. For me now the Chris Cornell era is over, but if you are able to let your inhibitions loose and be free of the past, I can see this being a smash hit on ‘NOW’ CDs for many generations to come.

Comments

2 Responses to “Chris Cornell – Part Of Me”
  1. Jonny says:

    Personally, I am fan of both Auidoslave and dance music, yet I really really disliked this song. I don’t know many people that will like this song. Chris’s voice doesn’t work in this song, I think this sound would have been better voiced by someone else.

    This song will not going to get big for one reason, you can’t sing along to it. No one will want to sing, “That bitch ain’t a part of me”.

    My review, this song, weak beans!

  2. DunK says:

    Hey Jonny,

    I can see the point that Chris’ voice isn’t ideal, but at the core of it he does the vocals well, it’s just a shame that it’s been slotted into this genre.

    Oh, and I never knew the chorus went: “That bitch ain’t a part of me” until your comment, since I got the radio edit version of: “That chick ain’t a part of me.”

    No Chris Cornell song should ever have to do a radio edit.

Speak Your Mind

Tell us what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!