Unlimited Music

In what may be their final album, Audioslave delivers some of their best work. Chris Cornell’s grating voice has always worked perfectly with the advanced guitar work of the former Rage Against the Machine members, but the band’s sound never came together as it should…until now.

The CD opens with a bang with the song “Revelations.” The song focuses more on Cornell’s lyrics and voice than the other band members and uses a terrific mid-song build up to keep listeners hooked for multiple listens. After the opening track is “One And The Same.” This song might be my favorite off of the album as a whole. The guitar solo in the song is just about the best I’ve heard in a long time. Of course, such solos are commonplace for Audioslave (and Rage for that matter) as other tracks, such as “Original Fire” show.

In fact, the guitars in “Original Fire” is so impressive that it overshadows the excellent music video that accompanied the first single. Using only riffs and their fingers, the band manages to create the impression that the guitar itself is actually laughing.

Just about every song on this album, from the aforementioned songs to others like “Broken City” are good. While the band’s style does sometimes carry the threat of repetitiveness, many of the tracks come off feeling fresh and should please fans of the genre and band.

Grade - A- - It is a shame that the band broke up after this album…the band was just hitting their high points.

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