Blogs
  • Go! 3/7-3/9
    06:00PM 03/07/08
  • R.E.M. Accelerate: An Advance Review and Song-by-Song Analysis of the Band's New Album
    04:06AM 03/08/08
  • Your Weekly St. Louis Food Blog Digest
    03:45PM 03/07/08
  • This Is Hawkwind -- Do Not Panic
    06:08PM 11/09/07
Recent Articles
Related Articles

Recent Articles By Phil Freeman

National Features

  • Houston Press
    "It Was Like an Armageddon Movie"

    For days after Hurricane Rita, a Texas prison was hell on earth.

    By Chris Vogel
  • SF Weekly
    The Candidate

    Our columnist knows Ralph Nader's running mate all too well.

    By Matt Smith
  • The Pitch
    How Not To Be a Rap Star

    First of all, lay off the Ecstasy.

    By Nadia Pflaum
  • Village Voice
    Project Runaway

    What becomes a gossip columnist most?

    By Michael Musto

Chris Cornell can't dance. If he could, he wouldn't have transformed "Billie Jean" into a funkless piano-and-guitar dirge, a trick he pulls eight tracks into his second solo album. Handing Zack de la Rocha his walking papers in favor of Cornell was the best move Audioslave ever made. Cornell has one of the great voices in modern rock — gruff, yet powerfully melodic. Frequently trafficking in unexpected imagery, his lyrics jump out amid the hard-rock clichés smothering contemporary radio. And on this album, he's got a solid backing band with another secret-weapon guitarist: the maniacal noise-sculptor and avant-gardist, Gary Lucas of Gods and Monsters. This dude throws one curveball after another at a set of otherwise conventional rock songs. There's a lot of radio fodder on Carry On. "She'll Never Be Your Man," "Disappearing Act" and "Finally Forever" could cross over to country fans, while "Killing Birds" and "Your Soul Today" are reminiscent of Soundgarden's later, weirder albums. But ultimately, it doesn't hold together as an album, because there's no concept beyond "Here's a bunch of songs I wrote" — plus that bizarre Michael Jackson cover.

About Us | Work for Riverfront Times | Esubscribe | Free St. Louis Classifieds | National Advertising | Privacy Policy
Problem With the Site? | RSS | Site Map
©2008 Village Voice Media All rights reserved.

Riverfront Times Insiders

  • Local food, music and news blasts
  • Free Stuff

buy, sell, trade (3,283)
musician (445)
rentals (3,962)
jobs (2,697)
adult entertainment (1,107)
Personal of the Day


More Personals >>
NOW CLICK THIS
  • - SXSW Showdown!
  • - Ultra Music Festival
  • - Cocktails for a Cause!
  • - Virtual Career Fair
  • - St. Louis Home Search
  • - Restaurants 2007
  • - Digital Jukebox
  • - St. Louis Spaces
  • - 2008 RFT Restaurant Guide Poll, Vote Now!
  • - RENTstlouis