Audioslave : Audioslave
Epic

No matter how high up the ladder of success you go, there is always someone there to keep you in check. Which is how I know that I won't get away with giving Audioslave a ten star review. Okay, so I go over the top sometimes, but I've lived with this for a week now and it just keeps on getting better, and sneaks in just behind Bowie's Heathen for my album of the year.

The other reviews I've seen seem to come at it from the Rage Against The Machine slant, but while they were cool for five minutes, Soundgarden were my drug of choice. Also, ex-Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell's Euphoria Morning was my album of the year in er . . . whatever year it came out, so Cornell cannot do much wrong in my eyes.
    Audioslave will be called a supergroup and a hybrid and to be honest, I'm not sure they will like either name. Why can't they just be a band? Well, they can here. Enough of the past and lazy comparisons!

Cochise is just about as good a way to launch your debut album as you'll ever find and will surely inch its way into the subconscious of the nation before too long. From there on, for the most part, the music swoops and dives like the changeling it is.
    Staking a huge concrete post in the middle of the album are Shadow Of The Sun and I Am The Highway, which is good, for what follows is very brave. All rules are left behind from here on. With nothing to prove with regards to ability, power and talent, Audioslave throw caution to the wind and let fly with some particularly ambitious tracks in the form of Hypnotize and Getaway Car - neither of which was probably what you were expecting but both of which you got and will love in time.

Above all else, power and streetwise smarts reign supreme here. Tom Morello is a perfect foil for Cornell. Between them, they cook up some serious thunder. I suspect this won't be the only Audioslave album in the near future.
    Audioslave is an absolute pleasure to listen to. It is rock in its purest form, with each person bringing their very best to the table. When Pearl Jam was spawned from the ashes of Mother Love Bone, nobody thought they would take over the world. This time, everybody expects just that, and only time will tell if the world can handle it. Taken at face value though, I challenge you to find something better than this. Awesome.

:: Sion Smith