Audioslave - Show Me How To Live

Audioslave - Cochise

Audioslave interview

A few weeks before Tom Morello reported to the seaside Casa Del Mar hotel to introduce his new band to the media, he picked up an issue of one of the magazines scheduled to interview him.



"...rock is about to be back in a serious way." — Tom Morello


The Vines were on the cover with the words "Rock Is Back" plastered across the page. Morello chuckled. "I looked at that and I was like, 'You are in for a world of hurt if you think rock is back, because rock is about to be back in a serious way,' " he recalled.


It's been 10 years almost to the day since Morello last debuted a band to the world. Back then, critics were making the same declaration about the state of rock 'n' roll, pegging its return on Nirvana and Pearl Jam. And rap and rock were still learning how to get along.

Like now, Morello felt sure he was about to rattle the musical climate. And the guitarist couldn't have been more right about Rage Against the Machine.

Meanwhile, in 1992 Chris Cornell was part of the grunge tidal wave as the singer in Soundgarden. He was writing what would become their most successful album, Superunknown, and thinking nothing about rap-metal.



"It wasn't until '96 that I really even understood Rage..." — Chris Cornell


"It wasn't until '96 that I really even understood Rage, because I'd heard them on the radio and I'd heard records, but I just assumed that they had, I don't know, electronics and loops and scratching," Cornell mused, his slim figure draped in a leather jacket.

Over the next 10 years, Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine cranked out influential albums, toured on Lollapaloozas and helped make alternative rock a radio format. They also battled inner-band turmoil that would eventually lead to both groups' demises.

In early 2001, no one had any idea these stories would intersect. Cornell was writing his second solo album in Seattle, while Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk were auditioning B-Real in Los Angeles. The remaining Rage members had nothing but praise for the Cypress Hill rapper, but they wanted someone who sounded nothing like Zack de la Rocha.



Photos of the Band


Cornell had met Morello a few times over the years and even once talked about singing on a Morello solo album that never got off the ground. He had been courted by other bands but never considered joining another group until he received a call from Rick Rubin, the music mogul who orchestrated the landmark Run-DMC/Aerosmith rap-rock collaboration "Walk This Way" and produced albums for the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J and System of a Down as well as Rage's final release, the covers album Renegades.

Rubin saw past the two parties' lyrical differences — Cornell was known for introspective material, while Rage took on world issues — and set up a jam session.

When Cornell walked into the rehearsal space, he was stunned by the musicianship he heard. "I just thought, 'I am lucky. I get to be the singer in this band if I get up there and I am good.' So I decided to be good."

Good is an understatement, according to Morello. "He stepped to the microphone and sang the song and I couldn't believe it," the guitarist said. "It didn't just sound good. It didn't sound great. It sounded transcendent. And ... when there is an irreplaceable chemistry from the first moment, you can't deny it."

Audioslave - Like A Stone

Biography

Audioslave was an American hard rock supergroup that formed in Los Angeles, CA in 2001. It consisted of Soundgarden frontman and rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell and the former instrumentalists of Rage Against the Machine: Tom Morello (lead guitar), Tim Commerford (bass and backing vocals) and Brad Wilk (drums).

Audioslave released three successful albums, received three Grammy nominations, sold more than eight million records worldwide, and became the first American rock band to perform an open-air concert in Cuba. Cornell issued a statement in February 2007 that he was permanently leaving the band “due to irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical differences.” As the other three members were busy with the Rage Against the Machine reunion, and Morello and Cornell had each released solo albums in 2007, Audioslave was officially disbanded.

Discography
2002 Audioslave
2005 Out of Exile
2006 Revelations

Audioslave - Be Yourself