"Audioslave's" third and final album was released on September 4th, 2006, so let's talk about some "Revelations" !!
We open with a quote from Tom Morello about how he describes the album:
"Earth, Wind and Fire meets Led Zeppelin"
Musically this album is a little different from the band's two previous albums. If we've heard so far
Rage Against the Machine / Soundgarden, now we hear "Audioslave". It feels like this album was “one step forward” in the development of the band that is already crystallizing as something whole and starting to experiment together in musical directions.
If in previous albums they were very reminiscent of the style of RATM they are already starting to take on a different hue and create a special and unique identity that characterizes them. If we talk about the fact that on the second album, they started to form a band in everything related to managed conduct, being, and working together, here it is already reflected in the musical nature.
(Photo: Interscope)
Tom and Chris Cornell said they brought more soul and emotion to this album with a lot of soul and funk touches that are felt very nicely in the songs "One and the Same", "Jewel Of The Summertime", "Somedays" and "Original Fire". Beyond the structure of the songs that seem to go from rough riffs to more rhythmic/pleasant rhythms, Chris' lyrics also talk more about life, love, and even political positions, unlike the previous albums which touched more on gloomier and more painful issues.
Tom testified that on this album Chris did not smoke, drink, or use drugs so it could also be what contributed to the change...
They produced this album for the first time with producer Brendan O'Brien and not with Rick Rubin with whom they produced the previous two albums.
But do not worry, you will also find here songs (and parts of the songs) with the attacking power of the "raging trio", the hard rock that gives in the head like "Shape Of Things To Come", "Revelations", "Sound Of A Gun" and "Wide Awake".
It is impossible to ignore the timing of the album and what happened after it...
This album came out a year after the second album and right after the band members returned from a tour of the previous album. It seems like someone told them, guys... hurry up because we do not have much time left and we need to wrap up.
Immediately upon completion of the album recording, Chris began work on his solo album released later in May 2007, and on the theme song of the film James Bond when the rest of the band began working on the reunion of RATM (February 2007).
There were no future plans for the band and even a tour to support the album that had just been released was not in sight.
And indeed on February 15 Chris officially announced that he was leaving the band as a result of disagreements and musical inconsistencies. We later discovered that despite all the talk about the band connecting as a band and that on the album they feel they are getting a unique hue and they are also writing as a band, they are actually falling apart from within.
We won’t go into much of the details of the breakup because we came to enjoy the album, but we’ll just tell you that the disagreements were probably mostly about business conduct between Chris and the rest of the band and the form of management. Chris claimed that everything became a negotiation, for every little thing he wanted to do he had to negotiate as if he were signing a contract. This is probably what broke him (he did not even officially announce to the other members about his departure) and he decided to leave to continue his solo career.
We’ll also end with a quote from the band’s latest song, “Moth,” which was recorded for the album as a result of the producer’s pressure to record another last song, a quote that might prove that Chris knew it was the end.
“I don't fly around your fire anymore”
So let's leave the controversies in the past and enjoy the music because that's basically what we're left with from this amazing band and from Chris himself...
Listen to the album on: Spotify, Apple Music