As a general rule, I always help people move. It just seems the right thing to do, and as a positive side effect, I've never wanted for cheap labour when my turn comes around. That said, today I am a bit sore from all the physical exertion. This condition does not lend itself to listening to hard rock. In fact, once I had a couple listens in on this next album I switched to some 'non-Odyssey' listening in the car, and got in a few rounds of the Cowboy Junkies 1992 album, "Black Eyed Man".
But that is not today's review, since until we get into a little hard rock, there will be no advancement in this crazy quest I've put myself on. So without further ado...
Disc 329 is...Out of Exile
Artist: Audioslave
Year of Release: 2005
What’s Up With The Cover?: Not much. Audioslave has three albums, and all of the covers look like someone putting the band name on top of a bitmap from some generic Microsoft wallpaper. That said, as generic wallpaper goes, "Waves" is nice enough.
Besides, back when I reviewed their third album "Revelations", I couldn't even find a photo of the record to post. I've since taken to just photographing my CD cover and posting that - it is actually easier than seeking the CD cover art, and yet another argument for buying - not stealing - your music.
How I Came To Know It: I was introduced to Audisolave by my friend Chris D. "Out of Exile" was their second album, and I bought it when it came out a few years back.
How It Stacks Up: I have three Audioslave albums, which is all they made before splitting up. While considerably better than their final record, "Revelations", I am going to put "Out of Exile" a close second behind their self-titled debut. It is a photo finish though, albeit between a couple of slower horses.
Rating: 3 stars.
It has been over two years since I last reviewed an Audioslave record - all the way back to Disc 25, in fact. At that time I gave "Revelations" a lukewarm reception, and admitted that while not everyone likes "Audioslave", I do.
Since that time, my opinion on Audioslave has diminished a bit, but I still like them. When I first heard them, I thought they were the perfect rock amalgam: Rage Against the Machine's angry metal/funk sound driven by Tom Morello's guitar, and ex-Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell's soaring rock vocals.
All of these positives are clearly present on "Out of Exile." In fact, Morello is in fine form, able to shift between powerful riffs on songs like "Your Time Has Come", to quiet background grooves on "Doesn't Remind Me" to amazing 'look what I can do on the guitar' moments on songs like "Out of Exile". Often he pulls all three together seamlessly in a single song.
Cornell has a powerful rock voice and it is on full display throughout the record. Unfortunately, my musician friend Kelly recently pointed out that he tends to use the same vocal tricks on every song. Since I'm not a musician I can't explain what it is, but I can't help but hear the similarity of his approach to everything he does now that it has been pointed out.
While this may move Audioslave from a pleasure to a guilty pleasure, I can't deny I still like what I hear. Besides, apart from Morello's alien wizardry on the guitar, "Out of Exile" is essentially a straightforward hard rock record. Good for driving fast, and playing loud. It isn't particularly innovative, but what it does it does very well.
My favourite song on the record was (sadly) also a radio hit; "Doesn't Remind Me". This is a sorrowful song about a man trying to forget either a dead love or a loss of faith (or maybe both) by immersing himself in the immediacy of the things around him. The verses are delivered relatively quietly, with drums high in the mix and Cornell listing a variety of things that capture his own emotional detachment:
"I like gypsy moths and radio talk
'Cause it doesn't remind me of anything
I like gospel music and canned applause
'Cause it doesn't remind me of anything"
Then when the chorus hits, the song increases tempo and pounds with a fury as Cornell's lyrics admit that this effort to idly forget the past is ultimately unsuccessful:
"The things that I've loves the things that I lost
Things I held sacred that I've dropped
I won't lie no more you can bet
I don't want to learn what I'll need to forget."
While I don't subscribe to this kind of defeatism as a general approach to life, I think the song does a good job (musically and lyrically) of capturing those times in our lives when we feel this way. It shows that even if you work very hard to find emotional detachment and numbness at hard times, spots of rage will still show through until you properly work through what's going on in your head.
As with "Revelations" I found the first half of "Out of Exile" a lot better than the second (in the old days we called this "Side One"). The main exception being the exceptionally silly and schmaltzy, "Be Yourself" at track three, which is exactly as Walt Disney/After School Special in its message as the title suggests.
Of the last six tracks only "The Worm" really appeals, and even this song is basically just me falling for a killer funky riff from Morello's guitar to the point that I'm willing to overlook the song's faults. It makes me want to take all three of Audioslave's records and make a 'greatest hits' album for myself. I'll do that - but only after I have reviewed their final album, some time in the dim and distant future.
While "Out of Exile" didn't really teach me anything, nor did it overwhelm me musically, I still enjoyed it quite a bit. It is a solid rock record meant for summer driving with the top down of your convertible. If you don't have a convertible, I heartily recommend it, although obviously the CD is the less expensive purchase.
Best tracks: Your Time Has Come, Out of Exile, Doesn't Remind Me, The Worm
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